inside this issue South Gloucestershire’s Issue 9 August 2005 own school of Archaeology

War Memorials in South Gloucestershire s we look back to the conclusion of World War Two it is a time to consider A those who died in this and other conflicts, to this end South Gloucestershire Council are compiling a comprehensive list of war memorials which will be available on the South Gloucestershire Web Site.

War memorials date back at least as far as the siege of Troy. In Britain memorials can be found dating from the Napoleonic

Upton Cheyney Wars, such as that in Rochester Cathedral for the Royal Engineers, and there are many others dating from the nineteenth century. The first series of nation-wide memorials date from the Boer War in South Africa at the beginning of the twentieth century. The enormous toll of the World War One, where hardly a community was spared, saw the erection of almost innumerable memorial. After World War Two these memorials were either added to or new ones built. Although the classic impression of a war memorial is probably that of a large cross they come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes from small plaques to memorial halls. Each one tells its own story. In Yate churchyard is a memorial to those killed in air raids on Parnalls aircraft Bitton War Factory in February and March 1941. This is memorial possibly the only memorial in Britain where photo by civilians are recorded. Bridget Hetzel

If anyone would like to contribute information please contact: Gail Lambert Phone 01454 863415 E-mail [email protected] Are there Arthurian Origins for South Gloucestershire?

he administrative area now known In the earlier period South Gloucestershire Although absence of The conference took place in either AD 602 as South Gloucestershire is usually was believed to have formed part of a sub- evidence is not evidence or 603 quite clearly in a place where the T thought of as the result of various kingdom of called the land of the of absence, distribution British Bishops felt safe, on the border administrative and boundary changes Hwicca(s). These people, perhaps Anglian maps of finds such as between two other groups who may have which have occurred over the last 50 years rather than Saxon, infiltrated Gloucestershire brooches and pottery been hostile to each other, and not far from or so. However recent research suggests and Worcestershire via the Thames Valley by can give a good their own lands. A number of places have that the core of the area has its origins in at least AD500, but the Hwiccan connection indication of the core been suggested for the meeting most of a sub-Roman enclave and if anything in again may be later. territory of a particular which could meet the criteria of being on the modern administrative terms it could be user group. The number borders of the Wicci and the West Saxons, considered as part of Wales! The period Using the term “Saxon” to define the of dated artefacts of although “the next province of the Britons” is after the end of Roman Britain, whatever invaders and “British” to define the this period in the often ignored. One place, which is often that means, is a complex and historically successors of Roman Britain we are in a general South favoured, is Aust, it could lie on the border controversial issue, which I do not intend position to examine the threads which weave Gloucestershire area is not large, between the two tribes and it is on the end

