Steve Lawrence – författare

Oxford Archaeology (OA) undertook a series of archaeological investigations on land around Kings Meadow Lane, Higham Ferrers, Northamptonshire, from 1993 to 2003. This work revealed occupation from the Mesolithic through to the medieval period, including part of a substantial Roman roadside settlement and shrine. This volume deals with the Roman remains, in addition to excavated early prehistoric and Iron Age activity in the local area. The important early to mid Saxon settlement and the medieval remains have been published elsewhere (Hardy et al. 2007). The earliest occupation is represented by an extensive redeposited flint assemblage attesting to significant (probably early) Mesolithic activity at the site. Sparse Neolithic occupation was indicated by two pits and a scatter of tools. A late Neolithic/early Bronze Age ring ditch surrounding a probable cremation burial was found to the east of the Roman settlement, while a second cremation burial, within an inverted early Bronze Age Collared Urn, was found in the far western part of the site. A middle to late Iron Age settlement was located c 370 m north-east of the Roman settlement, and consisted of a series of enclosures with associated ring gullies and other settlement features. The excavated part of the Roman settlement was established in the earlier 2nd century, with evidence for circular buildings, wells and a small cemetery. The settlement was bounded to the west by a ditch delimiting the eastern side of a north-south road. The layout of the settlement changed significantly during the late 2nd to 3rd century, with a series of mostly rectangular buildings aligned upon the eastern side of the north-south road. A gravel ‘pavement’ was constructed along the whole length of the roadside frontage of the settlement, while on the western side of the road, a monumental shrine complex was constructed. During the late 3rd to early 4th century the settlement expanded to the north, although the shrine to the west of the road fell into disuse at this time. The religious focus may have shifted to a small ‘temple’ at the northern periphery of the settlement. The settlement (or at least the excavated part of it) was abandoned during the second half of the 4th century, with the buildings being subjected to stone robbing, a process that continued into the post-Roman period. At the time of the Saxon reoccupation of the site (mid 5th century onwards), many of the late Roman boundary ditches still existed as remnant earthwork hollows.

Excavations by Oxford Archaeology in advance of a programme of improvements to the railway between Bicester and Oxford investigated part of the south-eastern extramural settlement associated with the Roman fortress and subsequent town at Alchester, Oxfordshire, as well as rural settlements in its rural hinterland. The investigations at Alchester extended across two successive routes south to Dorchester-on-Thames, the earlier of which by-passed the eastern side of Otmoor and was superseded by a more direct route across the moor at the end of the 1st century AD. Settlement beside the earlier road may have been a successor to a pre-Roman settlement and appears from artefactual evidence to have been of quite high status during the initial, military phase, although no contemporary structural evidence was found. Stone-founded buildings were constructed during the late 1st-early 2nd century, including two single-celled structures of uncertain function that may represent a gatehouse or a pair of shrines. The buildings were demolished by c AD 200, when the area was abandoned. An insight into the diverse lives of the inhabitants is provided by finds that included part of a priestly headdress, two pairs of slave shackles and a group of roof tiles bearing the footprints of a young child. The extramural settlement may have been partly rural in character, involved in farming the landscape around the town, which was intensively managed for agricultural production, probably as meadow and pasture. Ditched enclosures beside the later road may have been part of a second extramural area or a discrete farming establishment. No buildings were identified but two large pits contained domestic refuse and building material. Excavations at six other locations investigated farmsteads that dated from the middle Iron Age to the 3rd century AD and included a rare deposit of debris from copper and iron working from a middle Iron Age enclosure ditch.

Oxford Archaeology undertook a series of excavations in 2015–16 at Graven Hill on the former site of MoD Bicester, a large military storage and distribution centre built during the Second World War. The archaeological works revealed evidence of prehistoric, Roman, medieval and post-medieval activity, as well as finds relating to the use of the military site during the 1940s and 1950s. Ephemeral signs of early prehistoric activity were limited to stone tools, including an impressive Neolithic axe head, and a Bronze Age cremation burial. The first sign of occupation dated to the middle Iron Age in the form of a small settlement on the northern slope of the hill. A late Iron Age settlement to the north-west appeared to have been abandoned shortly after the Roman invasion, perhaps as a direct consequence of the arrival of the army at Alchester, 1.6km west of Graven Hill. This coincided with the construction of Akeman Street, the alignment of which was discovered to circumnavigate the north side of the hill. The town of Bicester later originated in the 6th century AD, around the time that a collection of dress and personal items were buried to the north of Graven Hill.A new farmstead was established in the late 11th century, developing in the 13th century with a series of masonry buildings arranged around a central courtyard, linked via a road to the deserted medieval village at Wretchwick. The site is significant for its well-preserved structural foundations and a considerable number of artefacts, including one of the largest medieval pottery assemblages known from rural Oxfordshire. The farmstead was abandoned about the same time as the village in the mid-14th century, perhaps as a result of the Black Death. The land was subsequently used for agriculture until the development of MoD Bicester in the 1940s. Together, the archaeological findings presented in this monograph have enriched our understanding of the history of the Oxfordshire landscape.

The name Montessori is widely and inextricably associated with an entirely child-centered and careful pedagogy and education of children. Maria Montessori (1870-1952) was an Italian physician, reform educator, and philosopher whose ideas and work have remained influential throughout the world ever since the 1910s. Her educational concept covers entire development from infancy to young adulthood. It is based on the image of the child as a “builder of his or her self” and therefore uses for the first time the form of open teaching and free work in a prepared learning environment.Montessori schools became trend-setting educational institutions early on, and their concept strongly reflects in their architecture and equipment. Montessori Architecture is the first book that comprehensively addresses architectural design, construction, the use of materials in and the furnishing of educational spaces according to Montessori’s ideas. The book’s first part explores spatial and design principles that make up good kindergarten and school buildings. In the second part, nine case studies are featured in detail through photographs, plans, and concise texts. These examples are located in Europe (Netherlands, Belgium, Great Britain) as well as in tropical countries (Burkina Faso, Tanzania, Bangladesh, Sir Lanka). Thus, this highly illustrative volume offers practical advice and a wealth of information that is of utmost importance for the design of school buildings in general.