Welcome .....

.... to the second issue of the newsletter of the South West group of the national Council
for British Archaeology (CBA SW). The purpose of the newsletter is to inform the wider
public about archaeology in our region, and to encourage as many people as possible to
explore the riches on offer and – even better! – to become actively involved. More
information about the group and its activities, together with details of how to contact us,
are set out on the back page, and on our website at www.britarch.ac.uk/cbasw/.

CORNWALL RESPONDS!

Volunteers taking part in the clear up at Chynalls Point in September 2009

In a recent editorial, our Chair, Barry Lane,
reflected on what he called the ‘relative
membership successes’ of the county
wildlife trusts, compared with societies
1
addressing archaeological interests, and
asked whether we might take a leaf out of
the wildlife book in order to build a
broader basis of support for archaeology
and the historic environment. Barry ended
with a challenge: “I hope by now there are
many of you saying “But that is what we
are already doing!”. If so, then send us
photos and accounts of your work so that
we can learn from your experiences and
give more value and a higher profile to it,
as the wildlife sector does.”
This challenge has been taken up by
Konstanze Rahn and Sally Ealey on behalf
of groups in Cornwall who are doing
exactly what Barry had in mind, namely the
Cornish Ancient Sites Protection Network
(CASPN) and the Lizard Ancient Sites
Network (LAN).
This newsletter is designed to be a forum
for the exchange of views as well as of
information about local activities, so do
please follow Konstanze’s lead, and tell us
what you are doing!
Konstanze writes that CASPN has been
organizing the monitoring of archaeological
sites and site clearances for several years
now. Following the success of its work in
West Penwith, a grant, made available by
English Heritage, has enabled a similar
group to be formed on the Lizard.
Both groups have a two pronged approach:
volunteer monitors are appointed for a
selection of sites in the area, and work in
close connection with the land owners and
tenant farmers. Any damage by livestock or
vandalism is reported via regular
monitoring forms, and action is taken to
2
repair the damage after consultation with
English Heritage in the case of scheduled
monuments.
The second strand is a programme of
monthly site clear-ups. Sites are chosen
according to need, and the groups work
closely with the National Trust and Natural
England. Around 6 to 10 volunteers clear
vegetation by hand, and a surprising
amount is achieved in an afternoon.
The photograph on the previous page
shows the group of volunteers who worked
with The National Trust to clear Chynalls
Point, in September last year.
for further information on CASPN and LAN:
contact Konstanze Rahn
email krahn@cornwall.gov.uk
web www.cornishancientsites.com
DAY SCHOOL ON INDUSTRIAL
BUILDINGS
Bookings are now being taken for three
regional day schools on industrial buildings
which are being held in various venues
around the country.
The event for the South West region is
taking place in Exeter from 9.30 to 4.30 on
24 February 2010, at the XCentre,
Commercial Road, Exeter EX2 4AD. This is a
modern conversion of a cloth drying house
dating from c 1700, located close to the old
Exeter quays on the River Exe, an area
which has become a popular tourist venue.
The day will focus on legislation and the
planning process, particularly in relation to
the former industries of the South West.
An afternoon site visit will be made to the
recently restored and converted Cricklepit
Mill and to a number of sites around the
former Exeter quays and canal basin,
including warehouses, maltings and an
electricity power station.
for further information about the day school
on industrial buildings:
contact B. Grimsditch
email B.Grimsditch@salford.ac.uk
web http://www.britarch.ac.uk/conser
vation/cbatraining/aiadayschools
WALES AND THE WEST DURING THE
BRONZE AGE: CHARACTER,
COMPARISON AND CONTACTS.
24 AND 25 APRIL 2010
The Royal Archaeological Institute, in
conjunction with Amgueddfa Cymru -
National Museum Wales and the Cambrian
Archaeological Association, is hosting a two
day weekend conference at the National
Museum Cardiff in April 2010. The
conference will give a timely overview of
the character, richness and diversity of the
Bronze Age archaeology of western Britain.
Confirmed speakers include Bill Britnell;
Professor Tim Darvill; Stuart Needham;
Andy Jones; Professor John Koch &
Catriona Gibson; Adam Gwilt, Sally Worrell
and Mark Lodwick; Henrietta Quinnell;
Robert Johnston; Kate Waddington;
Professor Martin Bell and Jacqueline
Nowakowski. Session chairs are Frances
Lynch and Ben Roberts. The two-day
conference fee is £47 per person (including
abstracts, and morning/afternoon tea or
coffee). There is an optional inclusive
catering package (consisting of two light
lunches and evening wine reception and an
opportunity to view the Origins: in search
of early Wales archaeology gallery) at £33
3
per person, or just the two light lunches for
£21. Attendees must organise their own
accommodation, but sample hotel and B&B
listings can be provided on request: please
phone 029 20873573 or go to the website
www.visitcardiff.com.
for further information on the Cardiff
conference:
contact Caroline Raison, Meetings
Organiser
email admin@royalarchaeolinst.org
phone 0116 2419595
address The Firs, 2 Main Street, Houghton
on the Hill, Leicestershire, LE7
9GD.
web www.royalarchaeolinst.org
THE CBA ANNUAL WEEKEND EVENT,
CORNWALL 2010...
