Medieval Backyards at Cowl Lane, Winchcombe Excavations in 2011 Publication Report for CgMs on behalf of N.J. Smith Builders CA Project: 9119 CA Report: 14195 July 2014 Medieval Backyards at Cowl Lane, Winchcombe Excavations in 2011 PUBLICATION CA PROJECT: 9119 CA REPORT: 14195 prepared by Alan Hardy date 3 July 2014 checked by Mary Alexander, Post-excavation Manager date approved by Martin Watts, Head of Publications signed date issue 01 This report is confidential to the client. Cotswold Archaeology accepts no responsibility or liability to any third party to whom this report, or any part of it, is made known. Any such party relies upon this report entirely at their own risk. No part of this report may be reproduced by any means without permission. © Cotswold Archaeology Cirencester Milton Keynes Andover Building 11 Unit 4 Stanley House Kemble Enterprise Park Cromwell Business Centre Walworth Road Kemble, Cirencester Howard Way, Newport Pagnell Andover, Hampshire Gloucestershire, GL7 6BQ MK16 9QS SP10 5LH t. 01285 771022 t. 01908 218320 t. 01264 347630 f. 01285 771033 e. [email protected] Medieval Backyards at Cowl Lane, Winchcombe: Excavations in 2011 By ALAN HARDY With contributions by NIGEL BAKER, SARAH COBAIN, MATILDA HOLMES and E.R. MCSLOY INTRODUCTION Between April and June 2011, Cotswold Archaeology carried out targeted excavation on land beside the Parish Hall, Cowl Lane, Winchcombe (OS Nat. Grid 40249 22833; Fig. 1). The work was undertaken for CgMs on behalf of N.J. Smith Builders as a condition of Planning Consent for three residential units. The site encloses an area of approximately 0.12 ha between Cowl Lane and the High Street, close to the centre of the Anglo-Saxon and medieval settlement of Winchcombe, and lies at around 90 m OD. Winchcombe lies at the foot of the Cotswolds north-east of Cheltenham on the north side of the valley of the River Isbourne, and at a height of between 85 m and 115 m OD. The geology is alluvium and Lower Lias clays, overlain in part by compacted calciferous gravel (BGS 2000). HISTORICAL AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL BACKGROUND Winchcombe may have been the site of a minster as early as the 7th century, as it was an important settlement in the kingdom of the Hwicce, although it first came to real prominence as a Mercian royal minster and palace in the 8th century, during the reigns of Coenwulf and Offa, and as such is argued to represent one of the first post-Roman combinations of strategic royal citadel and important church (Blair 2005, 289). 1 The abbey, founded in AD 811, ensured Winchcombe’s prominence in the late Anglo- Saxon and Norman periods, and was the burial site for Coenwulf himself. The flourishing cult of St Cynhelm added to its importance, and briefly in the early 11th century Winchcombe was the centre of its own shire: Winchcombeshire. From this high point, and despite the wealth of the abbey’s estates, the town itself steadily declined in regional importance through the medieval period (Tilley et al. 2007). After the Dissolution, apart from a short-lived boost provided by an embryonic tobacco growing industry (Hart 1981, 104–105), Winchcombe remained as a modest agricultural market town. There is archaeological evidence of substantial Roman occupation in the vicinity of the historic centre, in the form of pottery scatters and coins, but as yet no structural evidence (Tilley et al. 2007, 19). The possibility that there could be continuity between such occupation and the mid-Saxon settlement remains unproven. Most archaeological investigation has focussed on the abbey buildings and other areas within the precinct (Loftus Brook 1893; Bassett 1985). Partly through lack of development, the centre of the medieval town has not been examined to a similar degree. However, a small rescue excavation in 1977 in a plot behind a North Street frontage revealed six inhumations surviving amid later medieval rubbish pits (Fig. 5). Two of the three radiocarbon dates suggested a late Anglo-Saxon cemetery, possibly associated with the minster or the early Benedictine abbey successor (Saville 1985). When a planning application for residential development of the site was submitted toTewkesbury Borough Council (TBC) (ref: no. 09/01290/FUL), Gloucestershire County Council Archaeological Services (GCC) recommended that the applicant commission a desk-based assessment and evaluation of the impact of the proposed development on any archaeology preserved within the development area. The desk-based assessment concluded that there was moderate potential for evidence from the Roman period, and a higher potential for archaeological deposits relating to the Anglo-Saxon and medieval settlement to survive in the parts of the site not previously developed (Pugh 2010). An archaeological evaluation of the site (Fig. 1, trenches T1-T3) revealed four partially exposed features which were interpreted as medieval and post-medieval refuse pits associated with the occupation of tenement properties (CgMs 2010), and concluded that these remains were likely to be affected by the development. 