Edward Biddulph – författare

Explores the archaeology and heritage of the London Gateway site.

This volume presents specialist reports and illustrations, on the Late Iron Age and Roman artefacts recovered during archaeological investigations in the Ebbsfleet valley, near Gravesend, Kent. It is part of a four volume publication on investigations at Springhead and Northfleet, undertaken in connection with engineering works for Section 2 of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL), now High Speed 1 (HS1). The archaeological discoveries made during HS1 Section 2, which range in date from the Late Iron Age to the medieval period, are reported in Volume 1. Specialist reports on the Iron Age and Roman human bone, faunal and environmental remains are reported in Volume 3, while those on the Saxon and medieval artefacts, human bone, and faunal and environmental remains are reported in Volume 4; additional data is available via the website (http://owarch.co.uk/hs1/springhead-northfleet/). These reports have been prepared by the Oxford Wessex Archaeology Joint Venture in conjunction with Rail Link Engineering for Union Railways (North) Limited (URN). High Speed 1 is the new high-speed railway linking London mainline stations to the Channel Tunnel. Section 1 of HS1, running from the tunnel portal at Folkestone, passes through Kent to Pepper Hill near Gravesend, whilst Section 2 continues the line under the Thames at Swanscombe, and then runs through Essex and East London to London St Pancras. The massive engineering and construction project necessitated one of the largest programmes of archaeological works ever undertaken in Britain. Desk-based assessment was followed by extensive evaluation, comprising field-walking, trial trenching, test-pitting, and borehole investigation. This allowed HS1’s impact on the finite archaeological resources along the route to be assessed and mitigated. Where archaeological sites could not be bypassed, or preserved in situ, excavations were undertaken in advance of construction. The principal archaeological work for Section 1 took place in 1998–2001, while that for Section 2, commissioned by URN, took place between September 2000 and March 2003. Construction work relating to Section 2 in the Ebbsfleet valley included HS1 itself, Ebbsfleet International Station and associated access roads, and a connecting line to the existing North Kent Line. Oxford Archaeology undertook detailed excavation and a watching brief on land south of Northfleet, centred on NGR 516413 174196, towards the north end of the valley, while Wessex Archaeology undertook detailed excavation, strip, map and sample excavation, evaluation and a watching brief on various sites around the south end of the valley, at Springhead, centred on NGR 618000 727500. Following completion of the HS1 programme of work in 2003, there have been further, sometimes extensive, investigations within and adjacent to the Ebbsfleet valley, in advance of infrastructure works and housing and commercial developments. Although these have revealed Palaeolithic and other early prehistoric remains, as well as further discoveries of Late Iron Age, Roman, and Saxon date, it is not anticipated that any major revisions will be required to what is presented in this publication. The four volumes of this publication comprise one of two separate archaeological studies reporting on the HS1 Section 2 excavations in the Ebbsfleet valley. The other publication, Prehistoric Ebbsfleet, focuses on Palaeolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic, Bronze Age, and earlier Iron Age activity. The present publication, Springhead and Northfleet, concentrates on Roman and later activity, but also takes into account the late prehistoric origins of the Roman occupation of the area. The overlap with the Prehistoric Ebbsfleet study, however, is slight as the most important later prehistoric remains – the Late Iron Age ritual or ceremonial activity near the Ebbsfleet spring at Springhead – are outside the period covered by the Prehistoric Ebbsfleet study. The Springhead and Northfleet publication reports on three major excavations, as well as on minor excavations, evaluations, and other investigations, both HS1 and non-HS1. The principal discoveries comprise late prehistoric, Roman, and Saxon features at Springhead, including a sanctuary complex within the Roman town of Vagniacis, and two Middle Saxon cemeteries to its east (site code: ARC SPH00); the Roman Roadside Settlement at Springhead Nursery (site codes: ARC SHN02 and WA 51724); and late prehistoric, Roman, and Saxon features at Northfleet, where a Middle Saxon watermill was discovered immediately adjacent to the Northfleet Roman villa (site code: ARC EBB01). Investigations were also undertaken on the site of a Roman high status walled cemetery south-east of Springhead, first investigated between 1799 and 1802 (site codes ARC WCY02 and WA 52379). This publication also consider the results of earlier (as well as ongoing) investigations and excavations undertaken by a variety of groups at both Springhead and Northfleet Roman villa. The detailed specialist reports in this volume of the Springhead and Northfleet publication cover all the Late Iron Age and Roman artefacts recovered during the reported excavations. These include the analysis of approximately 2158 kg of pottery, dated from the pre-Conquest, earlier 1st century AD until possibly the early 5th century, although most of it is of mid-1st to early/mid-3rd century AD date. In addition, 1756 coins and tokens were recovered, and over 2600 other metal small finds, as well as some 3000 nails. Many of the metal finds comprise items of personal adornment and dress, and various fittings, but others include household utensils and furniture, objects for weighing and measuring, pieces of toilet or medical equipment, tools associated with manufacture and agriculture, military equipment, and votive and religious pieces. Slag was recovered from a probable smithy in the Roadside Settlement, and from another to the east, pre-dating the Sanctuary complex; while virtually all of it derives from forging/smithing, a small component indicates iron smelting. The ceramic building material was associated with a range of structures, including those in the Sanctuary complex, and the temple within the Roadside Settlement, as well as with crop drying or malting kilns, ovens, and hearths. Almost 400 pieces of wall plaster were recorded, mostly from the Roadside Settlement, including a small area of in situ plaster, recorded but not lifted, in one of the rooms of the temple structure. The report on Roman woodwork, which comprised elements of riverbank revetments and well/cistern and pit linings, as well as pieces of fine woven basketry, considers raw materials and woodworking technology. The worked stone report examines some 95 rotary querns and eight millstones, and well as grinding stones and whetstones, and small quantities of structural and decorative stone including two tessarae. Other object found include shale armlets and spindlewhorls, two jet beads, and fragments of at least two pipeclay Venus figurines, along with glass, leather shoes, and objects of bone, including pins and needles, bracelet fragments and a comb. For ease of reference, the site and trench location figures from Volume 1 (Figs 1.1–1.3) are repeated here. For all other relevant archaeological plans, sections and photos, the reader should refer to Volume 1.Complete record

