Elizabeth Stafford – författare

This report presents the results of archaeological investigations carried out during improvements to five key junctions along a stretch of the A13 trunk road through the East London Boroughs of Tower Hamlets, Newham and Barking and Dagenham. The A13 at this location runs parallel to the River Thames, traversing the very edge of the Thames gravel terraces and alluvial floodplain. Previous archaeological work has shown the Thames gravel terraces to be one of the most intensively occupied regions of Southern England during the prehistoric period and locations on or adjacent to the terrace edge have high potential for preserving organic remains such as timber structures and palaeoenvironmental evidence in waterlogged conditions. The archaeology recorded covers a wide chronological range representing intermittent activity spanning the Mesolithic through to the post-Roman period. Regionally important evidence of Neolithic activity included artefact assemblages of pottery and worked flint. A rare cache of charred emmer wheat recovered during evaluation at the Woolwich Manor Way site provides definitive evidence of early Neolithic cereal cultivation in the vicinity, and a fragment of belt slider made from Whitby jet attests to long distance exchange networks. The greatest concentration of activity, however, dates to the 2nd millennium BC and includes several Bronze Age timber stake-built structures and brushwood trackways with associated wetland edge occupation. The A13 structures add to the corpus of regional evidence for trackway building and marshland exploitation during this period. The broadly northsouth orientation would suggest they were built to maintain access to the Thames floodplain during a period of increased wetness. This may have been to exploit a range of natural resources and to herd animals to seasonal pasture. To the west, at Freemasons Road, a double row of large oak piles may represent the remains of a wooden footbridge linking the drier ground of the terrace to an island on the Lea floodplain. The piles are among the most substantial known in the region and are of similar form to those from Runneymede Bridge and Vauxhall. The bridge structure seems to have been associated with a series of gullies and postholes representing some form of enclosure perhaps associated with the corralling of animals. At Movers Lane a burnt mound deposit and associated pits located at the edge of a palaeochannel appear to post-date trackway construction and date to the latter part of the 2nd millennium BC, as does a cremation deposit and series of linear features that may define boundaries or drainage systems. Evidence during the later periods was sparser and probably relates to a period of marine incursion, with the spread of saltmarsh environments and tidal creeks making the area unsuitable for activity. Extensive geoarchaeological and palaeoenvironmental sampling carried out during the lifetime of the project provides an important record of landscape evolution and periods of major change can be detected, both natural and anthropogenically induced. As well as providing a context for the archaeology along the A13, this raises a number of issues regarding the interaction of local communities with the natural environment, how they responded to change and to a certain extent exploited it. Ultimately this is of relevance not only to understanding the past but also to current concerns regarding environmental management along the Thames estuary.

Projects supported by £8.8 million of funding from the British Government under the Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund (ALSF) administered by English Heritage (now Historic England) have completely transformed our understanding of the Palaeolithic and contributed to our understanding of Pleistocene environments in Britain. This is a period of multiple Ice Ages interspersed with warmer periods, which forms the backdrop for human evolution. The benefits to archaeology and for the interpretation of these fragile remains from this ancient epoch have been incalculable.In an effort to make this work better known, English Heritage (now Historic England) initiated the Lost Landscapes of Palaeolithic Britain project when the ALSF was cut in 2011. The project was designed and managed for English Heritage by Oxford Archaeology. It brought together a team of academic specialists, recognised as leaders in various aspects of the British Palaeolithic, but also crucially with experience of ALSF projects and developer-funded archaeology. The academic team was led by Professor Mark White of Durham University. Outputs from the project include an update of The English Rivers Palaeolithic Survey (TERPS) artefact database and a report to inform future research activities undertaken as part of the National Heritage Protection Plan.A key and concluding part of the project was the production of a peer-reviewed monograph (White et al 2016) drawing together the key results of ALSF research in a series of thematic chapters and illustrated text boxes, focusing on cutting edge techniques, investigative strategies and case studies. Insights obtained from projects have helped to define future priorities and milestones for Palaeolithic research. This book has been specifically designed to provide an engaging and accessible commentary for the non-specialist, reaching out to curators, planning archaeologists and those working in industry and commercial units. The aim from the outset has been to bridge the gap between achievement and awareness of the huge contribution of the ALSF to this remote and often enigmatic period.The Lost Landscapes of Palaeolithic Britain Project was monitored for English Heritage by Helen Keeley and Jonathan Last. The project was managed for Oxford Archaeology by Elizabeth Stafford.