2 In the light of these preliminary investigations, planning permission was granted by TBC, conditional on a programme of archaeological work being carried out ahead of development. The excavation was undertaken in accordance with a detailed Written Scheme of Investigation (WSI) by Cotswold Archaeology (CA 2011), approved by TBC acting on the advice of the GCC Archaeological Services, who also monitored both the fieldwork and the post-excavation analysis. METHODOLOGY Three discrete areas (Trenches 5, 7 and 8), were located where residential units would impact significant archaeological deposits (Fig. 1). These were mechanically stripped of overburden, and all the revealed features were sample-excavated by hand (20% of linear features, 50–100% of discrete features). Suitable deposits within features were sampled for macrofossil and/or charcoal remains. All recording followed standard CA procedures, details of which can be found in the archive. The site records and artefacts are currently held by CA at their offices in Kemble. Subject to the agreement of the legal landowner, the artifacts will be deposited with Cheltenham Art Gallery and Museum, along with the site records, under accession number CAGM 2011.50. EXCAVATION RESULTS General The depth of overburden removed to reveal the undisturbed archaeological features varied across the site from 0.8 m to 1.2 m. Below this level, features and deposits survived in good condition except for the truncation of a few deep modern foundations. The phasing of the features and deposits was based upon stratigraphic relationships and artefactual dating evidence. Four periods were identified: Period 1: pre-12th century Period 2: 12th to 13th centuries 3 Period 3: 14th to 18th centuries Period 4: 19th to 21st centuries Period 1: pre-12th century Six residual Roman pottery fragments found in Period 2 pits 5005, 5014, 5042, 7084 and 7035 suggest Roman activity of this date in the area, although no features of this date were found on the site. The earliest activity on the site was represented by the truncated remains of a north- west/south-east ditch crossing Trench 7 (7032/7045, Fig. 2), cut by several Period 2 pits. The ditch averaged 0.5 m wide by 0.6 m deep, with steep sides and a V-shaped profile. The single fill, a compacted silty clay and gravel, suggests that the feature was backfilled rather than allowed to silt naturally. The absence of any finds apart from a few fragments of animal bone and a small piece of flattened lead suggests this ditch was open at a time when the immediate area was not intensively occupied. The dating of this feature, and its implications are considered further below. Period 2: 12th to 13th centuries This phase was characterised by intense pit-digging, particularly evident in Trenches 5 and 7, characteristic of backyard rubbish disposal. Most of the pits were subcircular in plan, many with near-vertical sides and flat bases. None showed evidence of rapid erosion of the sides, but this does not necessarily imply that any were sheltered from the elements (that is, roofed over), or that they were filled rapidly. The compacted gravel natural was clearly stable when exposed, and not prone to collapse. Given the profile of most of the pits (steep to vertical sides with flattish bases) the evidence suggests that their primary use was as refuse pits, the larger ones for prolonged use, the smaller ones possibly for ‘single-event’ rubbish disposal. Only one large feature (pit 818) displayed the wide and shallow amorphous shape more characteristic of a gravel extraction pit. This pit contained a possible Roman roof tile (tegula) fragment. 4 Trench 5 The trench revealed a spread of intercutting pits and, within the sequence, a single east- north-east/west-south-west oriented ditch (5094). This was a broad and flat-bottomed ditch, probably representing at one time a plot boundary, against which pits such as 5087 (on its south side) were excavated. The single compact silty clay fill of ditch 5094 contained 12th and 13th-century pottery, suggesting that the area was occupied and active when the ditch was in use. Collectively, the pits seemed to display a consistency of alignment, either similar to the ditch or at right-angles to it; an example being pits 5042, 5047, and 5102. Two postholes (5003 and 5032) conformed to the alignment of the ditch. One of the earliest features, pit 5082, was cut by ditch 5094, and was filled with a series of silty clay layers and gravel lenses. Its earliest fill 5083, was sampled for environmental remains and produced a quantity of free-threshing wheat. All of the pits in the trench were characteristic of rubbish pits of a variety of sizes, the largest being pit 5015, partly revealed against the western side of the trench, and truncating both an earlier pit (5058, not shown), and the ditch 5094.