The fictional superspy James Bond is a cultural phenomenon, becoming since his first appearance in the novel Casino Royale in 1953 a character as recognizable around the world as Sherlock Holmes and Robin Hood. While we may associate James Bond with exotic locales, underwater adventures, and even outer space, there are many sites in Britain connected with the character. Locations used in the Bond films, places mentioned in the novels, buildings inhabited or visited by Bond’s creator, Ian Fleming: James Bond has left his mark across the country.This book takes you on a tour of Britain, from the Highlands of Scotland to the White Cliffs of Dover, from Wales to East Anglia, to discover iconic film locations, landmarks described in the novels, and places associated with Ian Fleming.This is the first guide that takes readers around Britain not only to explore the film settings but also the literary locations and places that had a profound impact on Ian Fleming’s writing. The generously illustrated book can be used as guide on Bond tours across the country, as well as a treasure trove of fascinating Bond facts.

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An excavation by Oxford Archaeology in 2008 at Kingshill North, to the north-east of Cirencester, Gloucestershire, uncovered evidence for prehistoric occupation. The earliest evidence comprised storage pits dating to the late Neolithic period. Some of the features contained Grooved Ware pottery decorated with exceptionally rare ‘lattice lozenge’ motifs, pig bones suggestive of feasting, bone pins and awls, worked flint imported from some distance, and fragments of Cornish axe heads. The pit groups point to a community able to mobilise a wide range of resources and dispose of them in a highly visible way. The fieldwork uncovered two Beaker burials, one enclosed by a ring-ditch. The isotopes from the individuals indicate that they were not local; one individual came from the chalklands of eastern or southern England, the other was from a more southwesterly chalkland region. As such they fit within an emerging picture of population mobility. Another inhumation grave, dated to the middle Bronze Age, was also recorded. More storage pits were dug during the middle Iron Age. These were filled with domestic waste, but there was evidence of structured deposits in the form of crow or rook and dog burials. The late Iron Age settlement comprised a sequence of ditches which formed boundaries or enclosures and surrounded structures and pits. These were set within a pastoral landscape and areas of grassland and meadows. Three human burials, all interred in ditches, were also recorded. The settlement was within the territory of the Dobunni, whose centre was at nearby Bagendon, but the inhabitants of Kingshill North did not benefit materially from the proximity, and their focus remained local. The settlement was abandoned by the late 1st century AD, before or coincident with the establishment of the Roman town of Corinium Dobunnorum, although agricultural activity continued to a limited extent through the Roman period, and there was a single cremation burial dated between the late 1st and mid 3rd century AD. The medieval and postmedieval periods were represented by an agricultural landscape of field boundaries and drainage features.

Excavations in advance of gravel quarrying in the Upper Thames Valley at Horcott Quarry, Fairford, and nearby Arkell’s Land, Kempsford, revealed contrasting pictures. At Horcott, on the second terrace, there was periodic activity from the early Mesolithic onwards. A major earlier Iron Age settlement contained roundhouses and at least 135 four-post structures, suggesting an exceptional focus on grain storage. An early–middle Roman farmstead incorporated a small stone-founded building, while from c AD 250–350 a large cemetery lay in an adjacent enclosure. Two further groups of burials were contemporary with a substantial Anglo-Saxon settlement including a timber hall and 33 sunken-featured buildings. By contrast, at Arkell’s Land, on the first gravel terrace, activity on a significant scale only began in the later 1st century AD. It comprised enclosures, field systems and trackways, with the most intensive settlement, as at Horcott, in the middle Roman period. The site was probably linked to an adjacent estate centre at Claydon Pike. There was no post-Roman occupation.

Excavations by Oxford Archaeology at Kingshill South on the eastern edge of Cirencester in Gloucestershire uncovered evidence for prehistoric and Roman activity. The earliest evidence comprised a pit dating to the late Neolithic period or early Bronze Age, and the site was also inhabited during the late Bronze Age or early Iron Age. There was a gap in activity until the late 1st century AD, when fields were laid out on the site's southern slope. Three buildings were recorded within the area of the excavation. Building 1 was a domestic, stone-footed building best described as a proto-villa. Building 2 was an aisled building with an apsidal end and is likely to have served an agricultural function. Both were constructed in the 2nd century AD. Building 3, dated to the late Roman period, is interpreted as a granary. The settlement was abandoned by the late 4th century AD. The site remained agricultural land until the establishment of Cirencester's eastern suburb in the 20th century. Grain, meat, and wool, among other goods, were produced at the Roman settlement, probably to supply the town of Corinium Dobunnorum. Evidence for craft activity, including pin-making, horn-working and smithing, was also recorded. Formal burials and disarticulated human bone were encountered across the settlement. Analysis of the bones revealed remarkable insights into the lives of the settlement's inhabitants. The habitual, possibly craft-related, activity performed by one young female adult required her to spend much of her time in a squatting position. One adult male had a facial disfigurement which had an impact not just on his daily life, but also the manner of his burial.