The Old Rectory, Beverston, Gloucestershire

THE OLD RECTORY, BEVERSTON, GLOUCESTERSHIRE

ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVALUATION

C.A.T JOB: 1192 C.A.T REPORT: 01068

DATE: JULY 2001

This report has been researched and compiled with all reasonable skill, care, and attention to detail within the terms of the project as specified by the Client and within the general terms and conditions of Cotswold Archaeological Trust Ltd. The Trust shall not be liable for any inaccuracy, error or omission in the report or other documents produced as part of the Consultancy and no liability is accepted for any claim, loss or damage howsoever arising from any opinion stated or conclusion or other material contained in this report or other documents supplied as part of the Consultancy.

This report is confidential to the Client. Cotswold Archaeological Trust Ltd accept no responsibility whatsoever to third parties to whom this report, or any part of it is made known. Any such party relies upon this report entirely at their own risk.

The Old Rectory, Beverston, Gloucestershire: Archaeological Evaluation

CONTENTS

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ...... 2

SUMMARY ...... 3

1. INTRODUCTION ...... 4

1.1 Introduction ...... 4 1.2 The study area ...... 4 1.3 Geology and Topography ...... 4 1.4 Archaeological and historical background ...... 5 1.5 Methodology ...... 6

2. EVALUATION RESULTS ...... 7

2.1 General ...... 7 Trench 1 ...... 7 Trench 2 ...... 7 Trench 3 ...... 8 Trench 4 ...... 8 Trench 5 ...... 8

3. DISCUSSION ...... 9

3.2 General ...... 9 3.2 Conclusions ...... 10

4. BIBLIOGRAPHY ...... 10

5. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...... 11

APPENDIX 1 ...... 15

Finds Concordance ...... 15

1 The Old Rectory, Beverston, Gloucestershire: Archaeological Evaluation

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Fig. 1 Location plan ...... 12 Fig. 2 Trench locations ...... 13 Fig. 3 Trench 2; plan and section ...... 14

2 The Old Rectory, Beverston, Gloucestershire: Archaeological Evaluation

SUMMARY

In June 2001 Cotswold Archaeological Trust (CAT) was commissioned by Mr P Robinson on behalf of Mr and Mrs D McMeekin to undertake an archaeological evaluation at The Old Rectory, Beverston, Gloucestershire. It was undertaken prior to the determination of planning applications for the construction of a tennis court and swimming pool (planning ref. CD7968/H), the construction of new access (planning ref. CD7968/G) and the conversion of existing garage and stables (planning ref. CD7968/J).

A single quarry pit, of undetermined origin, was identified during the course of the evaluation. In addition, extant earthworks representing a ridge and furrow cultivation system were also noted.

3 The Old Rectory, Beverston, Gloucestershire: Archaeological Evaluation

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 Introduction

1.1.1 This report presents the results of an archaeological evaluation conducted between the 2nd and 3rd July 2001 at The Old Rectory, Beverston, near Tetbury, Gloucestershire. The site is centred on NGR ST 8609 9390 (Fig.1).

1.1.2 The evaluation was undertaken prior to the determination of planning applications for the construction of a tennis court and swimming pool (planning ref. CD7968/H), the construction of new access (planning ref. CD7968/G) and the conversion of existing garage and stables (planning ref. CD7968/J).

1.2 The study area

1.2.1 The application area is situated on the western edge of the village, adjacent to Beverston Castle (Fig.1). The site currently comprises the garden of The Old Rectory, including a ménage area, and an adjacent paddock.

1.3 Geology and Topography

1.3.1 The underlying geology of the study area is mapped by the Institute of Geological Sciences (1979) as Great Oolite of the Middle Jurassic period.

1.3.2 The site is situated on gently sloping ground, ranging from 162m OD in the north-west to 155m OD in the south-east. Within the grounds of the Old Rectory, landscaped garden terraces were evident.

4 The Old Rectory, Beverston, Gloucestershire: Archaeological Evaluation

1.4 Archaeological and historical background

1.4.1 Aerial photographic evidence shows traces of Bronze Age, Iron Age, Roman, and medieval activity in the general locality, including cropmark features approximately 300m to the north and south-west of the proposed development area

1.4.2 Beverston appears in the Domesday Survey of 1086 as ‘Burestane’ or ‘Stone Tower’, and a castle is known to have existed as early as 1051 when it was used as a rallying point for the forces of Earl Godwin during tension with Edward the Confessor (Blunt 1877, 99). The possible remains of a stone tower were identified within the garden of the Old Rectory in the 19th century and were subsequently depicted on the Ordnance Survey County Series maps.