to discuss in detail (see for example a pattern of surviving Britons in South Sutton Hoo Helmet; Saxon King or Roman Emperor but what we have points to an of the former Severn ferry. However if we Faulkner 2001 and Dark 2002, for differing Gloucestershire. Perhaps it is best to dismiss absence of Saxon material. This is especially accept this we accept that South views). the two least useful pieces pf information true if, as seems likely, hanging bowls are Gloucestershire had disappeared as a British first, they are first and the battle British and not Saxon in manufacture. Thus administrative unit. It has been argued To define the controversy of the period we of Mount Badon, and second the battle of putting an apparently anomalous hanging recently (Eagles, 2002) that a much more can ask. Was St Patrick born in Banwell in Dyrham. While it appear highly likely that a bowl escutcheon (side disc) from Bath into likely site would be near Stroud, admittedly North or Benwell in Cumbria? Was war lord did win a series of battles, perhaps the British sphere. Until recently there were just outside the current area of South there a battle at Dyrham in AD577 and even all confined to the west country, one of no sunken floored buildings from South Gloucestershire, but a position which would if there was did it make any difference? which may have been at Bath (Mount Gloucestershire, a Saxon type fossil if ever allow the southern Cotswolds and thus South These are typical questions, but there are Badon), the status of and political there were one, we now have one, or at least Gloucestershire to be the next province of few answers. Even the names of the ethnic organisation of the region cannot be gleaned that is what it appears to be, except that the the Britons. groups around at the time are not agreed. from this. The information for the battle of associated pottery is British. Just to conclude I recently read of a fantasy book (not Dyrham AD 577 derives from a very late this section, a very good case can be made While South Gloucestershire may not have altogether inappropriate perhaps) where King source, which was intended to justify the for West Wansdyke (running through North undoubted Arthurian origins a case for its Arthur met a Welsh noble, no real surprise as ownership of the towns of Bath, Cirencester Somerset and B&NES) marking the southern, origin as a British administrative area can Arthur was a “Welsh” noble! and Gloucester. The best we can say is that rather than the northern boundary of a certainly be made. there may have been a battle in AD 577 and territory, whether British or Saxon is another However let us return to South it may even have been at Dyrham, but there matter. The oak tree Gloucestershire. While it is generally agreed is no evidence to show that the political where St that what is now South Gloucestershire landscape was changed in anyway. The crucial evidence supporting a British Augustines met the British eventually formed a part of the Saxon enclave comes from Bede’s Ecclesiastical bishops kingdom of Mercia, indeed the parish of History Chapter 2, Marshfield may be so named because it was “Augustine, with the assistance of King Ethelbert, the border (march) between Mercia and drew together to a conference the bishops, or . While this was certainly was the doctors, of the next province of the Britons, at a case by about c700AD (and perhaps as early place which is to this day called Augustine's Ac, as 642AD) it need not have been true earlier. that is, Augustine's Oak, on the borders of the Wiccii and West Saxons; and began by brotherly admonitions to persuade them, that preserving Catholic unity with him”. Bede, A, History of the English Church and People The battle Dark K, (2002) Britain and the End of the Roman Empire of Mount Eagles B, (2003) Augustine's Oak, Medieval Archaeology Badon? 47, 175-8 Faulkner N, (2001) The Decline and Fall of Roman Britain

Site of the Battle of Dyrham AD577

2 Archaeology - Issue 9 August 2005 3 South Gloucestershire’s Own School of Archaeology

ince 2001 Pucklechurch CEVC Primary Last year club members also presented a Comments from this years club “At archaeology in Pucklechurch Primary School has had its very own whole school assembly on treasure. members School we sometimes go in our ICT suite. S Archaeology Club. The school has a Undoubtedly though, our sessions We go on interesting websites. These include “We are members of the Archaeology Club and the "Archaeology Data Service, reputation for offering a wide range of concerning human remains are the most there are about six people who come regularly. (http://ads.ahds.ac.uk). extra-curricular activities organised by well-liked and have also produced some We meet on a Thursday afternoon after school. Try going on this website, you can find out lots teachers and governors and as a parent really quite profound and philosophical Mrs Boyle teaches us a new thing every week. of information about Wick, Scotland, Bath, Some of the things we have done were pottery, governor I offered my services. conversations. In my experience archaeology Pucklechurch, Wales, London and so much bones, aerial photos, working out the dates of more. attracts children of all abilities and of both things. The places we use around our school are In addition, you can find out more information The club was made available to older junior sexes...... but especially boys! I can say the I.C.T suite and a classroom. We also get to about the , The Victorians, The Anglo children (10-11yrs) and it proved to be a touch real archaeological finds. Everyone is without a doubt that I have found the whole Saxons, The Ancient Greeks and last but not given a folder which includes pieces of paper popular choice, so much so that during the experience very rewarding and it’s certainly least The Vikings if you look at this website about what we are doing each week, first year, the group was split into three, each helped me with aspects of my professional on the internet - http://bbc.co.uk/history/forkids. challenges and a timeline. We all enjoy the Its my favourite because it is funny and teaches smaller group participating for just one term. work at the City Museum. challenges we get and all the exciting things you more, MUCH MORE. The club provides the children with an In the future I am also hoping to be able to that we learn. We are all looking forward to opportunity to handle real artefacts and to produce resource materials which will allow finding out about human remains! I like going to I like to go to archaeology club because it is really fun and you can find out more super facts explore the different methods that ‘non-archaeologists’ to organise their own Archaeology Club because it's fun and we learn a lot of new things that we didn't already know.” every week wow!!” archaeologists use to investigate the past. versions of Archaeology Club. Miles I positively encourage club members to Sarah express their own thoughts about evidence Gail Boyle and artefacts and I think it’s true to say that I Curator of Archaeology, City Museum & Art Gallery “One day we were looking at South Parent Governor, Pucklechurch CEVC Primary School Gloucestershire Sites and Monuments Record never cease to be amazed by their powers of on the computer. Here are some things we deduction and perception! The club is not a found on the internet about Archaeology in course on “what life used to be like” but Pucklechurch: more about exploring techniques used to ✜ A tramway can be traced between the coal mine gather evidence in a fun and imaginative way. at SGSMR 6088 and Parkfield Colliery. Understanding how aerial photography ✜ Roman building associated with a series of works, for example, involves using a torch rectilinear paddocks somewhere this area and some pillows in a completely darkened ✜ A Pre construction survey noted 19 flint room! artefacts at this location. ✜ A building is noted on the 1846 tithe Archaeology is a wonderful cross-curricular map at this point subject. I have been able to use it as a There are loads more artefacts we have learnt source of inspiration for art work (eg. based about in Archaeology Club.” on cave paintings) and creative writing (eg. Harriet news reports on the destruction of Pompeii). We’ve looked at the science behind why some materials survive and others don’t, and we’ve used ICT skills to explore internet resources. Maths came to the fore when we learned about dating techniques and geography proved pretty interesting when we mapped our own archaeological landscape.

