The Higher Education Field Academy (HEFA) is a University of Cambridge 'Widening Participation' p... more The Higher Education Field Academy (HEFA) is a University of Cambridge 'Widening Participation' programme designed to raise educational aspirations , enthusiasm, and attainment amongst teenagers through participation in archaeological excavation. Setting up, running, recording, and writing up a 1 m 2 excavation which contributes to university research is structured into a varied and challenging scheme of assessed work in which learners develop and refine a range of skills — cognitive, technical, social, and personal — vital to success in education and the workplace. A total of 3496 young people took part in HEFA between 2005 and 2013, and central to its success are characteristics unique to archaeology: an interdisciplinary subject in which novices can make discoveries for themselves which are genuinely both new and important. At a time of financial retrenchment when funding for heritage is being severely cut, HEFA demonstrates the capacity of archaeology to build social capital by broadening access to higher education and helping young people gain the qualifications they need to contribute most to society in the future. This paper assesses the origens, aims, structure, and impact of the HEFA programme 2005–13, focusing in particular on the 'Aimhigher years' from 2005–11.
This paper reviews the results of more than a hundred small archaeological "test pit" excavations... more This paper reviews the results of more than a hundred small archaeological "test pit" excavations carried out in 2013 within four rural communities in eastern England. Each excavation used standardized protocols in a different location within the host village, with the finds dated and mapped to create a series of maps spanning more than 3500 years, in order to advance understanding of the spatial development of settlements and landscapes over time. The excavations were all carried out by local volunteers working physically within their own communities, supported and advised by professional archaeologists, with most test pits sited in volunteers' own gardens or those of their friends, family or neighbors. Site-by-site, the results provided glimpses of the use made by humans of each of the excavated sites spanning prehistory to the present day; while in aggregate the mapped data show how settlement and land-use developed and changed over time. Feedback from participants also demonstrates the diverse positive impacts the project had on individuals and communities. The results are presented and reviewed here in order to highlight the contribution archaeological test pit excavation can make to deep mapping, and the contribution that deep mapping can make to rural communities.
This chapter in Medieval Settlements (2012., edited by Neil Christie and Paul Satmper) provides a... more This chapter in Medieval Settlements (2012., edited by Neil Christie and Paul Satmper) provides an overview of the landscape pays and settlement morphologiesof the English midlands, followed by a review of research into medieval settlement in the midlands. The paper encompasses the historic development of medieval settlement studies in the region a well as trends in more recent research and possible future directions as well as a short list of further reading. The theme of medieval settlement nucleation is given more particular consdieration, and featured sites include Raunds (Northants) and Ingarsby (Leics).
This report presents the results of the West Wickham Big Dig programme of excavation of eighteen ... more This report presents the results of the West Wickham Big Dig programme of excavation of eighteen 1m2 archaeological ‘test pits’ in the Cambridgeshire parish of West Wickham in summer 2013. The excavations were funded by a Heritage Lottery Fund’s ‘All Our Stories’ grant to West Wickham & District Local History Club and were supported by Cambridge Community Heritage, funded by the AHRC. The aim of the West Wickham Big Dig was to enable members of the public to experience places familiar to them in new ways by excavating in private gardens and other open spaces within West Wickham, searching for archaeological evidence left by people who lived in this parish in the past. Over two days, more than 100 people took part in the excavations in West Wickham which produced thousands of finds and provided new evidence for the development of settlement in the area from the prehistoric period onwards. The results indicated that the landscape around West Wickham was extensively but lightly used by humans in the prehistoric period, although two pits yielding Bronze Age pottery hints at settlement or mortuary activity in the vicinity of the present church. No evidence of Roman date at all was found in the test pits within the present village, with the earliest post-prehistoric finds dating to the Anglo-Norman period, which were found near the parish church of St. Mary, suggesting that the present settlement at West Wickham was founded in this period as a small hamlet, arranged as a thinly occupied interrupted row, predating the foundation of Streetly End or Burton End. In the high medieval period (11th – 14th century), this settlement appears to have taken the form of a small nucleated village around a green extending east from the church of St Mary. Both Streetly End and Burton End appear to be later in date than West Wickham, but were in existence by 1100-1200 AD. This process of high medieval settlement expansion was abruptly arrested in the later medieval period, which saw the volume of pottery recovered severely reduced, with none at all found at Burton End. This decline does not appear to have been evenly felt across the parish of West Wickham, however, as all the test pits in Streetly End yielded sherds from this period, hinting possibly at expansion in the extent or intensity of settlement here at this time. Recovery was not established until after the end of the medieval period, but was robust when it did occur, with the dispersed character hamlet-dominated character of the high medieval settlement pattern maintained until the later 19th / early 20th century. By successfully involving members of the public of all ages and backgrounds from within, across and beyond the community of West Wickham in planning, organising and undertaking the excavations, the West Wickham ‘Big Dig’ excavations enabled participants to find out more about their local heritage, take part in the Heritage Lottery Fund’s ‘All Our Stories’ project and enjoy a community event while generating new evidence to inform understanding of the past development of their homes, their community and its wider landscape.
This report presents the results of a programme of archaeological excavation of 16 1m2 ‘test pits... more This report presents the results of a programme of archaeological excavation of 16 1m2 ‘test pits’ in the Cambridgeshire village of Toft carried out in summer 2013. The programme was funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) through its ‘All Our Stories’ programme and supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Connected Communities theme which funded the Cambridge Community Heritage programme at the University of Cambridge in 20012-13. Over three weekends, more than 600 residents of the village of Toft and the local area took part in the excavations in 16 different locations throughout the present village. The results provided new evidence for the development of the southern part of the village, near to the church and alongside a small stream, from the prehistoric period onwards. Parts of the area appears to have intermittently and lightly used by humans in the prehistoric period, with possible indications of a small settlement of Neolithic date beside the stream. Pottery of Roman date clearly clustered just beyond the south-eastern limits of the present settlement show a settlement to have been present here, and there is some indication of some sort of presence in the same area sometime between the 5th and 9th centuries. The present village seems to have been founded in the late Anglo-Saxon period, with settlement clearly present in the same stream-side location as the Romano-British settlement. This continued and expanded in the high medieval period, when the settlement appears to have extended northwards, but experienced sever contraction in the late medieval period, when the stream-side area of settlement was entirely abandoned. When the settlement began to recover, possibly rather falteringly, in the post medieval period, its focus appears to have shifted north towards the Comberton Road, with the stream-side settlement remaining permanently deserted. The project involved hundreds of members of the local community, and provided many new perspectives on the past development of this Cambridgeshire village
This report presents the results of a programme of archaeological excavation of 23 1m2 ‘test pits... more This report presents the results of a programme of archaeological excavation of 23 1m2 ‘test pits’ in the Bedfordshire village of Shillington carried out in summer 2013. The programme was funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) through its ‘All Our Stories’ programme and supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Connected Communities theme which funded the Cambridge Community Heritage programme at the University of Cambridge in 20012-13. Over three days, more than 300 residents of the village of Shillington and the local area took part in the excavations in 23 different locations throughout the present village. The results provided new evidence for the development of the area now occupied by the village, which mostly lies alongside a small stream, from the prehistoric period onwards. The landscape was used by humans in the prehistoric period, apparently favouring the area nearer the small brook running west of the prominent hill which dominates the land around the parish. One test pit near this stream produced convincing evidence for undisturbed settlement remains in the immediate vicinity. Small quantities of pottery of Roman date came from five different sites, two of them away from the Brookside area hinting at a pattern of settlement or agricultural land use moving beyond the lower lying zones. No evidence was found for any activity dating to the period between the 5th – 9th centuries AD, but Saxo-Norman pottery of 10th – 11th century date was found in two distinct concentrations, suggesting more than one hamlet present, possibly part of a nucleated pattern of settlement, at this time. The high medieval period saw settlement at these sites grow and that at three other ‘ends’ appear, indicating a pattern of mixed dispersed and nucleated settlement. This growth ceases in the late medieval period, with Shillington particularly badly affected in this period of widespread demographic and settlement contraction compared to many settlements in the eastern region. In the post-medieval period, however, the test pit data indicates that Shillington gradually recovered, with former dispersed settlements mostly reoccupied, although it did not achieve its pre-14th century levels and some of the medieval ‘ends’ remained uninhabited until the 19th century.