1.4.3 A partially ruinous castle dating from the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries survives in the village, portions of which were rebuilt as a house in the late seventeenth century (Verey and Brooks 1999, 165). This house now has grade I Listed Building status. The adjacent church of St Mary is broadly contemporary in construction with a possible eleventh century origin, although much altered in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. The Old Rectory itself is dated to 1729, with possible nineteenth century additions.

1.4.4 The earliest map available for the Study Area is the Beverstone Inclosure Award map of 1805, which depicts the above buildings and shows an arrangement of fields very similar to the current layout. The field immediately north of the proposed development area is then depicted as “Coneygree”, perhaps indicative of a former rabbit warren associated with the Castle. The principal difference which can be identified is in the alignment of the former Stroud to Tetbury turnpike, which forms the modern A4135 main road past the southern end of the development area. In 1805 this road is depicted taking two sharp right angled turns on the entrance to Beverstone. Ordnance Survey map coverage from 1886 indicates that the bends had been straightened by this time, although field boundaries still reflect their former alignment.

5 The Old Rectory, Beverston, Gloucestershire: Archaeological Evaluation

1.5 Methodology

1.5.1 A detailed project design was prepared by the Cotswold Archaeological Trust and approved by Mr C Parry, Senior Archaeological Officer, Gloucestershire County Council.

1.5.2 A total of five trenches, totalling 87m of linear trenching, were mechanically excavated under archaeological supervision in the locations indicated by Mr Parry in the accompanying archaeological brief (Fig.2).

1.5.3 The work was carried out in accordance with the Standard and Guidance for Field Evaluation issued by the Institute of Field Archaeologists (IFA, 1994) and the Statement of Standards and Practices Appropriate for Archaeological Fieldwork in Gloucestershire issued by the Gloucestershire County Council Archaeology Section (1996).

1.5.4 All identified deposits were recorded in accordance with the Cotswold Archaeological Trust ‘Field Recording Manual’ (1996). A full written, drawn and photographic record of the evaluation was compiled in accordance with the archaeological project design.

1.5.5 The completed site archive and the finds, with the legal landowners’ consent, will be deposited with Corinium Museum, Cirencester, Gloucestershire.

6 The Old Rectory, Beverston, Gloucestershire: Archaeological Evaluation

2. EVALUATION RESULTS

2.1 General

2.1.1 Each trench was excavated to the surface of the underlying natural limestone brash. A general description of each trench is given below.

Trench 1 2.1.2 Natural substrate (103) was revealed at a depth of 0.35m below present ground level at the south-south-western end of Trench 1, and at a depth of 0.55m at the north-north-eastern extent. It was overlain by mid orange-brown clay silt subsoil (102).

2.1.3 Two furrows, [104] and [105], were noted cutting subsoil (102). The furrows were approximately 4m apart and were infilled with topsoil (101), comprising mid grey-brown clay silt, generally 0.15m deep.

2.1.4 No artefactual material was recovered from Trench 1.

Trench 2 2.1.5 Natural substrate (203) was identified at a depth of 0.55m at the western end of Trench 2, rising to a depth of 0.25m at the eastern end of the trench. As in Trench 1, it was overlain by subsoil (202), comprising mid orange-brown clay silt.

2.1.6 Pit [204] was identified at the western end of the trench, extending beyond the limit of excavation (Fig.3). Its visible eastern edge was rounded and excavation demonstrated that it was relatively rough-cut, the edge sloping at approximately 45°. The pit was at least 1m deep and contained at least two separate fills. Upper fill (206) comprised mid red-brown clay silt, typically 0.35m in depth. Lower fill (205) was broadly comparable in composition,

7 The Old Rectory, Beverston, Gloucestershire: Archaeological Evaluation

although frequent limestone fragments were encountered. Two animal teeth and a worked flint flake were recovered from this lower context.

2.1.7 Two further anomalies were investigated in Trench 2 and found to be shallow depressions in the surface of the natural substrate.

2.1.8 Overlying the subsoil and sealing pit [204] was topsoil layer (201) identical to that in Trench 1, and up to 0.40m in depth.

Trench 3 2.1.9 The natural limestone brash substrate (303) was revealed at a depth of between 0.55m and 0.60m below present ground level. It was sealed by mid orange-brown clay silt subsoil (302), as encountered in the previous trenches. In turn this was overlain by mid grey-brown clay silt topsoil (301).