4 Archaeology - Issue 9 August 2005 5 Further excavations from Lower Woods, Hawkesbury

Mike & Jill Martin, Andrew The inscription reads: R E G, short upstroke, Jackson and Rebecca Ireland then the break caused by the hearth, and a final small curve which appears to be part of South an S. The letters are picked out in large Gloucestershire’s he first suggestion that there might be white tesserae, and are 300mm (12 inches) a Roman site in Lower Woods nature high, the whole inscription measuring 1720 link with Trafalgar T reserve came in 1996, when fragments mm (5ft 8 in) long. The inscription has of Severn Valley and Black burnished ware he celebrations to mark the A resistance caused great excitement and aroused much were recovered from fencing-post holes. survey interest among Romanists as there are no anniversary of the battle of Trafalgar Following this a resistance survey was revealed the other known mosaics in the UK with T have already started. A battle you carried out on the fields in 1998, and structure as inscriptions in the border. would not immediately connect with the carried on over a further two summers by shown Bristol region. However Isambard local team Sagascan. The results have been Kingdom Brunel’s equally talented father spectacular. The Roman building shown by the resistance Marc, ironically a survey is a three-sided structure consisting of French economic Work in 2004 was undertaken by Grumbald’s a main block and two wings, the total width migrant, had in 1803 Ash Archaeology Group, co-directed by being about eighty metres, the length of the invented the first Andrew Jackson and Rebecca Ireland. longer surviving wing being 48 metres. The steam powered This found the continuation of the damaged northern wing measures 12-14 metres wide, industrial production mosaic reported in 2003, the partly robbed and has walls 800mm thick. The original line for the cutting of out northern wall of this room and the scans also showed evidence of a enclosed pulley blocks for the southern side of a further room, with plain courtyard to the north west of the buildings Royal Navy. mosaic floor. shown on the scan above. Perhaps the first fully integrated production line in history, not The REG Fragments of painted wall plaster were quite robots, but close. Such precisely The main interest, however, lay in the inscription recovered from the main room. In the continuation of the room found in 2003. produced equipment when compared with second room the basal portion of the dado This revealed a further section of coarse the hand made blocks of the French and section of painted wall plaster survived to a pennant sandstone border, in which there As in 2003 there were few finds. Pottery Spanish fleets contributed considerably to depth of 250 – 300 mm despite robbing of was what appeared to be a single word of included black burnished wares, Oxford the better handling of Nelson’s fleet and the wall behind it. inscription partly destroyed by the insertion colour coated ware, and local micaceous the ultimate Victory. of a later smithing hearth. greywares. Iron working debris was recovered from the hearth area, together In the last issue we asked for suggestions with a large iron pin. One large piece of for a new title for the newsletter although badly burned Oxford ware was found sealed there were some rather interesting within the hearth deposits, indicating re-use suggestions, including “past-forward”, the of the building as a workshop within the silent majority will have its way. Roman period. It is possible that the early The votes are in, and counted, and we wealth exhibited by the Lower Woods remain “Archaeology”. establishment was generated not by intensive farming of the heavy clay, but by Just a reminder that South Gloucestershire exploitation of the woodland, which supplied has a new web site, which we edit fuel, and charcoal, for industrial use. ourselves rather that having it done centrally. This means that there is a greater Further work is planned at Lower Woods, opportunity for current information to reach subject to continuing permission and you far quicker. encouragement from Gloucestershire Wildlife We can be found under Environment/ Trust, who own the site, English Nature (the Historic Environment. site is an SSSI) and DEFRA (the site is under As well as information on Archaeology the Countryside Stewardship) A longer version site has information on Conservation Areas of this article appeared in CBA Archaeology and Historic Buildings South West Winter 2005.