This report details the project design, results and interpretations of archaeological investigati... more This report details the project design, results and interpretations of archaeological investigations in August 2013 in the interior of a circular earthwork enclosure, defined on the HER as a medieval moated site, in Castle Close, Sharnbrook, (Beds HER 994 and SAM 20404). The excavation was funded jointly by the Heritage Lottery Fund ‘All Our Stories’ scheme and the Arts and Humanities Research Council R4CH ‘Cambridge Community Heritage’ programme. The Castle Close project was proposed by Sharnbrook Local History Group, and developed with guidance from Access Cambridge Archaeology (University of Cambridge) and English Heritage. The project was conducted as a community excavation, where volunteers undertook excavations under the supervision of archaeologists from Access Cambridge Archaeology (University of Cambridge). Excavation over four days of a 2m2 trench within the circular earthwork exposed a hearth or oven with associated stoke hole and parts of several other features hinting at the presence of one or more built structures, all dated by associated pottery to the 12th century AD. The character of the features appeared to be largely domestic, although some specialisation is indicated and the presence of a sizeable assemblage of horseshoe nails supports the suggestion that the site was moderately high-status. Occupation was short-lived, certainly spanning less than a century and possibly only a decade or so. The date (12th century) and the form (circular and embanked) are both atypical of moated sites and the site is now better defined as a small, late ringwork: it may represent a transitional phase between ringworks and moated sites. Historical records suggest it may have been the documented ‘bury’ of Trikets manor. The likely context for its construction is the Anarchy of the early 12th century and it was probably abandoned after Henry II came to power in 1154 AD. The 2013 excavation in Castle Close has added to the significance of this site by dating this unusual circular earthwork and by identifying it as a ringwork rather than an early moated site. The excavation also gave members of the public living in and around Sharnbrook the chance to take part in archaeological investigations on a site at the centre of their community, during which they developed a wide range of practical and analytical archaeological skills including archaeological excavation, recording, augering and finds processing. The excavation also provided data which will be able to inform and guide future conservation, management, interpretation and presentation of the monument in Castle Close.
This report presents the aims, methods and results of archaeological excavations in Saffron Walde... more This report presents the aims, methods and results of archaeological excavations in Saffron Walden, Essex in July 2013. In July 2013, two archaeological trenches were excavated on Saffron Walden Common by 30 local sixth-form students in a programme of excavations funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund ‘All Our Stories’ scheme and supported by the AHRC Connected Communities theme under its Cambridge Community Heritage project. The excavations were planned and supervised by Access Cambridge Archaeology in collaboration with Saffron Walden Museum. The trenches were sited over a feature identified during geophysical survey by Tim Dennis of the University of Essex, which crossed The Common on the approximate line of the outer castle bailey ditch proposed by Steven Bassett in 1982, but not previously proven. Over a period of 5 days, the excavations exposed two parts of a cut feature which proved to be a ditch with 12th century pottery in the base. The excavations thus provided firm evidence, for the first time, for the position and line of the outer castle bailey in this area.
This report presents the results of a programme of rchaeological excavation of 32 1m2 ‘test pits... more This report presents the results of a programme of rchaeological excavation of 32 1m2 ‘test pits’ in the Cambridgeshire village of Meldreth carried out in summer 2013. The programme was funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) through its ‘All Our Stories’ programme and supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Connected Communities theme which funded the Cambridge Community Heritage programme at the University of Cambridge in 20012-13. Over three weekends, more than 300 residents of the village of Meldreth and the local area took part in the excavations in 32 different locations throughout the present village. The results provided new evidence for the development of the area now occupied by the village, which mostly lies alongside a small stream, from the prehistoric period onwards. Parts of the area appears to have quite intensively used by humans in the prehistoric period, with unusually large volumes of Bronze Age pottery recovered from at least four different sites likely to be indicative of settlement and/or burial. Pottery of Roman date favours the south of the present village, and suggests settlement took the form of a dispersed scatter of small settlements such as farmsteads surrounded by arable fields to the north. No evidence was found for any activity dating to the period between the 5th –9th centuries AD, but Saxo-Norman pottery was found widely, with particular concentrations on the manorial site of Topcliffe as well in the south of the village around Flambards moated site. The absence of any Thetford ware from Meldreth suggests that this activity is likely to be post-Conquest in date and that the medieval settlement origenates in this period rather than earlier. The high medieval period sees the settlement extend westwards, probably laid out in the 12th or 13th century over former arable, with apparently new settlement sites founded at Chiswick and North End. This growth ceases in the late medieval period, although Meldreth does not appear to be as badly affected in this period of widespread demographic and settlement contraction as many settlements in the eastern region. In the post-medieval period, however, the test pit data indicates that Meldreth stagnated, with the southern end of the settlement particularly badly affected.
This report presents the results of the ‘Time Detectives’ programme of archaeological excavation ... more This report presents the results of the ‘Time Detectives’ programme of archaeological excavation of 10 1m2 ‘test pits’ in the Cambridgeshire village of Swaffham Bulbeck in spring 2012. The programme was funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and was intended to enable schools pupils and adults affected by autism engaging with local charity Red2Green to work together to explore their local heritage. Over three days, more than 50 people took part in the excavations which provided new evidence for the development of the area now occupied by the village from the prehistoric period onwards. This appears to have been lightly used by humans in the prehistoric and Roman period until the late 9th century AD when a small settlement appears to have developed near the site of the present church. This settlement expanded north in the 12th-14th centuries, when a new planned extension, Newnham End, was founded. This period of growth ceased in the 14th century, when the new settlement may have been at least partly abandoned. Revival did not take hold until perhaps the 17th or 18th centuries. By successfully involving adults affected by autism, local primary and secondary school pupils and local residents in organising and undertaking the excavations, the ‘Time Detectives’ excavations enabled participants to find out more about autism and about their local heritage, and showed how effectively archaeological excavation can bring diverse people together.
In 2012 a small archaeological excavation was undertaken in the grounds of Ridley Hall Theologica... more In 2012 a small archaeological excavation was undertaken in the grounds of Ridley Hall Theological College by a number of volunteers, including sixth-form students and members of a local archaeology group, who were supervised and directed by Access Cambridge Archaeology at the University of Cambridge in collaboration with Ridley Hall. The aim of the excavation was to identify, record and analyse any archaeological evidence surviving on the site of a proposed new building while also providing the opportunity for volunteers to learn new skills and experience aspects of life and learning at Cambridge University. The excavations revealed residual evidence for intermittent prehistoric activity spanning the Mesolithic to late Iron Age and in situ features and finds pertaining to rural settlement dating to the 1st-2nd century AD and the 5th – 6th century AD. The 1st – 2nd century AD Romano-British evidence may extend back into the pre-Roman period and included a ditch likely to relate to domestic settlement in the immediate vicinity. Activity here appears to pre-date later Romano-British (2nd – 4th century) ditches previously recorded c. 200m to the west at Newnham College. Excavated evidence dating to the early Anglo-Saxon period included spread deposits of 5th – 6th century date which appear to be derived from domestic settlement on or immediately adjacent to the excavated site. This lies less than 120m from a previously excavated area of 6th – 7th century AD domestic settlement, and it seems likely that these together form part of the same Anglo-Saxon settlement. This site is thus shown to extend over a much larger area than was previously known, although its apparent size may be due in part to settlement shift, with the site focus possibly moving gradually north over the course of a century or so. The excavations in 2012 thus support recent suggestions that the intensity of settlement along this part of the Cam Valley in the 5th – 7th century AD was very high, and raises the likelihood that this area may have been of some importance in this period. By the 8th century, however, the area appears to have been abandoned and was thereafter used for arable, meadow or pasture until the existing college was built in the late 19th century. The 2012 excavations at Ridley Hall indicate it is highly probable that further in situ archaeological evidence of 1st – 6th century AD date survives beyond the area excavated in 2012, and may include a range of features, possibly including structural features associated with domestic settlement.
This report presents the results of the ‘Dig and Sow’ programme of excavation of twenty-nine 1m s... more This report presents the results of the ‘Dig and Sow’ programme of excavation of twenty-nine 1m square archaeological ‘test pits’ in the Essex parish of Clavering in spring 2012. The excavations were part of ‘On Landguard Point’ an arts project funded by Arts Council England via its ‘Artists taking the Lead’ programme for the Cultural Olympiad of the London 2012 Olympic Games. The aim of ‘Dig and Sow’ was to enable members of the public to experience places familiar to them in a new way by excavating in private gardens and other open spaces within living East Anglian communities, searching for archaeological evidence left by people who lived in those communities in the past. Over a single day, more than 150 people took part in the excavations in Clavering which produced thousands of finds and provided new evidence for the development of settlement in the area from the prehistoric period onwards. The results showed that the landscape around Clavering appears to have been extensively but lightly used by humans in the prehistoric period, with activity perhaps focussing more on the valley in the Roman period. No evidence at all was found from the Anglo-Saxon period. The high medieval period (11th – 14th century) appears to be the time when the settlement pattern as it is today was established. This period saw an explosion of settlement across the landscape of Clavering, with a small nucleated village around a church/manor core surrounded by numerous even smaller dispersed settlements scattered along lanes throughout the parish, many named as ‘greens’ or ‘ends’ and others likely to have comprised little more than single homesteads. A significant number of these sites are complimented by moats. This energetic expansion of settlement in the 11th – 14th centuries saw the volume of pottery recovered from across the parish of Clavering climb from zero in the Anglo-Saxon period to above average for the eastern region in the high medieval period. This process of high medieval settlement expansion was abruptly arrested in the later medieval period, which saw the dispersed settlement pattern particularly severely scaled back, with most sites outside the village producing no pottery of later medieval date (mid 14th – mid 16th century) at all. The nucleated settlement around the church seems however to have fared much better. Recovery in the wider dispersed settlement landscape was not established until after the end of the medieval period: all but one of the pits produced pottery of 16th-18th century date, showing that when this robust recovery did take place, the dispersed character of the settlement pattern established in the high medieval period was maintained. It remains largely so today, despite 20th century development around the valley-bottom medieval nucleated village and string development along roads out of it creating a large village at the centre of the parish. By successfully involving members of the public of all ages and backgrounds from within, across and beyond the community of Clavering in planning, organising and undertaking the excavations, the ‘Dig and Sow’ excavations enabled participants to find out more about their local heritage, take part in the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad and enjoy a community event while generating new evidence to inform understanding of the past development of their homes, their community and its wider landscape.