Oxford Street, Paddington Station, Soho; these are some of the most iconic landmarks of the capital and famous throughout the world, but the telling of their history is frequently an aside to the story of the City - the birthplace of the Capital with its Roman origins, Norman citadel, medieval buildings and financial dominance. But what lies beneath the busy streets and pavements of the West End? Why are there so many residential squares in this part of London? How did this agricultural landscape on the periphery of the urban centre evolve into one of the most prized property markets in the world? This book shines a spotlight on the history and archaeology of West London. It is informed by the desk-based historical research, site excavations and archaeological monitoring carried out before and during the construction of the western arm of Crossrail as it travels below ground from the tunnel portal at Royal Oak to Fisher Street via brand new stations at Paddington, Bond Street and Tottenham Court Road - a journey which includes the discovery of ice age Bison and reindeer, the rediscovery of long lost rivers and reveals the history of the Georgian property developers and the Great Western Railway.

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 construction of High Speed 1 (HS1; formerly the Channel Tunnel Rail Link) entailed a major programme of archaeological investigations across Kent, Essex and Greater London. This volume, the last in a series of reports, presents the archaeological results from investigations in the Ebbsfleet Valley undertaken between 1997 and 2003 on HS1. It also incorporates the results from the associated South Thameside Development Route 4 (STDR 4) road link improvements in the Lower Ebbsfleet Valley carried out for Kent County Council in 2000 and 2001, and investigations on the Ebbsfleet Development (Northfleet Rise) site carried out in 1997.The results of the 2004 Oxford Archaeology early Palaeolithic ‘Ebbsfleet elephant’ excavation, carried out late in the HS1 construction programme, are reported separately (Wenban-Smith 2013).This volume concerns the HS1 study theme defined as ‘Prehistoric Ebbsfleet’. It focuses on landscape development and human occupation from the Palaeolithic through to the Early Iron Age, a span of around 300,000 years. This period incorporates fluctuating extremes of climate between harsh sub-arctic conditions when southern Britain would have been a frozen and uninhabitable treeless waste, and warmer interludes when luxuriant forest was interspersed with grassy plains, rich in what we would now regard as tropical fauna, such as lion, hippopotamus and hyaena.The Ebbsfleet Valley and its immediate area are rich in prehistoric remains, and the area has seen numerous investigations carried out from the 19th century onwards. Despite the lack of ‘modern’ excavation and recording methods, these sites have produced some nationally important sites including Baker’s Hole − Britain’s foremost Palaeolithic site with Levalloisian flint artefacts − rare evidence for ‘Long Blade’ occupation of Final Palaeolithic date, and the type-site for Neolithic Ebbsfleet Ware pottery.The approach taken in this volume is to develop a framework for the changing landscape and environment of the Ebbsfleet Valley through this period, and to present the evidence of human occupation against this background. Although direct human evidence is largely lacking from the present investigations, the prolific results of earlier work have been integrated with the environmental and dating framework established as a result of the HS1 and STDR 4 works.The results are initially presented by Zone within the Ebbsfleet Valley, with detailed specialist reports and development of zonal environmental and dating frameworks. The zonal results are then combined into an overall synthesis and discussion. A reappraisal of the important Palaeolithic flint artefact collections from Baker’s Hole and the Ebbsfleet Channel is also presented.