2.1.10 No archaeological deposits or artefactual material were encountered in Trench 3.

Trench 4 2.1.11 The natural substrate was encountered at a depth of 0.95m below present ground level. It was sealed by an accumulation of garden soils (401), comprising mid yellow-brown loam with frequent inclusions of coal/coke, charcoal and limestone fragments. The upper part of the deposit contained a dump of modern china, glass and metal.

2.1.12 No archaeological deposits were encountered in Trench 3 and no artefactual material retained.

Trench 5 2.1.13 The natural limestone brash substrate (504) was revealed throughout the trench gently sloping from west to east (0.35m to 0.70m below present

8 The Old Rectory, Beverston, Gloucestershire: Archaeological Evaluation

ground level respectively). It was overlain by mid red-brown clay silt subsoil (503), which had a maximum depth of 0.55m at the eastern end of the trench, becoming narrower towards the west until petering out approximately 10m from the western end of the trench. A single sherd of abraded thirteenth to fifteenth-century Minety ware pottery, a small quantity of animal bone and a worked flint were recovered from this deposit.

2.1.14 The subsoil, and the natural substrate at the eastern end of the trench, were overlain by topsoil (502) comprising dark red-brown clay silt. Apart from the western most limit of the trench which was under grass, the topsoil was sealed by fine sand and grit (501), forming a ménage area. This deposit was generally 0.10m deep.

2.1.15 No archaeological deposits were encountered in Trench 5.

3. DISCUSSION

3.2 General

3.1.1 The principal objective of the evaluation was to determine whether the proposed development would impact upon archaeological deposits, and in particular whether evidence for an outer defensive circuit associated with Beverston Castle was present given the identification of a stone tower within the Rectory grounds in the nineteenth century.

3.1.2 No archaeological deposits were encountered within the areas of proposed development adjacent to the castle (the tennis court/swimming pool and the septic tank). Evidence of landscaping and terracing was evident throughout the grounds of the Old Rectory, to which the nineteenth century soil accumulation revealed in trench 4 is almost certainly an example.

9 The Old Rectory, Beverston, Gloucestershire: Archaeological Evaluation

3.1.3 No archaeological features were revealed cutting either the limestone substrate or the overlying subsoils within the area of the proposed tennis court/swimming pool. The retrieval of artefactual material from the subsoil is perhaps indicative that the soils had been reworked, and may represent further evidence of nineteenth-century landscaping attempting to level the natural slope within this area. Indeed, it is believed that this area was previously the walled vegetable garden before the construction of the menage in the 1980’s.

3.1.4 The function of pit [204], identified within the area of the proposed access road, remains undetermined, although interpretation as a quarry pit may be offered. The retrieval of a worked flint flake from the pit is perhaps suggestive of a prehistoric origin, although a medieval or later date cannot entirely be discounted.

3.2 Conclusions

3.2.1 Despite the archaeological potential of the proposed development area, pit [204] and the evidence for ridge and cultivation within trench 1 remain the only archaeological features encountered.

3.2.2 The absence of further evidence associated with the previously identified stone tower is intriguing. Certainly no evidence of an associated curtain wall suggestive of the outer defences of the castle were identified within trenches 4 and 5.

4. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Blunt, J,H, 1877, Dursley and its neighbourhood: being historical memorials of Dursley, Beverston, Cam, and Uley

Verey D & Brooks A, 1999 The Buildings of England, Gloucestershire 1: the Cotswolds. Third edition

10 The Old Rectory, Beverston, Gloucestershire: Archaeological Evaluation

5. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The fieldwork was carried out by Mark Brett, who also compiled this report, and Jon Hart. The illustrations were prepared by Peter Moore. The project was managed for CAT by Cliff Bateman.

Cotswold Archaeological Trust would like to thank Mr. Peter Robinson, and Mr. Charles Parry, Senior Archaeological Officer, Gloucestershire County Council Archaeology Service for their assistance in the course of this project.

11 The Old Rectory, Beverston, Gloucestershire: Archaeological Evaluation

Fig. 1 Location plan

12 The Old Rectory, Beverston, Gloucestershire: Archaeological Evaluation

Fig. 2 Trench locations

13 The Old Rectory, Beverston, Gloucestershire: Archaeological Evaluation

Fig. 3 Trench 2; plan and section

14 The Old Rectory, Beverston, Gloucestershire: Archaeological Evaluation

APPENDIX 1

Finds Concordance

(205) 1 x worked flint (tertiary flake) 2 x animal teeth (cattle)

(503) 1 x pottery (rim sherd from a plain, limestone-tempered jar. The fabric is typical of the Minety kilns, Wiltshire that supplied much of this area in the 13-15th centuries). 1 x worked flint (tertiary flake) 6 x animal bone (undetermined)