The Council for British Archaeology is
pleased to announce that its annual
weekend event will take place in Cornwall
from 10-12 September 2010. The Weekend
will consist of a series of visits, lectures and
activities covering a wide range of topics,
together with talks from experts on
Cornwall’s archaeological heritage. All are
welcome to join us for what promises to be
a fascinating insight into Cornwall’s past,
and CBA members will be entitled to a
discount. A full itinerary will be available in
Spring 2010.
for further information on the national CBA
weekend:
contact Sophie Cringle
email sophiecringle@britarch.ac.uk
Address CBA, St Mary’s House, 66
Bootham, York, YO30 7BZ
web www.britarch.ac.uk/cba/weekend
...AND THE CBA WINTER MEETING
The CBA Winter General Meeting of 2010
will be held at the British Academy in
London on 22 February 2010, and this year
it will form part of a day dedicated to
marine archaeology.
The keynote address will be given by Nic
Flemming of the National Oceanographic
Centre at the University of Southampton,
and there will be talks on subjects as
diverse as submerged prehistoric
landscape modelling, and the archaeology
of the Severn Estuary.
for further information on the CBA Winter
Meeting:
contact Dr Suzie Thomas
phone 01904 671417
email suziethomas@britarch.ac.uk
Address CBA, St Mary’s House, 66
Bootham, York, YO30 7BZ
web www.britarch.ac.uk/cba/wgm
Landscapes of Governance is a three-year
interdisciplinary venture bringing
archaeology, place-names and written
sources together for the first time in a
comprehensive national research project.
What is more, the project is actively
seeking to involve local groups in
identifying possible sites and submitting
them for inclusion in an on-line database.
4
Assembly sites were important at many
levels of early medieval society - royal,
regional, local and urban - and they
provided a means whereby royal and
official prerogative met with local
concerns. Place-names of assembly sites
and their associated districts indicate
varying origins, in some cases referring to
pre-Christian gods, including Woden and
Thor, while other terms relate to
monuments of earlier ages, such as burial
mounds and standing stones. Other
meeting-places are named after seemingly
mundane features such as crossroads,
bridges and settlements.
Only a dozen or so English assembly sites
have been investigated through detailed
archaeological survey and excavation.
Studying meeting-places and their
surroundings can reveal much about their
relationship to other social functions and
places. Form, layout, accessibility and view-
shed are among the attributes to be
examined by the project.
The research will generate scholarly
publications, and a comprehensive web-
based resource (the ‘Online Anderson’) to
serve the widest possible range of users. At
the moment the research team is designing
a template to enable local groups to
become involved by recording assembly
places for inclusion in the forthcoming on-
line database.
for further information on Landscapes of
Governance:
contact Dr Stuart Brookes
email tcrnsjb@ucl.ac.uk
phone 020 7679 4790
address UCL Institute of Archaeology
31-4 Gordon Square, London,
WC1H 0PY
 web www.ucl.ac.uk/archaeology/
project/assembly
THE EFFECTIVE MANAGEMENT OF
ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE ARCHIVES
Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery have
recently adopted a new system to manage
their various collections, a task made all
the more difficult by their diversity, since
they cover archaeology (including site
archives), ethnography, biology, geology,
social history, applied art, fine art, eastern
art, industrial and maritime. Another
important consideration (of particular
interest to users interested in archaeology)
is that the Museum wanted to streamline
the accession process and the manage-
ment of their site archives.
One of the most attractive features of the
chosen system is that it can import records
direct from Excel spreadsheets. Museum
staff are encouraging colleagues who
deposit site archives to submit their find
indexes in Excel so that they can be
instantaneously imported into the main
system, thereby creating individual data-
base records for all small and published
finds.
In a parallel development, the museum has
recently revised its guidance for depositing
archaeological site archives, and the new
version is now available on their website
(see box, below). All archaeological field-
work that takes place in South Gloucester-
shire and Bristol, both amateur and
professional, needs to adhere to these
guidelines.
for further information on the new Bristol
Museum record system:
5
contact Laura Phillips
email Laura.Phillips@bristol.gov.uk
phone 0117 922 4633
address Department of Archaeology,
Bristol City Museum and Art
Gallery, Queen’s Road, Bristol,
BS8 1RL
web www.bristol.gov.uk/museums
THE DEVON RURAL ARCHIVE
The Devon Rural Archive (DRA) was set up
in February 2006 by the Fenwick Charitable
Trust to provide a much needed resource
for local historians, archaeologists,
genealogists and the public at large in
Devon.