6 Archaeology - Issue 9 August 2005 7 What’s your site? Biodiversity Gets Active! The first in an occasional series features an apparently uninteresting circle of concrete Alison Slade has joined within the bounds of Filton Airfield. We have South Gloucestershire a rough idea of what the feature may be but Council as their any help with further information would be Biodiversity Action appreciated. Planning Officer (part-time, working part- time as the Ecologist for Bath and North East Somerset Council as well), based in the Natural Environment Team (Room F3, ext. 2215) at Kingswood. Alison has already started work on producing a Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) for South Gloucestershire. The BAP is to be drawn up over the next two years and will consist of individual Action Plans for 20 species and habitats, including white-clawed crayfish, Filton once served as a dispersal airfield for dormouse, ancient woodland and Britain’s V-bombers and large concrete traditional meadows/pastures. Each compass turning circles are found on virtually Action Plan will include a range of works all airfields associated with the V-Force they and targets whereby the Council and its were used for calibrating the aircraft's partners will help safeguard and/or navigation equipment once it was installed in extend populations or areas of these the aircraft. All of the examples I have seen species/habitats. have been shaped like racket with the shaft providing access off the perimeter track For more information contact Alison Slade, leading to a hollow centred circular concrete Biodiversity Action Planning Officer roadway, it would appear aircraft taxi around Tel 01454 862215 to achieve a full 360 degree swing of the compass. Without documentary evidence it would be difficult to say with any certainty that the one at Filton was built for the V- Force. The problem with this explanation is that the platform is difficult to access from the V-force dispersal bays and it is rather Contact Information small. However during the Second World Archaeology is produced by South War, aircraft the size of a Spitfire or Hurricane Gloucestershire Council to keep you in touch was sometimes put onto rotatable timber with archaeological news and developments platforms to swing their compasses., but we in the region. It appears twice a year and can are far from certain. be obtained from local libraries and council offices. If you have any enquires relating to items in archaeology, the region’s heritage, or South Gloucestershire Access Statement the historic environment in general please This information is also available in other contact languages, in large print, Braille or on David Evans audio tape. Please phone 01454 868686 Historic Environment Record Officer if you need any of these or any other help Planning and Environment to access Council services South Gloucestershire Council Civic Centre High Street Kingswood South Gloucestershire BS15 9TR Designed by Graphics & Mapping CE&CR 10871 South Gloucestershire Council Tel 01454 863649 Tel 01454 863763 www.southglos.gov.uk (access is free from local libraries) email: [email protected] Printed on recycled paper by South Gloucestershire Print

8