Loss and Discovery; Excavations Across The North Town Wall, Stratford Road, Sandy, Central Bedfordshire, 2023
The appendix of the coins from the excavations at Sandy, Central Bedfordshire.
This monograph de... more The appendix of the coins from the excavations at Sandy, Central Bedfordshire.
This monograph details the results of excavations to the west of the Municipal Cemetery, Stratford Road, Sandy, Bedfordshire. The excavations revealed new evidence regarding Roman and Saxon settlement and burial practices in the area between the 1st and 6th centuries AD. Of particular note was the discovery of a town ditch and a later town wall, the presence of which suggests that the Roman settlement that formerly occupied the site was more substantial than previously thought. Within the town wall, evidence of land division and road infrastructure were discovered, as were ovens, kilns and numerous pits spanning the mid-1st to 4th centuries AD. Outside the town wall, a cremation cemetery developed during the earlier part of the Roman period and a possible offering or midden pit was created during the 2nd century AD.
Another noteworthy find was the discovery of a Saxon-style sunken featured building (SFB) and an early Saxon inhumation, carbon dated to the 6th century AD, the presence of which raises the possibility of unbroken occupation between the Roman and post-Roman periods in the vicinity of the site.
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assumed that this huge drop in numbers is due to the end of Roman Britain
sometime in the 5th century, but it actually affected the whole northwestern
empire.
This month I want to look a little further into some of the quirkier finds you might get in assemblages and explore what they can tell us about 4th century Roman Britain.
coins can tell us so much about the sites you are detecting. The challenge is
that you see perfect coins illustrated in books and websites, whereas many you will find are worn, broken or corroded.
But don’t let this put you off as often their secrets can still be revealed. In this new series, I’ll be looking at a variety of 4th century objects – for this
first article I wanted to start with coins. They are found in vast numbers on
sites across Britain (almost 300,000 are recorded in my recent corpus of Roman coins) and there is a logic to them. This makes it very easy to learn the basics. In a short space of time, you can often narrow down even a very worn coin to a few years based on the reverse.
In June 2016, the British Numismatic Society awarded a bursary to undertake an extensive re-analysis of the coins found by the General on his excavations in Woodyates and Bokerley Dyke during the period 1888−91. The aim of the bursary was to expand on the numismatic reanalysis of the coinage from the excavations after the discovery of unpublished coins from Woodcutts.
The assemblage also includes a significant quantity of coins from AD 330−50 (Reece periods 17 and 18) that were discovered within the limits of Section II, which was 85 feet (26 metres) in length and 30 feet (9 metres) in width. The significant quantity of coins from Reece periods 17 and 18 within this Section suggested that perhaps an unpublished hoard may had been recovered. This was initially noted as a possibility by David Algar in the 1980s. On his suggestion further analysis was undertaken in 2016 to consider the assemblage and to define the scope of the possible hoard.
commissioned by Wiltshire Council after a number
of finds were reported to the Portable Antiquities
Scheme. The results from the magnetometer
survey led to two metal-detecting surveys, which
were undertaken in conjunction with members of
the Swindon Artefact Searchers and the Wyvern
metal-detecting clubs. These surveys recovered over
two hundred artefacts and coins which have been
recorded by the Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS).
The evidence provides an insight into a farming and
ironworking site, and detailed analysis of range and
distribution of finds allows the assemblage to be
placed in its wider context.
data about the archaeology of the county. HER data within a defined study area has been analysed using statistical
techniques and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to evaluate settlement distribution and change in the Late Iron
Age and Roman periods. A key element has been to develop a methodology for analysing data in the HER. It is argued
that the comparison of different datasets, such as artefacts and coins, can be used to explore the circulation of Iron Age
coins in the Roman period. In-depth analysis of aspects of the data have in turn led to an enhancement of the HER and
shown what an indispensable resource it is for wider research.
The link below allows 50 readers free access to the article: https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/twJcJyXhF2JH4wEVyeXR/full?target=10.1080/00253359.2019.1589117
excavated by Poulett Scrope in the 19th century
after several walls were exposed (Scrope 1862).
The excavations revealed a villa which had three
courtyards or compounds, and a well-preserved
bath house (Scrope 1862; Andrews et al. 2014). A
number of the finds from the excavation form part
of the collections of Wiltshire Museum, Devizes
and the Ashmolean Museum.
Further investigations were undertaken in
recent years in the vicinity of North Wraxall villa
by Wessex Archaeology (Andrews et al. 2014).
