Cover captions A COMMUNITY EXCAVATION OF A ROMAN BUILDING (See article on page 10) Front Excavation site and volunteer diggers. Photo by West Lothian Archaeology. Back Clockwise from top right Volunteers at work. Polished stone axe from Western boundary ditch. Roman necklace link. Blue glass pinhead. Roman Black Burnished ware pot being excavated in Entrance Trench. Author recording part of the excavation. Photo by D. Brookes. Author and Eddie Price discussing a feature. Photo by D. Brookes. GLEVENSIS THE GLOUCESTER AND DISTRICT ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH GROUP ANNUAL REPORT NO 45 : 2012 www.gadarg.org.uk Editorial Committee Diane Charlesworth (Editor) & Les Comtesse (IT) CONTENTS Page HON. SECRETARY’S REPORT TO THE 2012 AGM Marta Cock 2 BOOK REVIEW: THE RIVER ISBOURNE IN THE SERVICE OF David Aldred 4 MANKIND BOOK REVIEW: A MINSTERWORTH MISCELLANY: A John Loosley 5 COLLECTION OF HISTORICAL REAL-LIFE HUMAN TALES FROM A SEVERN-SIDE VILLAGE BOOK REVIEW: THE CHURCH HOUSES OF OLD Diane Charlesworth 6 GLOUCESTERSHIRE LINTON FIELD: EXCAVATION REPORT Terry Moore-Scott and Tony 7 Roberts (Archeoscan) A COMMUNITY EXCAVATION OF A ROMAN BUILDING Tony Roberts - Archeoscan 10 EXCAVATIONS AT ST MARY’S CHURCH, DEERHURST IN 2012: Richard Bryant, Michael Hare 20 AN INTERIM REPORT and Carolyn Heighway PLANNING RELATED ARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS Jonathon Hart 26 IN GLOUCESTER BY COTSWOLD ARCHAEOLOGY – 2012 ARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS IN GLOUCESTER 2012 Andrew Armstrong 27 EXCAVATIONS AT TEWKESBURY HOSPITAL, HOWELLS ROAD, Tim Havard and Mary 31 TEWKESBURY – INTERIM REPORT Alexander GLOUCESTERSHIRE PORTABLE ANTIQUITIES SCHEME Kurt Adams 36 ROUNDUP 2012 A GADARG WATCHING BRIEF AT No 1 ASHWOOD WAY, Nigel Spry 44 HUCCLECOTE RESISTIVITY SURVEY AT SANDHURST LANE, LONGFORD Nigel Spry 49 HON TREASURER'S REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDING 28 Angela Newcombe 50 FEBRUARY 2012 NOTES FOR CONTRIBUTORS TO GLEVENSIS 52 AND EDITORIAL CONVENTIONS FOR REFERENCES ©2013:The Gloucester and District Archaeological Research Group and individual authors. Authors wishing to re-use their work in another publication will acknowledge its prior appearance in Glevensis. Any statement made or opinions expressed in the Review are those of the contributors alone, for which the group does not accept responsibility. 1 GLEVENSIS 45 2012 HON. SECRETARY’S REPORT TO THE 2012 AGM Marta Cock Introduction closes. We thank our hosts there. There was also an extra-ordinary meeting in February to agree In this, my first report to the AGM, I pay tribute to arrangements for the transfer to GADARG of the Martin Ecclestone who has given GADARG so much Frocester Publication Fund about which the Treasurer over seventeen years as Secretary and during the last will report to this AGM. We applaud Eddie Price’s two years as Minutes Secretary. I can never reach his very generous decision. Membership remains steady. standards of erudition, academic insight and practical experience of so many aspects of archaeology. At the Fieldwork 2011 AGM finding time to fit in the role of Honorary Secretary while I continued as Meetings Secretary GADARG carried out resistivity surveys at meant I did not then allow my name to go forward to Shortwood (Haresfield) and Standish Wood succeed him. I now thank our Chairman, Mike (Randwick) in April, at Zoons Court Farm Milward, for taking on the spring/summer (Churchdown) in September, and at Woeful Lake programme; without his commitment I could not have Farm (Sherborne) in November. We also field walked agreed to become your Hon. Secretary from July the resistivity grid squares at Woeful Lake. The 2011. I hope I will prove worthy of your trust. National Trust would like us to do more work there this year. We also field walked at Linton Farm Committee (Churcham) in March. Members assisted a five day excavation at the south-west corner of Deerhurst We are very grateful to Gloucestershire County church, revealing early foundations. A Resistivity Council Archaeology Service (GCCAS) for all the Survey off Sandhurst Lane in Gloucester was advice it gives the Committee, especially to Tim completed satisfactorily in March. GADARG Grubb, but also to all GCCAS staff with whom we members are now involved in the externally funded constantly interact. We are indebted to GADARG GCCAS Kingsholm Community Archaeology member Debbie Brookes who devised last summer’s Project. In June the results of Terry Moore-Scott’s survey with which we hoped to find out more about Linton project were shown, discussed and artefacts what you, our members, want of us and to help us examined at St Andrew’s URC in Cheltenham led by modernise to attract new members without losing Kurt Adams, Portable Finds Officer. Our Lidar your interest and engagement. The returns were low, project still has a large number of sites to visit and 33 out of 160 members so an overall assessment