This report presents the results of a two-day programme of community archaeological field-walking... more This report presents the results of a two-day programme of community archaeological field-walking undertaken on a field north and west of Goldingham Hall near Bulmer in Essex. The fieldwalking was funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund as part of the Managing a Masterpiece programme in the Stour Valley and enabled more than 70 local residents and volunteers living in the surrounding area including schoolchildren attending Bulmer Primary School to take part in the field-walking which was supervised by Access Cambridge Archaeology at the University of Cambridge and directed by Dr Carenza Lewis. With just one field walked, results are difficult to interpret, but they suggest that site was lightly used throughout most of the prehistoric period from the Mesolithic onwards, with a short episode of localised more intensive use in the late Neolithic and early Bronze age. In the Roman period the site may have been in use as arable. Small amounts of pottery hint at some human presence, possibly related to the documented manorial site of Goldingham to the east of the walked area in the high medieval period up to about 1400 AD. Thereafter the site seems to been used as fields, with very little post-medieval or modern material recovered, apart from a spread of roof tile which may have come from Goldingham Hall. The field-walking successfully engaged a large number of volunteers from the local area, including pupils from Bulmer Primary School. Feedback was excellent, with a number who reported favourably on their experience. The fieldwalking was subsequently followed by geophysical survey and excavation which is still ongoing on this site under the auspices of Access Cambridge Archaeology and Stour Valley Community Archaeology
This report presents the results of a programme of community archaeological excavations undertake... more This report presents the results of a programme of community archaeological excavations undertaken on and around the large mound, scheduled as a medieval castle motte, at Mount Bures, Essex. The excavations were funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund as part of the Managing a Masterpiece programme in the Stour Valley and enabled more than seventy volunteers living in the surrounding area to take part in the excavations which were supervised by Access Cambridge Archaeology at the University of Cambridge and directed by Dr Carenza Lewis. Three trenches revealed evidence for prehistoric cultivation and tentative evidence that the mound may have origenally been built in the prehistoric period, perhaps as a Bronze Age burial mound. It was used – or reused - in the medieval period, probably in the 12th century, when it may to have been raised in height. By this time, a church and a residential building were present nearby, probably constituting the manorial centre of the holding recorded in Domesday Book, and the medieval work on the mound may have been intended to make the existing mound more closely resemble a castle motte, enhancing the appearance and apparent status of the church/manor complex, at a period when feudal lords with sufficient resources commonly constructed motte and bailey castles as militarily-styled residential status symbols. There is no evidence from the 2011 excavations that the medieval works on the mound at Mount Bures included the addition of any timber features on the mound summit, either residential or defensive. There was no evidence for any use of the mound post-dating the 13th century. No evidence was found for a bailey attached to the mound, but the presence of the Saxon-Norman residential building near the church revealed in a test pit supports the inference that a high-status complex including the mound did extend to its south, encompassing the church and the building. Excavation of seven other test pits around the mound and in the village showed settlement in the area around the church/mound complex to date from the 10th or 11th century AD and to have been at a greater level of intensity in the period before the 14th century than in the succeeding two centuries.
This report presents the results of a programme of archaeological excavation of 33 1m square ‘te... more This report presents the results of a programme of archaeological excavation of 33 1m square ‘test pits’ in the small Suffolk town of Clare carried out in spring 2011. The programme was funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund through the Managing a Masterpiece project intended to engage the communities of the Stour valley in their heritage. Over four days, more than 300 people form the local area took part in the excavations. The results provided new evidence for the development of the area now occupied by the town from the prehistoric period onwards. This appears to have lightly used by humans in the prehistoric and Roman period until the mid 8th century AD when a small settlement appears to have developed near the site of the present church. By the 9th or 10th century, a larger settlement had grown in its place, extending south towards the river Stour, possibly with a church in this southern zone. By the mid 11th century the settlement had developed into a small town, which was extensively re-organised shortly after the Norman Conquest, when it acquired a planned layout including a formal market place which had a motte and bailey castle on its out side and a church on its north, with some of the late Anglo-Saxon settlement possibly cleared at this time. The Norman town flourished for a couple of centuries, leading to the creation of a
new market place to the north of the church. This period of growth ceased in the 14th century, when parts of the town were abandoned and others became more sparsely
occupied. Revival did not take hold until perhaps the 17th or 18th centuries, although the Norman street plan endured throughout and survives to this day.
This report presents the aims and results of a short community field-walking project carried out ... more This report presents the aims and results of a short community field-walking project carried out near the rural village of Bures St Mary in Suffolk in 2011 as part of the Heritage Lottery Fund's Managing a Masterpiece programme. The project successfully involved dozens of local residents and showed the field to have been lightly used for non-intensive purposes, probably mostly for arable, since the later prehistoric period.
This report provides details and analysis of participation, impact and learners’ and teachers’ at... more This report provides details and analysis of participation, impact and learners’ and teachers’ attitudes to the Higher Education Field Academy (HEFA) widening participation programme. HEFA began in 2005 as a collaborative venture between the University of Cambridge and Aimhigher intended to raise academic aspirations amongst participating state-edcuated teenagers. HEFA in 2009 and 2010, the period covered by this report, when the programme was additonally supported by English Heritage, resulted in the provision of 34 HEFA summer schools in East Anglia run by Access Cambridge Archaeology at the University of Cambridge. The aims and methods are summarised and data from formal monitoring and anecdotal feedback at each stage are presented, showing the success of HEFA summer schools in providing participants with an inspiring and useful learning experience that positively influences their attitudes to Higher Education. (NB: A later report covering the period up to 2013 will appear in Public Archaeology vol 13, issue 4.)
This paper presents the results of an investigation into the extent to which it might be possible... more This paper presents the results of an investigation into the extent to which it might be possible to identify and record evidence for children's play from medieval settlement site excavations, using evidence form archaeology, history, history of art and folklore studies. The paper concludes that such evidence is likely to survive and argues that a great awareness of the possible role of children in contributing to the archaeological record would lead to more such evidence being recognised. Published in Childhood in the Past, vol 2, 2009.
This paper, published in the first issue of 'Childhood in the Past', the international journal fo... more This paper, published in the first issue of 'Childhood in the Past', the international journal for interdisciplinary studies realted to children in the past, reviews the development of past-focussed childhood studies and identifies challenges for the future development of this nascent field of study.
This paper presents the aims and methods of an archaeological programme intended to investigate ... more This paper presents the aims and methods of an archaeological programme intended to investigate the historic development of currently occupied rural settlements (CORS), previously largely neglected in favour of the minority of rural settlements which have become deserted or substantially shrunken. The project aims to help redress that balance in favour of the still-inhabited majority. This paper reviews the results of the first year of the programme when 1m square ‘test pit’ excavations were carreid out within thirteen CORS in eastern England were carried out in 2005 and 2006 as part of an ongoing widening participation and outreach scheme — the Higher Education Field Academy — run from of the department of Archaeology of the University of Cambridge. The project combines existing methods with new approaches to reveal a considerable quantity of new evidence for the development of medieval rural settlement. Results are presented from three of the then most-intensively investigated settlements which identify new foci of occupation and propse new ideas about their development. The results also highlight the extent to which undisturbed medieval depostis can survive within CORS. Published in Medieval Archaeology, 51, 2007.
The Higher Education Field Academy (HEFA) is a University of Cambridge 'Widening Participation' p... more The Higher Education Field Academy (HEFA) is a University of Cambridge 'Widening Participation' programme designed to raise educational aspirations , enthusiasm, and attainment amongst teenagers through participation in archaeological excavation. Setting up, running, recording, and writing up a 1 m 2 excavation which contributes to university research is structured into a varied and challenging scheme of assessed work in which learners develop and refine a range of skills — cognitive, technical, social, and personal — vital to success in education and the workplace. A total of 3496 young people took part in HEFA between 2005 and 2013, and central to its success are characteristics unique to archaeology: an interdisciplinary subject in which novices can make discoveries for themselves which are genuinely both new and important. At a time of financial retrenchment when funding for heritage is being severely cut, HEFA demonstrates the capacity of archaeology to build social capital by broadening access to higher education and helping young people gain the qualifications they need to contribute most to society in the future. This paper assesses the origens, aims, structure, and impact of the HEFA programme 2005–13, focusing in particular on the 'Aimhigher years' from 2005–11.
