Durham E-Theses Landscape, settlement and society: Wiltshire in the rst millennium AD Draper, Simon Andrew How to cite: Draper, Simon Andrew (2004) Landscape, settlement and society: Wiltshire in the rst millennium AD, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/3064/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk Landscape, Settlement and Society: Wiltshire in the First Millennium AD VOLUME 1 (OF 2) A copyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation from it should be published! without his prior written consent and information derived from it should be acknowledged. By Simon Andrew Draper Submitted in 2004 for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Durham, following research conducted in the Department of Archaeology 2 1 JUN 2005 Landscape, Settlement and Society: Wiltshire in the First Millennium AD By Simon Andrew Draper ABSTRACT This is a study of the county of Wiltshire from the Roman period to c. 11 00 AD, focusing on the key themes of landscape, settlement and society and using a combination of archaeological, topographical and historical evidence. Particular emphasis is given to place-names, which, it is argued, can help us to locate Romano-British settlements and inform us about the British survival in the post-Roman period. Early chapters tackle the transition between the Roman and Early Saxon periods, challenging current theories on the decline of Roman Britain and the Anglo-Saxon adventus. Subsequent chapters examine the evidence for early medieval territorial and ecclesiastical structure in Wiltshire, in addition to the Anglo­ Saxon farming landscape. There is also detailed consideration of the origins of the medieval settlement pattern and a discussion of the relationship between settlements and the ranks of Anglo-Saxon society. 11 Table of Contents VOLUME 1 List of Tables and Figures page vi Declaration and Statement of Copyright XI Dedication, Acknowledgements and Abbreviations XII Chapter 1 Introduction 1 Aims and Methods 3 The Structure of this Study 5 The County of Wiltshire: Its Physical Landscape 7 The Cotswolds 8 The Northern Clay Vale 9 The Corallian-Gault-Greensand Belt 9 The Marlborough Downs 10 The Vale of Pewsey 10 The South Wiltshire Downs 10 The Vale ofWardour 11 The Tertiary Gravels 11 Chapter 2 Roman Wiltshire to 350 13 Introduction 13 Roman Settlements: The Pattern 13 Roman Settlements: The Forms 16 Small Towns 16 Villages 18 Villas 22 Small Non-Villa Settlements 26 Roman Settlements: The Place-Name Evidence 29 Latin-Derived Indicators 29 Other Potential Settlement Indicators 32 Settlements in the Landscape 35 Fields, Farming and Woods 35 Communications 39 Boundaries and Estates 41 Conclusion 44 iii Chapter 3 The Ending of Roman Wiltshire: 350 and Beyond 46 Introduction 46 Debating the End of Roman Britain 46 Some Archaeological Problems 48 Prospect 51 Roman Wiltshire after 350: The Evidence 51 Settlements 51 Coin Hoards 56 Pottery 58 Portable Art and Burials 59 Conclusion 62 Chapter 4 Britons and Saxons, c. 450-700: The Post-Roman Transition 64 Introduction 64 Debating the Transition 64 Continuity and Discontinuity 64 Prospect and the Framework of 'Late Antiquity' 67 Anglo-Saxon Identity and Culture in Wiltshire 68 History 68 Archaeology 70 Buildings 70 Brooches and Burials 73 Language and Place-Names 77 British Identity and Culture in Wiltshire 80 History 80 Archaeology 81 Pottery and Settlements 81 Brooches and Bowls 84 Burials 86 Language and Place-Names 88 The Legacy of Brittonic 88 Old English Place-Names as Indicators of British Identity 90 Conclusion: Britons and Saxons in Post-Roman Wiltshire 93 IV Chapter 5 Early Medieval Territories 96 Introduction 96 Primary Territories 97 Early Kingdoms 97 Sub-Kingdoms within Wessex 100 Wiltshire (and Wansdyke) 102 Secondary Territories 105 Great Estates 105 Great Bedwyn 107 Bradford-on-A von 109 Caine 111 Hundreds 112 The Antiquity of Secondary Territories 115 Small Estates 118 Manors and Vilis: The Fragmentation of Great Estates 118 Manors and Vilis: Alternative Origins 122 Burials on Boundaries: The Antiquity of Small Estates 125 Conclusion 127 Chapter 6 Christianity and the Church 129 Introduction 129 The Spread of Christianity 130 Pagans and Christians 130 Monasteries and Minsters 131 Late Saxon Church Foundation 134 Ecclesiastical Organisation 137 Minsters and Parochiae 137 Tisbury 139 Westbury 139 Sherston 140 Highworth 140 Avebury 141 Hundreds and Minsters 141 Parochia to Parish 142 Conclusion 144 v Chapter 7 The Early Medieval Landscape 145 Introduction 145 Regional Contrasts 146 The 'Chalk' 146 The 'Cheese' 150 'Ancient