The Thameslink infrastructure upgrade involved the construction of new commuter stations on the banks of the River Thames at Blackfriars North within the City of London and Blackfriars South in the Borough of Southwark, with extension to platforms and the installation of solar panels along the length of the railway bridge. The new Blackfriars Station is the first in London to span the entire width of the River Thames, and the first new station to be built in this area for 120 years. This volume presents the results of geoarchaeological investigations undertaken on both sides of the river and archaeological excavations carried out on the north bank. Traditional archaeological trenching to investigate the historic foreshore and underlying alluvial layers was impractical in much of the project area due to extensive deposits of modern rubble, foundations and the density of live services, so the initial stages of fieldwork involved geoarchaeological evaluation. This work, undertaken by MOLA in 2009 and 2010, involved monitoring of geotechnical boreholes and trial pits at Blackfriars North, and the drilling of several boreholes for archaeological purposes. The cores of boreholes successfully drilled to bedrock were extruded and assessed. The second phase of fieldwork involved the drilling of boreholes on the south bank in mitigation of construction works. A programme of mitigation excavation, confined to the north bank of the River Thames, was carried out during construction works within the footprint of the new Blackfriars Station North. The construction of a sedimentary deposit model that spans the current channel of the Thames was based on the results of the geoarchaeological investigations on both sides of the river. The absence of evidence for any prehistoric activity is probably the result of recent erosion. However, gravel deposits infilling the edges of a large bedrock hollow on the confluence of the Rivers Thames and Fleet at Blackfriars North produced possible evidence of waterside activity dating to the Roman period. Previous discoveries of the ‘Blackfriars I’ and other Roman wrecks in the vicinity suggest that ships docked at the mouth of the Fleet, a major navigable river during that period. Organic material from alluvial deposits overlying the gravel terrace on the south bank produced Middle Saxon and later radiocarbon dates, and provide insights into the tidal nature of the river and of foreshore land use at Blackfriars South from Saxon times to the modern day. The microfossil and mollusc evidence from these sediments suggest that this location close to a tidal head was a mixed environment of freshwater with localised brackish saltmarsh and tidal flats fronting the Thames. Pollen species and insect remains indicate that deciduous and coniferous woodland were present in the wider vicinity. The surrounding landscape was cultivated and managed, with areas of reclamation from about the 13th century onwards, with marshy areas punctuated with arable fields and pasture and gardens planted with exotic trees. The alluvial sequences of the north bank broadly resemble those from the Saxon alluvial deposits on the south bank, and also contained material typical of episodic dumping and reclamation activity on the foreshore during the 16th–17th centuries. Some of the uppermost samples yielded only freshwater microfossils associated with relatively modern detritus, including brick, coal, bone, and oyster shell, consistent with the post-medieval waterfront activity exposed in the excavation trenches. Archaeological excavation was restricted to three small trenches on the north bank of the river. Here the masonry and timber remains of a significant early 14th-century precinct wall (Structure 1) were discovered, associated with Blackfriars Friary, which gave the area its name. The wall was constructed on Roman foreshore gravels which contained fragments of 4thcentury pottery. The remnants of additional structures included a row of wooden piling, a stone buttress, and a timber jetty or watermen’s stairs, all of which may have been contemporary with the friary. Later medieval and early post-medieval structures were associated with waterfront activities and access to the river. Timber remains of a possible dock inlet or projecting wharf resemble 17th-century examples found elsewhere in London. A timber riverside revetment built on the same alignment as the medieval friary wall was later used to support a new stone-built riverside wall (Structure 5). The baseplates of this wall were reused structural timbers dated by dendro chronology to 1593– 1627, which preserved details of complex carpentry. The timbers probably originated from an unidentified high status building that had stood nearby. Finds of 17thcentury pottery and clay tobacco pipe from gravel dumps abutting these riverside structures date these structures to post-Great Fire land reclamation activity. Although there was no topographical record of London prior to the late 16th century, by which time much of the medieval city had been lost, reconstruction mapping by Mary Lobel provides details of the Blackfriars area from the 13th century, and historic maps dating from the post-Great Fire of London period and later allowed the evidence of structures discovered during the Thameslink investigations to be placed in the context of historic London.

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