A geophysical survey in 2008 confirmed the
general accuracy of the plan of the villa complex
published in 1862 (Archaeological Surveys 2008).
Accompanying these investigations work was also
undertaken to confirm the location of materials
held in the Devizes and Castle Combe Museums
(the latter now closed), which concluded that much
of the stonework, including the Roman coffins,
could no longer be traced.
In 2017, Wiltshire Museum discovered that
two finials and three column bases recovered in
the 19th century had in fact still survived, and
these were subsequently donated to the museum
by Charles Fry and Deborah Gough. The donation
and the account offered by Charles Fry provides a
new insight into the stonework from North Wraxall
villa. This has led to a re-analysis of the material
held in Wiltshire Museum from the 19th-century
excavations, including unpublished watercolours
of the bath house and finds painted by Scrope.
assumed that this huge drop in numbers is due to the end of Roman Britain
sometime in the 5th century, but it actually affected the whole northwestern
empire.
This month I want to look a little further into some of the quirkier finds you might get in assemblages and explore what they can tell us about 4th century Roman Britain.
coins can tell us so much about the sites you are detecting. The challenge is
that you see perfect coins illustrated in books and websites, whereas many you will find are worn, broken or corroded.
But don’t let this put you off as often their secrets can still be revealed. In this new series, I’ll be looking at a variety of 4th century objects – for this
first article I wanted to start with coins. They are found in vast numbers on
sites across Britain (almost 300,000 are recorded in my recent corpus of Roman coins) and there is a logic to them. This makes it very easy to learn the basics. In a short space of time, you can often narrow down even a very worn coin to a few years based on the reverse.
In June 2016, the British Numismatic Society awarded a bursary to undertake an extensive re-analysis of the coins found by the General on his excavations in Woodyates and Bokerley Dyke during the period 1888−91. The aim of the bursary was to expand on the numismatic reanalysis of the coinage from the excavations after the discovery of unpublished coins from Woodcutts.
The assemblage also includes a significant quantity of coins from AD 330−50 (Reece periods 17 and 18) that were discovered within the limits of Section II, which was 85 feet (26 metres) in length and 30 feet (9 metres) in width. The significant quantity of coins from Reece periods 17 and 18 within this Section suggested that perhaps an unpublished hoard may had been recovered. This was initially noted as a possibility by David Algar in the 1980s. On his suggestion further analysis was undertaken in 2016 to consider the assemblage and to define the scope of the possible hoard.
commissioned by Wiltshire Council after a number
of finds were reported to the Portable Antiquities
Scheme. The results from the magnetometer
survey led to two metal-detecting surveys, which
were undertaken in conjunction with members of
the Swindon Artefact Searchers and the Wyvern
metal-detecting clubs. These surveys recovered over
two hundred artefacts and coins which have been
recorded by the Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS).
The evidence provides an insight into a farming and
ironworking site, and detailed analysis of range and
distribution of finds allows the assemblage to be
placed in its wider context.
data about the archaeology of the county. HER data within a defined study area has been analysed using statistical
techniques and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to evaluate settlement distribution and change in the Late Iron
Age and Roman periods. A key element has been to develop a methodology for analysing data in the HER. It is argued
that the comparison of different datasets, such as artefacts and coins, can be used to explore the circulation of Iron Age
coins in the Roman period. In-depth analysis of aspects of the data have in turn led to an enhancement of the HER and
shown what an indispensable resource it is for wider research.
The link below allows 50 readers free access to the article: https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/twJcJyXhF2JH4wEVyeXR/full?target=10.1080/00253359.2019.1589117
excavated by Poulett Scrope in the 19th century
after several walls were exposed (Scrope 1862).
The excavations revealed a villa which had three
courtyards or compounds, and a well-preserved
bath house (Scrope 1862; Andrews et al. 2014). A
number of the finds from the excavation form part
of the collections of Wiltshire Museum, Devizes
and the Ashmolean Museum.
Further investigations were undertaken in
recent years in the vicinity of North Wraxall villa
by Wessex Archaeology (Andrews et al. 2014).
A geophysical survey in 2008 confirmed the
general accuracy of the plan of the villa complex
published in 1862 (Archaeological Surveys 2008).
Accompanying these investigations work was also
undertaken to confirm the location of materials
held in the Devizes and Castle Combe Museums
(the latter now closed), which concluded that much
of the stonework, including the Roman coffins,
could no longer be traced.