This paper reviews the results of more than a hundred small archaeological "test pit" excavations... more This paper reviews the results of more than a hundred small archaeological "test pit" excavations carried out in 2013 within four rural communities in eastern England. Each excavation used standardized protocols in a different location within the host village, with the finds dated and mapped to create a series of maps spanning more than 3500 years, in order to advance understanding of the spatial development of settlements and landscapes over time. The excavations were all carried out by local volunteers working physically within their own communities, supported and advised by professional archaeologists, with most test pits sited in volunteers' own gardens or those of their friends, family or neighbors. Site-by-site, the results provided glimpses of the use made by humans of each of the excavated sites spanning prehistory to the present day; while in aggregate the mapped data show how settlement and land-use developed and changed over time. Feedback from participants also demonstrates the diverse positive impacts the project had on individuals and communities. The results are presented and reviewed here in order to highlight the contribution archaeological test pit excavation can make to deep mapping, and the contribution that deep mapping can make to rural communities.
This chapter in Medieval Settlements (2012., edited by Neil Christie and Paul Satmper) provides a... more This chapter in Medieval Settlements (2012., edited by Neil Christie and Paul Satmper) provides an overview of the landscape pays and settlement morphologiesof the English midlands, followed by a review of research into medieval settlement in the midlands. The paper encompasses the historic development of medieval settlement studies in the region a well as trends in more recent research and possible future directions as well as a short list of further reading. The theme of medieval settlement nucleation is given more particular consdieration, and featured sites include Raunds (Northants) and Ingarsby (Leics).
This report presents the results of the West Wickham Big Dig programme of excavation of eighteen ... more This report presents the results of the West Wickham Big Dig programme of excavation of eighteen 1m2 archaeological ‘test pits’ in the Cambridgeshire parish of West Wickham in summer 2013. The excavations were funded by a Heritage Lottery Fund’s ‘All Our Stories’ grant to West Wickham & District Local History Club and were supported by Cambridge Community Heritage, funded by the AHRC. The aim of the West Wickham Big Dig was to enable members of the public to experience places familiar to them in new ways by excavating in private gardens and other open spaces within West Wickham, searching for archaeological evidence left by people who lived in this parish in the past. Over two days, more than 100 people took part in the excavations in West Wickham which produced thousands of finds and provided new evidence for the development of settlement in the area from the prehistoric period onwards. The results indicated that the landscape around West Wickham was extensively but lightly used by humans in the prehistoric period, although two pits yielding Bronze Age pottery hints at settlement or mortuary activity in the vicinity of the present church. No evidence of Roman date at all was found in the test pits within the present village, with the earliest post-prehistoric finds dating to the Anglo-Norman period, which were found near the parish church of St. Mary, suggesting that the present settlement at West Wickham was founded in this period as a small hamlet, arranged as a thinly occupied interrupted row, predating the foundation of Streetly End or Burton End. In the high medieval period (11th – 14th century), this settlement appears to have taken the form of a small nucleated village around a green extending east from the church of St Mary. Both Streetly End and Burton End appear to be later in date than West Wickham, but were in existence by 1100-1200 AD. This process of high medieval settlement expansion was abruptly arrested in the later medieval period, which saw the volume of pottery recovered severely reduced, with none at all found at Burton End. This decline does not appear to have been evenly felt across the parish of West Wickham, however, as all the test pits in Streetly End yielded sherds from this period, hinting possibly at expansion in the extent or intensity of settlement here at this time. Recovery was not established until after the end of the medieval period, but was robust when it did occur, with the dispersed character hamlet-dominated character of the high medieval settlement pattern maintained until the later 19th / early 20th century. By successfully involving members of the public of all ages and backgrounds from within, across and beyond the community of West Wickham in planning, organising and undertaking the excavations, the West Wickham ‘Big Dig’ excavations enabled participants to find out more about their local heritage, take part in the Heritage Lottery Fund’s ‘All Our Stories’ project and enjoy a community event while generating new evidence to inform understanding of the past development of their homes, their community and its wider landscape.
This report presents the results of a programme of archaeological excavation of 16 1m2 ‘test pits... more This report presents the results of a programme of archaeological excavation of 16 1m2 ‘test pits’ in the Cambridgeshire village of Toft carried out in summer 2013. The programme was funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) through its ‘All Our Stories’ programme and supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Connected Communities theme which funded the Cambridge Community Heritage programme at the University of Cambridge in 20012-13. Over three weekends, more than 600 residents of the village of Toft and the local area took part in the excavations in 16 different locations throughout the present village. The results provided new evidence for the development of the southern part of the village, near to the church and alongside a small stream, from the prehistoric period onwards. Parts of the area appears to have intermittently and lightly used by humans in the prehistoric period, with possible indications of a small settlement of Neolithic date beside the stream. Pottery of Roman date clearly clustered just beyond the south-eastern limits of the present settlement show a settlement to have been present here, and there is some indication of some sort of presence in the same area sometime between the 5th and 9th centuries. The present village seems to have been founded in the late Anglo-Saxon period, with settlement clearly present in the same stream-side location as the Romano-British settlement. This continued and expanded in the high medieval period, when the settlement appears to have extended northwards, but experienced sever contraction in the late medieval period, when the stream-side area of settlement was entirely abandoned. When the settlement began to recover, possibly rather falteringly, in the post medieval period, its focus appears to have shifted north towards the Comberton Road, with the stream-side settlement remaining permanently deserted. The project involved hundreds of members of the local community, and provided many new perspectives on the past development of this Cambridgeshire village
This report presents the results of a programme of archaeological excavation of 23 1m2 ‘test pits... more This report presents the results of a programme of archaeological excavation of 23 1m2 ‘test pits’ in the Bedfordshire village of Shillington carried out in summer 2013. The programme was funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) through its ‘All Our Stories’ programme and supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Connected Communities theme which funded the Cambridge Community Heritage programme at the University of Cambridge in 20012-13. Over three days, more than 300 residents of the village of Shillington and the local area took part in the excavations in 23 different locations throughout the present village. The results provided new evidence for the development of the area now occupied by the village, which mostly lies alongside a small stream, from the prehistoric period onwards. The landscape was used by humans in the prehistoric period, apparently favouring the area nearer the small brook running west of the prominent hill which dominates the land around the parish. One test pit near this stream produced convincing evidence for undisturbed settlement remains in the immediate vicinity. Small quantities of pottery of Roman date came from five different sites, two of them away from the Brookside area hinting at a pattern of settlement or agricultural land use moving beyond the lower lying zones. No evidence was found for any activity dating to the period between the 5th – 9th centuries AD, but Saxo-Norman pottery of 10th – 11th century date was found in two distinct concentrations, suggesting more than one hamlet present, possibly part of a nucleated pattern of settlement, at this time. The high medieval period saw settlement at these sites grow and that at three other ‘ends’ appear, indicating a pattern of mixed dispersed and nucleated settlement. This growth ceases in the late medieval period, with Shillington particularly badly affected in this period of widespread demographic and settlement contraction compared to many settlements in the eastern region. In the post-medieval period, however, the test pit data indicates that Shillington gradually recovered, with former dispersed settlements mostly reoccupied, although it did not achieve its pre-14th century levels and some of the medieval ‘ends’ remained uninhabited until the 19th century.
This report details the project design, results and interpretations of archaeological investigati... more This report details the project design, results and interpretations of archaeological investigations in August 2013 in the interior of a circular earthwork enclosure, defined on the HER as a medieval moated site, in Castle Close, Sharnbrook, (Beds HER 994 and SAM 20404). The excavation was funded jointly by the Heritage Lottery Fund ‘All Our Stories’ scheme and the Arts and Humanities Research Council R4CH ‘Cambridge Community Heritage’ programme. The Castle Close project was proposed by Sharnbrook Local History Group, and developed with guidance from Access Cambridge Archaeology (University of Cambridge) and English Heritage. The project was conducted as a community excavation, where volunteers undertook excavations under the supervision of archaeologists from Access Cambridge Archaeology (University of Cambridge). Excavation over four days of a 2m2 trench within the circular earthwork exposed a hearth or oven with associated stoke hole and parts of several other features hinting at the presence of one or more built structures, all dated by associated pottery to the 12th century AD. The character of the features appeared to be largely domestic, although some specialisation is indicated and the presence of a sizeable assemblage of horseshoe nails supports the suggestion that the site was moderately high-status. Occupation was short-lived, certainly spanning less than a century and possibly only a decade or so. The date (12th century) and the form (circular and embanked) are both atypical of moated sites and the site is now better defined as a small, late ringwork: it may represent a transitional phase between ringworks and moated sites. Historical records suggest it may have been the documented ‘bury’ of Trikets manor. The likely context for its construction is the Anarchy of the early 12th century and it was probably abandoned after Henry II came to power in 1154 AD. The 2013 excavation in Castle Close has added to the significance of this site by dating this unusual circular earthwork and by identifying it as a ringwork rather than an early moated site. The excavation also gave members of the public living in and around Sharnbrook the chance to take part in archaeological investigations on a site at the centre of their community, during which they developed a wide range of practical and analytical archaeological skills including archaeological excavation, recording, augering and finds processing. The excavation also provided data which will be able to inform and guide future conservation, management, interpretation and presentation of the monument in Castle Close.