Landscapes' 154 Conclusion 156 Chapter 8 Early Medieval Settlement and Society 158 Introduction 158 The Pattem of Settlement 158 The 'Chalk' 158 The 'Cheese' 162 Explaining Settlement Form 167 Village Origins and Planning 168 Villages, Fields and Dispersed Settlements 172 Settlements and Society 174 Settlements and Lords 175 Settlements and the Peasantry 176 Settlements, Trade and Manufacture: The Rise of Towns 179 Conclusion 181 Chapter 9 Conclusion 183 Wiltshire in the First Millennium AD: A Summary of Themes 186 Landscape 186 Settlement 188 Society 190 The Wider Context 191 Concluding Thoughts 193 Epilogue: Priorities for Future Research 194 Bibliography 197 VOLUME2 Appendix 1 222 Appendix 2 242 Tables and Figures 310 Table of Contents VOLUME2 Appendix 1 page 222 Appendix 2 242 Tables and Figures 310 VI List of Tables and Figures page Table 1: Romano-British archaeological associations of various 310 'indicator' names in Wiltshire, with reference to Sites and Monuments Record data and settlements listed in Appendix 1. Table 2: Roman coin hoards from Wiltshire with coins minted after 311 AD350. Table 3: Old English 'habitative' elements in Wiltshire settlement- 312 names. Table 4: Old English 'topographical' elements in Wiltshire settlement- 313 names. Table 5: Wiltshire churches close to or incorporating Roman remains 314 (based mainly on Sites and Monuments Record data). Table 6: Evidence for Anglo-Saxon and Domesday churches in 315 Wiltshire. Figure 1: Map of the modern county of Wiltshire, showing present 317 civil parishes. Figure 2: The geology of Wiltshire (Geddes 2000). 318 Figure 3: Wiltshire - topographical regions, drainage and medieval 319 royal forests (based on Bond 1994 and Lewis 1994). Figure 4: Distribution map of known Romano-British settlements in 320 Wiltshire, shown in relation to the network of Roman roads (based on Appendix 1 and Margary 1955). Figure 5: Plan of the Romano-British small town of Durocomovium 321 in Wanborough parish (Corney 2001). Figure 6: Plan of the Romano-British small town of Cunetio in 322 Mildenhall parish, showing the principal buildings and Late Roman walls (Corney 2001). Figure 7: Plan of the Romano-British small town and temple complex 323 at Nettleton Shrub (Corney 2001, after Wedlake 1982 and Burnham and Wacher 1990). Vll Figure 8: Plan of the earthworks of the Romano-British village 324 settlement at Upavon Down in Upavon parish (McOmish et al. 2002). Figure 9: Plan of the earthworks of the Romano-British village 325 settlement at Chisenbury Warren in Enford parish (McOmish et al. 2002). Figure 10: Plan of the Romano-British village earthworks at Overton 326 Down South (ODS) in West Overton parish (Fowler 2000a). Figure 11: Plan of the Romano-British village earthworks at Hamshill 327 Ditches in Barford St Martin parish (Bonney and Moore 1967). Figure 12: Plan of the excavated features on the Romano-British villa 328 complex at Castle Copse in Great Bedwyn parish (Hostetter and Howe 1997). Figure 13: Conjectured plan of the partially excavated Romano-British 329 villa at Badbury in Chiseldon parish (Walters 2001). Figure 14: Plan of the Romano-British villa complex at Box (Hurst 1987). 330 Figure 15: Composite plan from geophysical survey and aerial photographs 331 of the Iron Age and Romano-British enclosed settlement at Netheravon. The plan of the corridor villa is enlarged (McOrnish et al. 2002). Figure 16: Plan of the earthworks of the Iron Age and Romano-British 332 farming settlement on Berwick Down in Tollard Royal parish (Cunliffe 1973a). Figure 17: Plan of the excavations and earthworks at the Romano-British 333 non-villa settlement at Cleveland Farm in Ashton Keynes parish (Coe et al. 1991). Figure 18: Plan of the excavated Late Roman settlement at OD XII on 334 Overton Down in West Overton (after Fowler 2000a). Figure 19: Distribution map of wic, ceaster andfunta place-names in 335 Wiltshire, in relation to Roman roads and small towns (based mainly on data in Gover et al. 1939 and Hobbs 2003). Figure 20: Distribution map of known Romano-British pottery and tile 336 kilns in Wiltshire, shown in relation to the bounds of the medieval royal forests (based on SMR data). Vlll Figure 21: Aerial photograph transcription of Overton Down, showing 337 that the north-south Ridgeway route is overlain by prehistoric field boundaries and trackways (Fowler 2000a). Figure 22: Keith Branigan's conjectured villa estate at Gatcombe in 338 Somerset (Ringley 1989, after Branigan 1977b). Figure 23: Plan of the late fourth-century phase of the Romano-British 339 villa at Littlecote in Ramsbury parish (Walters 2001).