In 2017, Wiltshire Museum discovered that
two finials and three column bases recovered in
the 19th century had in fact still survived, and
these were subsequently donated to the museum
by Charles Fry and Deborah Gough. The donation
and the account offered by Charles Fry provides a
new insight into the stonework from North Wraxall
villa. This has led to a re-analysis of the material
held in Wiltshire Museum from the 19th-century
excavations, including unpublished watercolours
of the bath house and finds painted by Scrope.
This monograph details the results of excavations to the west of the Municipal Cemetery, Stratford Road, Sandy, Bedfordshire. The excavations revealed new evidence regarding Roman and Saxon settlement and burial practices in the area between the 1st and 6th centuries AD. Of particular note was the discovery of a town ditch and a later town wall, the presence of which suggests that the Roman settlement that formerly occupied the site was more substantial than previously thought. Within the town wall, evidence of land division and road infrastructure were discovered, as were ovens, kilns and numerous pits spanning the mid-1st to 4th centuries AD. Outside the town wall, a cremation cemetery developed during the earlier part of the Roman period and a possible offering or midden pit was created during the 2nd century AD.
Another noteworthy find was the discovery of a Saxon-style sunken featured building (SFB) and an early Saxon inhumation, carbon dated to the 6th century AD, the presence of which raises the possibility of unbroken occupation between the Roman and post-Roman periods in the vicinity of the site.
catastrophic impact that the collapse of Roman Britain had on everyday life for the general population. Given the title of this book, the major focus here (perhaps unsurprisingly) is on the former and why certain late Roman objects are so important to further our understanding of this crucial period. These objects can offer insights into who wore them, what it said about that person and crucially, the areas of Britain that the state felt was important. This could be for defence, taxation or supply.
The book is essentially split into two parts, the first half introduces late Roman Britain, the state and what a soldier or member of the administration wore. Chapter one will set the scene and provide the historical background to the events which frame how we approach late Roman Britain. Chapters two, three and four will introduce the late Roman state. It was primarily concerned with its own survival and the Roman economy was geared to its needs.
The military defended the frontiers and the administration ensured that it was paid and supplied, primarily through taxation. Chapter five focuses on what a soldier or official
would have worn and why these objects are important in representing the identity of these individuals.
The main aim of this book is to help the reader to assign a type and date to these objects
and this forms the second part. Crossbow brooches, penannular brooches, belt fittings
and spurs have all been linked to the late Roman state in some form. The focus will not
simply be on typologies used to categorise these objects and their date, but what they
meant. This will be considered through an analysis of the spatial and social distribution
of these objects. The social distribution is important as we can gain new insights into
who used these objects and where, through categorising sites into military, urban and
rural settlements. The illustrations and images of the artefacts are shown actual size unless otherwise stated.
Finds made through metal detecting are crucial to this picture and the objects recorded with the Portable Antiquities Scheme are changing our understanding of this crucial
period of British history. The stories developed are often complex, contradictory, and usually create more questions than they answer. What they illustrate is a vibrant period in which there were significant political and social changes. Crucially, these changes occurred at different times in different places. Analysis of material culture can help to provide differing perspectives as to how and when this might have happened in a particular area of Britain.
In Hobson, M and Newman R (ed) Lyde Green Roman Villa, Emersons Green, South Gloucestershire. Archaeopress 2021
https://archaeopress.com/ArchaeopressShop/Public/displayProductDetail.asp?id={82DF770D-43FA-45D4-9C32-02FEAD0082C2}
host to carefully concealed hoards of material wealth; from
tools to weapons, jewellery to money. Over the last two
hundred years, the discoveries of these previously hidden
treasures have led to the rewriting of our understanding of
this country and the people who lived in it.
In this book, archaeologist Richard Henry examines ten of the
most significant of these hoards. Through considering these finds
in relation to their landscape context and scientific analysis, it is
clear these items have much to tell us - from medieval silver coins
that reflect the battle of power during the Anarchy (1135–1153),
to Roman saucepans and wine strainers that may suggest ritual
consumption at tribal boundaries.
Hoards from Wiltshire explores the types of objects hidden away
and the motivations for doing so, deepening our understanding of
the people who used and deposited them as well as the history of
the county as a whole.
https://www.academia.edu/36753881/If_the_sword_is_very_short_and_the_pen_very_sharp
Poster presented at The Historical Metallurgy Society
29th November, Research in Progress Meeting, held at University of Birmingham, Birmingham
that drew on ancient civilisations, came about because of the discovery of a miniature Roman sword.