The Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Society Transactions Volume 92 2018 Hon. Editor Jill Bourne, M.A., Ph.D. Hon. Editor (Archaeology) John Thomas, B.A., M.A. Hon. Editor (Reviews) Peter Walker, LL.B., M.A., Ph.D. Published by the Society The Guildhall Leicester LE1 5FQ General communications relating to the Society’s business should be sent to the Hon. Secretary, The Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Society, The Guildhall, Guildhall Lane, Leicester LE1 5FQ. Societies in union are requested to direct their publications, sent in exchange, to the Hon. Librarian, at the same address. The Editor will be pleased to consider contributions submitted for publication. They should be typed with double spacing and available in electronic form. Guidance for authors can be found on the website of the Society at www.le.ac.uk/lahs All contributions should be addressed to Dr Jill Bourne, Hon. Ed. TLAHS, ULAS, School of Archaeology and Ancient Studies, University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester LE1 7RH. [email protected] All reasonable care will be taken of such material, but the Society and its officers cannot accept responsibility for its accidental destruction or loss. ISSN 0140–3990 © The Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Society 2018 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording by any information storage or retrieval system, without the permission in writing of the Society. Designed and printed in Great Britain by 4word Ltd, Bristol. CONTENTS List of Abbreviations v Contributors vi Scientific dating of the Early Bronze Age log coffin burials at Sproxton and Eaton, Leicestershire 1 Richard Brunning, Andy M. Jones, Gordon Cook and Tony Krus Remembering, Remodelling and Reusing: Neolithic to Anglo-Saxon Activity at Loughborough Road, Rothley, Leicestershire 15 Gavin Speed Saxon Burials in West Langton Parish, Leicestershire: a Time Team Investigation 65 Andrew B. Powell and Jörn Schuster The Parish and Church of Rothley, Leicestershire: a re-interpretation 97 Vanessa McLoughlin The Town of Lutterworth in the Later Middle Ages 115 Andrew Watkins Digging up the Past: Community Test-Pit Excavations with Charnwood Roots 147 Julie Attard and Mathew Morris Risk, Exigency and Migration in Leicestershire, c.1750–1846 183 Dave Postles The Impact of Total War on Hinckley 205 John Martin and Robert King Reviews 217 SHORT REPORTS Settlement activity spanning the Mesolithic to Iron Age between Ryhall and Essendine, Rutland 223 Mark Dodd, Andy Howard, Richard Parker and Rachel Townsend iv contents Romano-British rural occupation at the Catthorpe Interchange, M1 Junction 19, Leicestershire 239 Nicky Garland Medieval activity on land at High Street, Kibworth Beauchamp, leicestershire 247 Daniel Stansbie Archaeology in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland 2017 253 Edited by John Thomas Officers of the Society 2015–2016 309 Index 315 Abbreviations The abbreviations of titles of periodicals or serial publications used in Transactions follow the principles set down in British Standard 4148 (1970). In addition, the following abbreviations are regularly used in Transactions: AASRP Associated Architectural Societies Reports and Papers APS Archaeological Project Services BA Bennett Archives BAR British Archaeological Reports (British and International series) BL British Library B.M. Harl. British Library, Harleian manuscripts BNJ British Numismatic Journal Cal. Close Calendar of Close Rolls Cal. Inq. p.m. Calendar of inquisition post mortems Cal. Pat. Calendar Patent Rolls Cal. SP Dom Calendar of State Papers, Domestic CBA Council for British Archaeology Dir. Directory Derbys RO Derbyshire Record Office DNB Dictionary of National Biography EHD English Historical Documents HBMC Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission (English Heritage) Inq. Inquisition Inq. p. m. Inquisition post mortem LA Lincolnshire Archives LCMS Leicester City Museums Service Leics Leicestershire Linc. Reg. Lincoln Register LMARS Leicestershire Museums, Arts and Records Service Min. Account Roll Ministers Account Roll MS Manuscript MS Rawl. Rawlinson Manuscript, Bodleian NA Northamptonshire Archaeology NPG National Portrait Gallery OS Ordnance Survey PRO Public Record Office RCHME Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England ROLLR Record Office of Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland PRO Public Record Office RCM Rutland County Museum ROLLR Record Office for Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland TLAS Transactions of the Leicestershire Archaeological Society (1921/2–54) TLAAS T ransactions of the Leicestershire Architectural and Archaeological Society (1866–1912/13) TLAHS T ransactions of the Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Society (1955–) TNA The National Archive ULAS University of Leicester Archaeological Services VCH Victoria County History CONTRIBUTORS Richard Brunning, MA, PhD, MCIFA, is Senior Historic Environment Officer with the South West Heritage Trust, with special responsibility for the Somerset Levels and Moors, a post that he has held for over 20 years. He has been involved in many archaeological projects examining waterlogged archaeological deposits in the UK, and abroad. His doctoral thesis was on structural wood in prehistoric England and Wales, and his particular research interests centre on the archaeology of wetlands, especially the prehistoric and early medieval periods. Contact details: Tel: 01823 347432 [email protected] Andy Jones, BA, PhD, FSA, MCIfA, is Principal Archaeologist with Cornwall Archaeological Unit. His research interests include the Neolithic and Bronze Age periods, and assitionally the archaeology of the upland and coastal areas of western Britain. Recent significant publications include Settlement and Metalworking in the Middle Bronze Age and Beyond and Preserved in the Peat: an Extraordinary Bronze Age Burial on Whitehorse Hill. Gordon Cook graduated from the University of Glasgow with BSc (Hons) and PhD degrees in environmental science. He is currently Professor of Environmental Geochemistry at the Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre (SUERC), where he is also Deputy Director and for more than 30 years has been head of their radiocarbon dating laboratory. The laboratory specialises in archaeology and archaeological science and during his time within the laboratory, he has published in excess of 200 peer reviewed journal articles and several book chapters on radiocarbon dating. Anthony Krus is a Research Associate at the Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre. He obtained his PhD degree in Anthropology in 2013 from Indiana University, Bloomington, USA. He specialises in the provision of commercial and research-oriented Bayesian modelling of radiocarbon and other chronological data for archaeological and geoscience projects. Gavin Speed, BA, MA, PhD, MCIfA is a Project Officer with University of Leicester Archaeological Services. Since the late 1990s he has worked on a range archaeological sites both in the UK and abroad. Recent projects include directing a major urban excavation on Stibbe, Leicester, Anglo-Saxon and Neolithic activity at Rothley (see the article this volume, and volume 89, 2015), Iron Age settlements at Birstall (TLAHS 2010), and Cadeby (TLAHS 2011); Iron Age and Roman sites in Northamptonshire, and Highcross Street, Leicester. His research interests focus on settlement transformations from Late Roman Britain to Anglo-Saxon England. He publications, include ‘Towns in the Dark?’ (Archaeopress 2014), plus several articles and interim reports. contributors vii Nicholas Cooper, BSc DipPostEx, FSA MCIfA, is Post-Excavation Project Manager at ULAS. He specialisesin Roman pottery, small finds, and the Roman/Anglo- Saxon transition. He graduated in 1984 from Leicester, followed by a post graduate diploma in Post-excavation studies. Until 1997 he was a Research Assistant in the School of Archaeology and Ancient History, working on various Roman projects, before joining University of Leicester Archaeological Services in 1998, becoming the Post-excavation Project Manager in 2006. He is currently coordinating the analysis and publication programme of the Highcross Leicester excavations. He teaches on undergraduate and post-graduate courses, and runs the campus-based HE Certificate in Archaeology. He has published many finds reports, along with The Archaeology of Rutland Water (2000): he edited The Archaeology of the East Midlands (2006). Email: [email protected] Lynden Cooper BA MCIfA, is a Project Officer at ULAS, with over 30 years archaeological experience, he manages major projects, particularly prehistoric archaeology. He is a worked lithics specialist. He obtained his Archaeology and Prehistory BA from Sheffield in 1986, and then worked for various units. Since 1991 he has been based in Leicester with University of Leicester Archaeological Services. He has directed major rural and urban projects and published on a Roman cemetery, the Northern defences of Leicester, and numerous interim reports in the Transactions of the Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Society. He has published many national and international conference reports.. Previous publications include the Hemington Bridges (with S. Ripper), and a Late Upper Palaeolithic site at Launde. He managed the nationally significant Early Upper Palaeolithic Project at Glaston, Rutland. His published lithics work includes a multi-period assemblage