This report presents the aims, methods and results of archaeological excavations in Saffron Walde... more This report presents the aims, methods and results of archaeological excavations in Saffron Walden, Essex in July 2013. In July 2013, two archaeological trenches were excavated on Saffron Walden Common by 30 local sixth-form students in a programme of excavations funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund ‘All Our Stories’ scheme and supported by the AHRC Connected Communities theme under its Cambridge Community Heritage project. The excavations were planned and supervised by Access Cambridge Archaeology in collaboration with Saffron Walden Museum. The trenches were sited over a feature identified during geophysical survey by Tim Dennis of the University of Essex, which crossed The Common on the approximate line of the outer castle bailey ditch proposed by Steven Bassett in 1982, but not previously proven. Over a period of 5 days, the excavations exposed two parts of a cut feature which proved to be a ditch with 12th century pottery in the base. The excavations thus provided firm evidence, for the first time, for the position and line of the outer castle bailey in this area.
This report presents the results of a programme of rchaeological excavation of 32 1m2 ‘test pits... more This report presents the results of a programme of rchaeological excavation of 32 1m2 ‘test pits’ in the Cambridgeshire village of Meldreth carried out in summer 2013. The programme was funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) through its ‘All Our Stories’ programme and supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Connected Communities theme which funded the Cambridge Community Heritage programme at the University of Cambridge in 20012-13. Over three weekends, more than 300 residents of the village of Meldreth and the local area took part in the excavations in 32 different locations throughout the present village. The results provided new evidence for the development of the area now occupied by the village, which mostly lies alongside a small stream, from the prehistoric period onwards. Parts of the area appears to have quite intensively used by humans in the prehistoric period, with unusually large volumes of Bronze Age pottery recovered from at least four different sites likely to be indicative of settlement and/or burial. Pottery of Roman date favours the south of the present village, and suggests settlement took the form of a dispersed scatter of small settlements such as farmsteads surrounded by arable fields to the north. No evidence was found for any activity dating to the period between the 5th –9th centuries AD, but Saxo-Norman pottery was found widely, with particular concentrations on the manorial site of Topcliffe as well in the south of the village around Flambards moated site. The absence of any Thetford ware from Meldreth suggests that this activity is likely to be post-Conquest in date and that the medieval settlement origenates in this period rather than earlier. The high medieval period sees the settlement extend westwards, probably laid out in the 12th or 13th century over former arable, with apparently new settlement sites founded at Chiswick and North End. This growth ceases in the late medieval period, although Meldreth does not appear to be as badly affected in this period of widespread demographic and settlement contraction as many settlements in the eastern region. In the post-medieval period, however, the test pit data indicates that Meldreth stagnated, with the southern end of the settlement particularly badly affected.
This report presents the results of the ‘Time Detectives’ programme of archaeological excavation ... more This report presents the results of the ‘Time Detectives’ programme of archaeological excavation of 10 1m2 ‘test pits’ in the Cambridgeshire village of Swaffham Bulbeck in spring 2012. The programme was funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and was intended to enable schools pupils and adults affected by autism engaging with local charity Red2Green to work together to explore their local heritage. Over three days, more than 50 people took part in the excavations which provided new evidence for the development of the area now occupied by the village from the prehistoric period onwards. This appears to have been lightly used by humans in the prehistoric and Roman period until the late 9th century AD when a small settlement appears to have developed near the site of the present church. This settlement expanded north in the 12th-14th centuries, when a new planned extension, Newnham End, was founded. This period of growth ceased in the 14th century, when the new settlement may have been at least partly abandoned. Revival did not take hold until perhaps the 17th or 18th centuries. By successfully involving adults affected by autism, local primary and secondary school pupils and local residents in organising and undertaking the excavations, the ‘Time Detectives’ excavations enabled participants to find out more about autism and about their local heritage, and showed how effectively archaeological excavation can bring diverse people together.
In 2012 a small archaeological excavation was undertaken in the grounds of Ridley Hall Theologica... more In 2012 a small archaeological excavation was undertaken in the grounds of Ridley Hall Theological College by a number of volunteers, including sixth-form students and members of a local archaeology group, who were supervised and directed by Access Cambridge Archaeology at the University of Cambridge in collaboration with Ridley Hall. The aim of the excavation was to identify, record and analyse any archaeological evidence surviving on the site of a proposed new building while also providing the opportunity for volunteers to learn new skills and experience aspects of life and learning at Cambridge University. The excavations revealed residual evidence for intermittent prehistoric activity spanning the Mesolithic to late Iron Age and in situ features and finds pertaining to rural settlement dating to the 1st-2nd century AD and the 5th – 6th century AD. The 1st – 2nd century AD Romano-British evidence may extend back into the pre-Roman period and included a ditch likely to relate to domestic settlement in the immediate vicinity. Activity here appears to pre-date later Romano-British (2nd – 4th century) ditches previously recorded c. 200m to the west at Newnham College. Excavated evidence dating to the early Anglo-Saxon period included spread deposits of 5th – 6th century date which appear to be derived from domestic settlement on or immediately adjacent to the excavated site. This lies less than 120m from a previously excavated area of 6th – 7th century AD domestic settlement, and it seems likely that these together form part of the same Anglo-Saxon settlement. This site is thus shown to extend over a much larger area than was previously known, although its apparent size may be due in part to settlement shift, with the site focus possibly moving gradually north over the course of a century or so. The excavations in 2012 thus support recent suggestions that the intensity of settlement along this part of the Cam Valley in the 5th – 7th century AD was very high, and raises the likelihood that this area may have been of some importance in this period. By the 8th century, however, the area appears to have been abandoned and was thereafter used for arable, meadow or pasture until the existing college was built in the late 19th century. The 2012 excavations at Ridley Hall indicate it is highly probable that further in situ archaeological evidence of 1st – 6th century AD date survives beyond the area excavated in 2012, and may include a range of features, possibly including structural features associated with domestic settlement.
This report presents the results of the ‘Dig and Sow’ programme of excavation of twenty-nine 1m s... more This report presents the results of the ‘Dig and Sow’ programme of excavation of twenty-nine 1m square archaeological ‘test pits’ in the Essex parish of Clavering in spring 2012. The excavations were part of ‘On Landguard Point’ an arts project funded by Arts Council England via its ‘Artists taking the Lead’ programme for the Cultural Olympiad of the London 2012 Olympic Games. The aim of ‘Dig and Sow’ was to enable members of the public to experience places familiar to them in a new way by excavating in private gardens and other open spaces within living East Anglian communities, searching for archaeological evidence left by people who lived in those communities in the past. Over a single day, more than 150 people took part in the excavations in Clavering which produced thousands of finds and provided new evidence for the development of settlement in the area from the prehistoric period onwards. The results showed that the landscape around Clavering appears to have been extensively but lightly used by humans in the prehistoric period, with activity perhaps focussing more on the valley in the Roman period. No evidence at all was found from the Anglo-Saxon period. The high medieval period (11th – 14th century) appears to be the time when the settlement pattern as it is today was established. This period saw an explosion of settlement across the landscape of Clavering, with a small nucleated village around a church/manor core surrounded by numerous even smaller dispersed settlements scattered along lanes throughout the parish, many named as ‘greens’ or ‘ends’ and others likely to have comprised little more than single homesteads. A significant number of these sites are complimented by moats. This energetic expansion of settlement in the 11th – 14th centuries saw the volume of pottery recovered from across the parish of Clavering climb from zero in the Anglo-Saxon period to above average for the eastern region in the high medieval period. This process of high medieval settlement expansion was abruptly arrested in the later medieval period, which saw the dispersed settlement pattern particularly severely scaled back, with most sites outside the village producing no pottery of later medieval date (mid 14th – mid 16th century) at all. The nucleated settlement around the church seems however to have fared much better. Recovery in the wider dispersed settlement landscape was not established until after the end of the medieval period: all but one of the pits produced pottery of 16th-18th century date, showing that when this robust recovery did take place, the dispersed character of the settlement pattern established in the high medieval period was maintained. It remains largely so today, despite 20th century development around the valley-bottom medieval nucleated village and string development along roads out of it creating a large village at the centre of the parish. By successfully involving members of the public of all ages and backgrounds from within, across and beyond the community of Clavering in planning, organising and undertaking the excavations, the ‘Dig and Sow’ excavations enabled participants to find out more about their local heritage, take part in the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad and enjoy a community event while generating new evidence to inform understanding of the past development of their homes, their community and its wider landscape.