is out revisit; arrangements to do so are underway. of the question, but there were some interesting Members have contributed to other surveys and replies and ideas worthy of careful consideration. A excavations, such as at Nesley with Committee working group is currently being formed to take these member Tony Roberts’ Archeoscan and with the forward, which will start by looking to arrest the National Trust at Woodchester. Ann Maxwell steady decline in membership by considering the continues to successfully co-ordinate fieldwork name of the group, and its visibility, particularly with opportunities. regard to the internet and possibly other social media. A questionnaire was also sent in January to all those Meetings Programme who normally go to Gloucester meetings because attendance had been very low during the autumn. We Everyone was disappointed that we could not afford wanted to find out if the new venue was the problem. the high price now charged at Gloucestershire It was not: clashes were the main reason. We decided Archives. We miss Paul Evans there and thank him to book Ribston Hall High School library again for for all the help he gave us over the years. We also next year. thank the staff of this new Gloucester venue, in particular Sandy Woodcock who ensures the The Committee returned to meeting in the evening in technology works and makes us very welcome. We order to attract new members who work in daytime. continue to be very happy with St Andrew’s URC in Our first three meetings were in members’ homes Cheltenham for its excellent venue and to David because we could not afford the cost of a room in Black there who spearheaded the community protest Shire Hall. For the last two we have met, free, in the about proposed evening parking fees, resulting in Café of Sainsbury’s at Gloucester Quays after it defeat for the proposals. 2 Our experiment with a Pottery Workshop at Nesley in Thanks are also due to those committee members who partnership with Archeoscan in September was very put up exhibitions at events run by e.g. Local History successful for those who attended, though GADARG Societies, GCCAS as at Kingsholm. Angela members were in the minority. We are very grateful to Newcombe’s energy and enthusiasm for setting up pottery specialist Jane Timby and Archeoscan. Some exhibitions about us at a variety of events is as highlights of the wide-ranging programme were welcome as ever. Linda Hall on privies “Down the Garden Path” and Rose Hewlett on “ ‘Old’ Frampton Court”. Charges to The future of Gloucestershire County Council members’ for attendance at lectures occasioned very Archaeology Service few grumbles. As a result of Gloucestershire County Council’s The Spring/Summer programme was disappointing as review of its Archaeology Service (GCCAS) the far as numbers were concerned, except for our visit to current team of twenty will be reduced by the end of the Archeoscan dig at Nesley. For that, thank you to 2012-13 to a core team of five (currently six and Tony Roberts, Debbie and Jess Brookes, as well as to funded by the county and district council), with the landowner. The visits to Warmley and Sea Mills consequent redundancies. GCCAS will no longer be (Roman Abona) were well worth the drives there. The allowed to benefit from funding available from day tour to Avebury did not take place because too English Heritage (EH), Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) few booked. Sadly our members’ survey and other etc. for Heritage Environment Record (HER) enquiries have not offered us any reasons as to why enhancement, outreach and education projects, and numbers were so low. Perhaps it is due to the archaeological survey/management. Fieldwork economic downturn? undertaken in connection with development will cease early in 2012-13, and other archaeological We thank all our speakers and guides not only for projects that are externally funded will be completed their academic contributions, but also for keeping over a two year period. No new projects will be their fees and expenses low or even in some cases, undertaken. We very much value the work done by waiving them. the current staff despite most of them knowing that they will soon be redundant, with their skills and Newsletter and publicity expertise lost to Gloucestershire. This year has seen a flowering of their talents in so many heritage projects, The new style newsletter appears to be appreciated, most externally funded. During planning for this judging by comments received. My thanks are due to upheaval GCCAS has also supported the City Council all those who contributed articles for it. Also we now in the absence of staff to deal with its own remit. We exchange information electronically with many thank them wholeheartedly. We will miss them. museums and other societies. The cost of mailings continues to escalate so the email list I have set up has I have not yet found out how the apparently perverse been a great boon fiscally.