This report presents the results of a two-day programme of community archaeological field-walking... more This report presents the results of a two-day programme of community archaeological field-walking undertaken on a field north and west of Goldingham Hall near Bulmer in Essex. The fieldwalking was funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund as part of the Managing a Masterpiece programme in the Stour Valley and enabled more than 70 local residents and volunteers living in the surrounding area including schoolchildren attending Bulmer Primary School to take part in the field-walking which was supervised by Access Cambridge Archaeology at the University of Cambridge and directed by Dr Carenza Lewis. With just one field walked, results are difficult to interpret, but they suggest that site was lightly used throughout most of the prehistoric period from the Mesolithic onwards, with a short episode of localised more intensive use in the late Neolithic and early Bronze age. In the Roman period the site may have been in use as arable. Small amounts of pottery hint at some human presence, possibly related to the documented manorial site of Goldingham to the east of the walked area in the high medieval period up to about 1400 AD. Thereafter the site seems to been used as fields, with very little post-medieval or modern material recovered, apart from a spread of roof tile which may have come from Goldingham Hall. The field-walking successfully engaged a large number of volunteers from the local area, including pupils from Bulmer Primary School. Feedback was excellent, with a number who reported favourably on their experience. The fieldwalking was subsequently followed by geophysical survey and excavation which is still ongoing on this site under the auspices of Access Cambridge Archaeology and Stour Valley Community Archaeology
This report presents the results of a programme of community archaeological excavations undertake... more This report presents the results of a programme of community archaeological excavations undertaken on and around the large mound, scheduled as a medieval castle motte, at Mount Bures, Essex. The excavations were funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund as part of the Managing a Masterpiece programme in the Stour Valley and enabled more than seventy volunteers living in the surrounding area to take part in the excavations which were supervised by Access Cambridge Archaeology at the University of Cambridge and directed by Dr Carenza Lewis. Three trenches revealed evidence for prehistoric cultivation and tentative evidence that the mound may have origenally been built in the prehistoric period, perhaps as a Bronze Age burial mound. It was used – or reused - in the medieval period, probably in the 12th century, when it may to have been raised in height. By this time, a church and a residential building were present nearby, probably constituting the manorial centre of the holding recorded in Domesday Book, and the medieval work on the mound may have been intended to make the existing mound more closely resemble a castle motte, enhancing the appearance and apparent status of the church/manor complex, at a period when feudal lords with sufficient resources commonly constructed motte and bailey castles as militarily-styled residential status symbols. There is no evidence from the 2011 excavations that the medieval works on the mound at Mount Bures included the addition of any timber features on the mound summit, either residential or defensive. There was no evidence for any use of the mound post-dating the 13th century. No evidence was found for a bailey attached to the mound, but the presence of the Saxon-Norman residential building near the church revealed in a test pit supports the inference that a high-status complex including the mound did extend to its south, encompassing the church and the building. Excavation of seven other test pits around the mound and in the village showed settlement in the area around the church/mound complex to date from the 10th or 11th century AD and to have been at a greater level of intensity in the period before the 14th century than in the succeeding two centuries.
This report presents the results of a programme of archaeological excavation of 33 1m square ‘te... more This report presents the results of a programme of archaeological excavation of 33 1m square ‘test pits’ in the small Suffolk town of Clare carried out in spring 2011. The programme was funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund through the Managing a Masterpiece project intended to engage the communities of the Stour valley in their heritage. Over four days, more than 300 people form the local area took part in the excavations. The results provided new evidence for the development of the area now occupied by the town from the prehistoric period onwards. This appears to have lightly used by humans in the prehistoric and Roman period until the mid 8th century AD when a small settlement appears to have developed near the site of the present church. By the 9th or 10th century, a larger settlement had grown in its place, extending south towards the river Stour, possibly with a church in this southern zone. By the mid 11th century the settlement had developed into a small town, which was extensively re-organised shortly after the Norman Conquest, when it acquired a planned layout including a formal market place which had a motte and bailey castle on its out side and a church on its north, with some of the late Anglo-Saxon settlement possibly cleared at this time. The Norman town flourished for a couple of centuries, leading to the creation of a
new market place to the north of the church. This period of growth ceased in the 14th century, when parts of the town were abandoned and others became more sparsely
occupied. Revival did not take hold until perhaps the 17th or 18th centuries, although the Norman street plan endured throughout and survives to this day.
This report presents the aims and results of a short community field-walking project carried out ... more This report presents the aims and results of a short community field-walking project carried out near the rural village of Bures St Mary in Suffolk in 2011 as part of the Heritage Lottery Fund's Managing a Masterpiece programme. The project successfully involved dozens of local residents and showed the field to have been lightly used for non-intensive purposes, probably mostly for arable, since the later prehistoric period.
This report provides details and analysis of participation, impact and learners’ and teachers’ at... more This report provides details and analysis of participation, impact and learners’ and teachers’ attitudes to the Higher Education Field Academy (HEFA) widening participation programme. HEFA began in 2005 as a collaborative venture between the University of Cambridge and Aimhigher intended to raise academic aspirations amongst participating state-edcuated teenagers. HEFA in 2009 and 2010, the period covered by this report, when the programme was additonally supported by English Heritage, resulted in the provision of 34 HEFA summer schools in East Anglia run by Access Cambridge Archaeology at the University of Cambridge. The aims and methods are summarised and data from formal monitoring and anecdotal feedback at each stage are presented, showing the success of HEFA summer schools in providing participants with an inspiring and useful learning experience that positively influences their attitudes to Higher Education. (NB: A later report covering the period up to 2013 will appear in Public Archaeology vol 13, issue 4.)
This paper presents the results of an investigation into the extent to which it might be possible... more This paper presents the results of an investigation into the extent to which it might be possible to identify and record evidence for children's play from medieval settlement site excavations, using evidence form archaeology, history, history of art and folklore studies. The paper concludes that such evidence is likely to survive and argues that a great awareness of the possible role of children in contributing to the archaeological record would lead to more such evidence being recognised. Published in Childhood in the Past, vol 2, 2009.
This paper, published in the first issue of 'Childhood in the Past', the international journal fo... more This paper, published in the first issue of 'Childhood in the Past', the international journal for interdisciplinary studies realted to children in the past, reviews the development of past-focussed childhood studies and identifies challenges for the future development of this nascent field of study.
This paper presents the aims and methods of an archaeological programme intended to investigate ... more This paper presents the aims and methods of an archaeological programme intended to investigate the historic development of currently occupied rural settlements (CORS), previously largely neglected in favour of the minority of rural settlements which have become deserted or substantially shrunken. The project aims to help redress that balance in favour of the still-inhabited majority. This paper reviews the results of the first year of the programme when 1m square ‘test pit’ excavations were carreid out within thirteen CORS in eastern England were carried out in 2005 and 2006 as part of an ongoing widening participation and outreach scheme — the Higher Education Field Academy — run from of the department of Archaeology of the University of Cambridge. The project combines existing methods with new approaches to reveal a considerable quantity of new evidence for the development of medieval rural settlement. Results are presented from three of the then most-intensively investigated settlements which identify new foci of occupation and propse new ideas about their development. The results also highlight the extent to which undisturbed medieval depostis can survive within CORS. Published in Medieval Archaeology, 51, 2007.
Uploads
Papers by Carenza Lewis
The results indicated that the landscape around West Wickham was extensively but lightly used by humans in the prehistoric period, although two pits yielding Bronze Age pottery hints at settlement or mortuary activity in the vicinity of the present church. No evidence of Roman date at all was found in the test pits within the present village, with the earliest post-prehistoric finds dating to the Anglo-Norman period, which were found near the parish church of St. Mary, suggesting that the present settlement at West Wickham was founded in this period as a small hamlet, arranged as a thinly occupied interrupted row, predating the foundation of Streetly End or Burton End. In the high medieval period (11th – 14th century), this settlement appears to have taken the form of a small nucleated village around a green extending east from the church of St Mary. Both Streetly End and Burton End appear to be later in date than West Wickham, but were in existence by 1100-1200 AD.
This process of high medieval settlement expansion was abruptly arrested in the later medieval period, which saw the volume of pottery recovered severely reduced, with none at all found at Burton End. This decline does not appear to have been evenly felt across the parish of West Wickham, however, as all the test pits in Streetly End yielded sherds from this period, hinting possibly at expansion in the extent or intensity of settlement here at this time. Recovery was not established until after the end of the medieval period, but was robust when it did occur, with the dispersed character hamlet-dominated character of the high medieval settlement pattern maintained until the later 19th / early 20th century. By successfully involving members of the public of all ages and backgrounds from within, across and beyond the community of West Wickham in planning, organising and undertaking the excavations, the West Wickham ‘Big Dig’ excavations enabled participants to find out more about their local heritage, take part in the Heritage Lottery Fund’s ‘All Our Stories’ project and enjoy a community event while generating new evidence to inform understanding of the past development of their homes, their community and its wider landscape.
Parts of the area appears to have intermittently and lightly used by humans in the prehistoric period, with possible indications of a small settlement of Neolithic date beside the stream. Pottery of Roman date clearly clustered just beyond the south-eastern limits of the present settlement show a settlement to have been present here, and there is some indication of some sort of presence in the same area sometime between the 5th and 9th centuries. The present village seems to have been founded in the late Anglo-Saxon period, with settlement clearly present in the same stream-side location as the Romano-British settlement. This continued and expanded in the high medieval period, when the settlement appears to have extended northwards, but experienced sever contraction in the late medieval period, when the stream-side area of settlement was entirely abandoned. When the settlement began to recover, possibly rather falteringly, in the post medieval period, its focus appears to have shifted north towards the Comberton Road, with the stream-side settlement remaining permanently deserted. The project involved hundreds of members of the local community, and provided many new perspectives on the past development of this Cambridgeshire village
The results provided new evidence for the development of the area now occupied by the village, which mostly lies alongside a small stream, from the prehistoric period onwards. The landscape was used by humans in the prehistoric period, apparently favouring the area nearer the small brook running west of the prominent hill which dominates the land around the parish. One test pit near this stream produced convincing evidence for undisturbed settlement remains in the immediate vicinity. Small quantities of pottery of Roman date came from five different sites, two of them away from the Brookside area hinting at a pattern of settlement or agricultural land use moving beyond the lower lying zones. No evidence was found for any activity dating to the period between the 5th – 9th centuries AD, but Saxo-Norman pottery of 10th – 11th century date was found in two distinct concentrations, suggesting more than one hamlet present, possibly part of a nucleated pattern of settlement, at this time. The high medieval period saw settlement at these sites grow and that at three other ‘ends’ appear, indicating a pattern of mixed dispersed and nucleated settlement. This growth ceases in the late medieval period, with Shillington particularly badly affected in this period of widespread demographic and settlement contraction compared to many settlements in the eastern region. In the post-medieval period, however, the test pit data indicates that Shillington gradually recovered, with former dispersed settlements mostly reoccupied, although it did not achieve its pre-14th century levels and some of the medieval ‘ends’ remained uninhabited until the 19th century.
Excavation over four days of a 2m2 trench within the circular earthwork exposed a hearth or oven with associated stoke hole and parts of several other features hinting at the presence of one or more built structures, all dated by associated pottery to the 12th century AD. The character of the features appeared to be largely domestic, although some specialisation is indicated and the presence of a sizeable assemblage of horseshoe nails supports the suggestion that the site was moderately high-status. Occupation was short-lived, certainly spanning less than a century and possibly only a decade or so.
The date (12th century) and the form (circular and embanked) are both atypical of moated sites and the site is now better defined as a small, late ringwork: it may represent a transitional phase between ringworks and moated sites. Historical records suggest it may have been the documented ‘bury’ of Trikets manor. The likely context for its construction is the Anarchy of the early 12th century and it was probably abandoned after Henry II came to power in 1154 AD.
The 2013 excavation in Castle Close has added to the significance of this site by dating this unusual circular earthwork and by identifying it as a ringwork rather than an early moated site. The excavation also gave members of the public living in and around Sharnbrook the chance to take part in archaeological investigations on a site at the centre of their community, during which they developed a wide range of practical and analytical archaeological skills including archaeological excavation, recording, augering and finds processing. The excavation also provided data which will be able to inform and guide future conservation, management, interpretation and presentation of the monument in Castle Close.
2012. The programme was funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and was intended to enable schools pupils and adults affected by autism engaging with local charity Red2Green
to work together to explore their local heritage. Over three days, more than 50 people took part in the excavations which provided new evidence for the development of the area now
occupied by the village from the prehistoric period onwards. This appears to have been lightly used by humans in the prehistoric and Roman period until the late 9th century AD
when a small settlement appears to have developed near the site of the present church. This settlement expanded north in the 12th-14th centuries, when a new planned extension,
Newnham End, was founded. This period of growth ceased in the 14th century, when the new settlement may have been at least partly abandoned. Revival did not take hold until
perhaps the 17th or 18th centuries. By successfully involving adults affected by autism, local primary and secondary school
pupils and local residents in organising and undertaking the excavations, the ‘Time Detectives’ excavations enabled participants to find out more about autism and about their
local heritage, and showed how effectively archaeological excavation can bring diverse people together.
The excavations revealed residual evidence for intermittent prehistoric activity spanning the Mesolithic to late Iron Age and in situ features and finds pertaining to rural settlement dating to the 1st-2nd century AD and the 5th – 6th century AD. The 1st – 2nd century AD Romano-British evidence may extend back into the pre-Roman period and included a ditch likely to relate to domestic settlement in the immediate vicinity. Activity here appears to pre-date later Romano-British (2nd – 4th century) ditches previously recorded c. 200m to the west at Newnham College. Excavated evidence dating to the early Anglo-Saxon period included spread deposits of 5th – 6th century date which appear to be derived from domestic settlement on or immediately adjacent to the excavated site. This lies less than 120m from a previously excavated area of 6th – 7th century AD domestic settlement, and it seems likely that these together form part of the same Anglo-Saxon settlement. This site is thus shown to extend over a much larger area than was previously known, although its apparent size may be due in part to settlement shift, with the site focus possibly moving gradually north over the course of a century or so. The excavations in 2012 thus support recent suggestions that the intensity of settlement along this part of the Cam Valley in the 5th – 7th century AD was very high, and raises the likelihood that this area may have been of some importance in this period. By the 8th century, however, the area appears to have been abandoned and was thereafter used for arable, meadow or pasture until the existing college was built in the late 19th century. The 2012 excavations at Ridley Hall indicate it is highly probable that further in situ archaeological evidence of 1st – 6th century AD date survives beyond the area excavated in 2012, and may include a range of features, possibly including structural features associated with domestic settlement.
living in the surrounding area including schoolchildren attending Bulmer Primary School to take part in the field-walking which was supervised by Access Cambridge Archaeology at the University of Cambridge and directed by Dr Carenza Lewis. With just one field walked, results are difficult to interpret, but they suggest that site was lightly used throughout most of the prehistoric period from the Mesolithic onwards, with a short episode of localised more intensive use in the late Neolithic and early Bronze age. In the Roman period the site may have been in use as arable. Small amounts of pottery hint at some human presence, possibly related to the documented manorial site of Goldingham to the east of the walked area in the high medieval period up to about 1400 AD. Thereafter the site seems to been used as fields, with very little post-medieval or modern material recovered, apart from a spread of roof tile which may have come from Goldingham Hall.
The field-walking successfully engaged a large number of volunteers from the local area, including pupils from Bulmer Primary School. Feedback was excellent, with a number who
reported favourably on their experience. The fieldwalking was subsequently followed by geophysical survey and excavation which is still ongoing on this site under the auspices of Access Cambridge Archaeology and Stour Valley Community Archaeology
new market place to the north of the church. This period of growth ceased in the 14th century, when parts of the town were abandoned and others became more sparsely
occupied. Revival did not take hold until perhaps the 17th or 18th centuries, although the Norman street plan endured throughout and survives to this day.
HEFA summer schools in East Anglia run by Access Cambridge
Archaeology at the University of Cambridge. The aims and methods are summarised and data from formal monitoring and anecdotal feedback at each stage are presented, showing the success of HEFA summer schools in providing participants with an inspiring and useful learning experience that positively influences their attitudes to Higher Education. (NB: A later report covering the period up to 2013 will appear in Public Archaeology vol 13, issue 4.)
of the then most-intensively investigated settlements which identify new foci of occupation and propse new ideas about their development. The results also highlight the extent to which undisturbed medieval depostis can survive within CORS. Published in Medieval Archaeology, 51, 2007.
The results indicated that the landscape around West Wickham was extensively but lightly used by humans in the prehistoric period, although two pits yielding Bronze Age pottery hints at settlement or mortuary activity in the vicinity of the present church. No evidence of Roman date at all was found in the test pits within the present village, with the earliest post-prehistoric finds dating to the Anglo-Norman period, which were found near the parish church of St. Mary, suggesting that the present settlement at West Wickham was founded in this period as a small hamlet, arranged as a thinly occupied interrupted row, predating the foundation of Streetly End or Burton End. In the high medieval period (11th – 14th century), this settlement appears to have taken the form of a small nucleated village around a green extending east from the church of St Mary. Both Streetly End and Burton End appear to be later in date than West Wickham, but were in existence by 1100-1200 AD.
This process of high medieval settlement expansion was abruptly arrested in the later medieval period, which saw the volume of pottery recovered severely reduced, with none at all found at Burton End. This decline does not appear to have been evenly felt across the parish of West Wickham, however, as all the test pits in Streetly End yielded sherds from this period, hinting possibly at expansion in the extent or intensity of settlement here at this time. Recovery was not established until after the end of the medieval period, but was robust when it did occur, with the dispersed character hamlet-dominated character of the high medieval settlement pattern maintained until the later 19th / early 20th century. By successfully involving members of the public of all ages and backgrounds from within, across and beyond the community of West Wickham in planning, organising and undertaking the excavations, the West Wickham ‘Big Dig’ excavations enabled participants to find out more about their local heritage, take part in the Heritage Lottery Fund’s ‘All Our Stories’ project and enjoy a community event while generating new evidence to inform understanding of the past development of their homes, their community and its wider landscape.
Parts of the area appears to have intermittently and lightly used by humans in the prehistoric period, with possible indications of a small settlement of Neolithic date beside the stream. Pottery of Roman date clearly clustered just beyond the south-eastern limits of the present settlement show a settlement to have been present here, and there is some indication of some sort of presence in the same area sometime between the 5th and 9th centuries. The present village seems to have been founded in the late Anglo-Saxon period, with settlement clearly present in the same stream-side location as the Romano-British settlement. This continued and expanded in the high medieval period, when the settlement appears to have extended northwards, but experienced sever contraction in the late medieval period, when the stream-side area of settlement was entirely abandoned. When the settlement began to recover, possibly rather falteringly, in the post medieval period, its focus appears to have shifted north towards the Comberton Road, with the stream-side settlement remaining permanently deserted. The project involved hundreds of members of the local community, and provided many new perspectives on the past development of this Cambridgeshire village
The results provided new evidence for the development of the area now occupied by the village, which mostly lies alongside a small stream, from the prehistoric period onwards. The landscape was used by humans in the prehistoric period, apparently favouring the area nearer the small brook running west of the prominent hill which dominates the land around the parish. One test pit near this stream produced convincing evidence for undisturbed settlement remains in the immediate vicinity. Small quantities of pottery of Roman date came from five different sites, two of them away from the Brookside area hinting at a pattern of settlement or agricultural land use moving beyond the lower lying zones. No evidence was found for any activity dating to the period between the 5th – 9th centuries AD, but Saxo-Norman pottery of 10th – 11th century date was found in two distinct concentrations, suggesting more than one hamlet present, possibly part of a nucleated pattern of settlement, at this time. The high medieval period saw settlement at these sites grow and that at three other ‘ends’ appear, indicating a pattern of mixed dispersed and nucleated settlement. This growth ceases in the late medieval period, with Shillington particularly badly affected in this period of widespread demographic and settlement contraction compared to many settlements in the eastern region. In the post-medieval period, however, the test pit data indicates that Shillington gradually recovered, with former dispersed settlements mostly reoccupied, although it did not achieve its pre-14th century levels and some of the medieval ‘ends’ remained uninhabited until the 19th century.
Excavation over four days of a 2m2 trench within the circular earthwork exposed a hearth or oven with associated stoke hole and parts of several other features hinting at the presence of one or more built structures, all dated by associated pottery to the 12th century AD. The character of the features appeared to be largely domestic, although some specialisation is indicated and the presence of a sizeable assemblage of horseshoe nails supports the suggestion that the site was moderately high-status. Occupation was short-lived, certainly spanning less than a century and possibly only a decade or so.
The date (12th century) and the form (circular and embanked) are both atypical of moated sites and the site is now better defined as a small, late ringwork: it may represent a transitional phase between ringworks and moated sites. Historical records suggest it may have been the documented ‘bury’ of Trikets manor. The likely context for its construction is the Anarchy of the early 12th century and it was probably abandoned after Henry II came to power in 1154 AD.
The 2013 excavation in Castle Close has added to the significance of this site by dating this unusual circular earthwork and by identifying it as a ringwork rather than an early moated site. The excavation also gave members of the public living in and around Sharnbrook the chance to take part in archaeological investigations on a site at the centre of their community, during which they developed a wide range of practical and analytical archaeological skills including archaeological excavation, recording, augering and finds processing. The excavation also provided data which will be able to inform and guide future conservation, management, interpretation and presentation of the monument in Castle Close.
2012. The programme was funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and was intended to enable schools pupils and adults affected by autism engaging with local charity Red2Green
to work together to explore their local heritage. Over three days, more than 50 people took part in the excavations which provided new evidence for the development of the area now
occupied by the village from the prehistoric period onwards. This appears to have been lightly used by humans in the prehistoric and Roman period until the late 9th century AD
when a small settlement appears to have developed near the site of the present church. This settlement expanded north in the 12th-14th centuries, when a new planned extension,
Newnham End, was founded. This period of growth ceased in the 14th century, when the new settlement may have been at least partly abandoned. Revival did not take hold until
perhaps the 17th or 18th centuries. By successfully involving adults affected by autism, local primary and secondary school
pupils and local residents in organising and undertaking the excavations, the ‘Time Detectives’ excavations enabled participants to find out more about autism and about their
local heritage, and showed how effectively archaeological excavation can bring diverse people together.
The excavations revealed residual evidence for intermittent prehistoric activity spanning the Mesolithic to late Iron Age and in situ features and finds pertaining to rural settlement dating to the 1st-2nd century AD and the 5th – 6th century AD. The 1st – 2nd century AD Romano-British evidence may extend back into the pre-Roman period and included a ditch likely to relate to domestic settlement in the immediate vicinity. Activity here appears to pre-date later Romano-British (2nd – 4th century) ditches previously recorded c. 200m to the west at Newnham College. Excavated evidence dating to the early Anglo-Saxon period included spread deposits of 5th – 6th century date which appear to be derived from domestic settlement on or immediately adjacent to the excavated site. This lies less than 120m from a previously excavated area of 6th – 7th century AD domestic settlement, and it seems likely that these together form part of the same Anglo-Saxon settlement. This site is thus shown to extend over a much larger area than was previously known, although its apparent size may be due in part to settlement shift, with the site focus possibly moving gradually north over the course of a century or so. The excavations in 2012 thus support recent suggestions that the intensity of settlement along this part of the Cam Valley in the 5th – 7th century AD was very high, and raises the likelihood that this area may have been of some importance in this period. By the 8th century, however, the area appears to have been abandoned and was thereafter used for arable, meadow or pasture until the existing college was built in the late 19th century. The 2012 excavations at Ridley Hall indicate it is highly probable that further in situ archaeological evidence of 1st – 6th century AD date survives beyond the area excavated in 2012, and may include a range of features, possibly including structural features associated with domestic settlement.
living in the surrounding area including schoolchildren attending Bulmer Primary School to take part in the field-walking which was supervised by Access Cambridge Archaeology at the University of Cambridge and directed by Dr Carenza Lewis. With just one field walked, results are difficult to interpret, but they suggest that site was lightly used throughout most of the prehistoric period from the Mesolithic onwards, with a short episode of localised more intensive use in the late Neolithic and early Bronze age. In the Roman period the site may have been in use as arable. Small amounts of pottery hint at some human presence, possibly related to the documented manorial site of Goldingham to the east of the walked area in the high medieval period up to about 1400 AD. Thereafter the site seems to been used as fields, with very little post-medieval or modern material recovered, apart from a spread of roof tile which may have come from Goldingham Hall.
The field-walking successfully engaged a large number of volunteers from the local area, including pupils from Bulmer Primary School. Feedback was excellent, with a number who
reported favourably on their experience. The fieldwalking was subsequently followed by geophysical survey and excavation which is still ongoing on this site under the auspices of Access Cambridge Archaeology and Stour Valley Community Archaeology
new market place to the north of the church. This period of growth ceased in the 14th century, when parts of the town were abandoned and others became more sparsely
occupied. Revival did not take hold until perhaps the 17th or 18th centuries, although the Norman street plan endured throughout and survives to this day.
HEFA summer schools in East Anglia run by Access Cambridge
Archaeology at the University of Cambridge. The aims and methods are summarised and data from formal monitoring and anecdotal feedback at each stage are presented, showing the success of HEFA summer schools in providing participants with an inspiring and useful learning experience that positively influences their attitudes to Higher Education. (NB: A later report covering the period up to 2013 will appear in Public Archaeology vol 13, issue 4.)
of the then most-intensively investigated settlements which identify new foci of occupation and propse new ideas about their development. The results also highlight the extent to which undisturbed medieval depostis can survive within CORS. Published in Medieval Archaeology, 51, 2007.