The aim of the project is to rediscover the
remains of buildings and landscapes which
are not immediately recognisable to the
untrained eye. In Devon, buildings and
their surroundings have constantly
changed over the centuries. The DRA is
interested in looking to see what remains
from the past and to uncover their former
appearances and uses.
Currently, their consultant archaeologist is
engaged in research into the development
of Devon Manor Houses and Farmhouses
from 1300 AD to the present, but the
project fully intends to widen its research
to other fields of interest in future.
In looking at the history of buildings, the
project intends to help owners and the
general public to further their under-
standing and enjoyment of historic proper-
ties and, in doing so, to encourage the
preservation of historic features of
interest.
With regards to landscapes, fashions and
trends have continuously altered due to
changes of use and/or the fortunes of their
owners. Frequently, the remains of
fascinating landscapes and their buildings
remain hidden and lie waiting to be
discovered. To date team members have
visited and produced reports on over 50
properties and landscape sites in Devon.
Their hope is that, with the help of their
patron, Lucinda Lambton, the official
launch of the DRA will generate further
interest and awareness in their work and
encourage owners of such properties and
other interested parties to make use of
their services and expertise.
DRA also organises talks, open evenings
and visits, and has a blog which is updated
weekly at http://devonruralarchive.
blogspot.com.
for further information on the Devon Rural
Archive:
contact Amy Davies
email amy@dra.uk.net
phone 01548 830888
address Devon Rural Archive, Shilstone,
Modbury, PL21 0TW
web www.devonruralarchive.com
NEW COMMUNITY GROUP IN SOUTH
GLOUCESTERSHIRE
South Gloucestershire Council has recently
submitted a bid to the Heritage Lottery
Fund for funding to undertake a
community archaeology project. The new
South Gloucestershire Community Arch-
aeology Research Project (SCARP) will train
existing and would-be amateur arch-
6
aeological societies to undertake non-
intrusive archaeological investigation,
ranging from desk-based studies using
aerial photographs and map regression, to
in-the-field techniques such as earthwork
and geophysical survey. Hopefully the
development phase will include a pilot pro-
ject involving the recently formed Southern
Brookes Archaeology, which is an amal-
gamation of history societies from Bradley
Stoke, Stoke Gifford, Patchway and Filton.
Members of Southern Brookes will be
trained in geophysical survey on a Roman
settlement and a potential medieval
farmstead.
If successful SCARP will provide a dedicated
Historic Environment website and will also
establish a programme of “heritage
champions”, who will be given instruction
in monitoring the condition of monuments
in order to assess any conservation issues
relating to archaeological sites in the
county, such as erosion or vandalism.
This will be a fantastic opportunity for local
groups to make a significant contribution
to our knowledge of the historic
environment of South Gloucestershire, and
to play a key role in conserving and helping
to understand archaeology for present and
future generations.
for further information on SCARP:
contact Paul Driscoll
email Paul.Driscoll@southglos.gov.uk
phone 01454 862175
address Planning and Environment, South
Gloucestershire Council, Civic
Centre, High Street, Kingswood,
BS15 9TR
A ‘NEW’ ROMAN ROAD IN THE LOX-YEO
VALLEY
John Matthews reports that a geophysics
survey by ALERT in May 2009 identified a
linear feature over 100m long and about
12m in width which has been interpreted
as the remains of an agger of a Roman
road. The earthwork is barely visible on the
ground and Lidar images give only a faint
indication of its presence.
The researchers conclude that this would
appear to be a Roman road, constructed
between 43 AD and c. 100 AD to connect
the seaport of Uphill by way of Loxton to
the Mendips and beyond. The existence of
the road may suggest an early date for
Roman sites in the Vale of Winscombe and
the surrounding area. An early date would
also perhaps suggest a military connexion,
possibly with detachments of the legio II
Augusta from Caerleon, especially as
pottery from Usk and a fragment of Trier
black slipped ware have been found in the
valley (Matthews 2006).
A copy of the full report is available to read
or to download free of charge from the
CBA SW website, at www.britarch.ac.uk/
cbasw/.
THE SOMERSET RECORD OFFICE
During 2010 the Somerset Record Office
will be moving to new premises, as part of
the new Somerset Heritage Centre which is
being built at Norton Fitzwarren on the
edge of Taunton. The Centre will also
house the museum reserve collections and
administrative staff, the Historic Environ-
ment Service, the conservation, design and
digitisation department, the Victoria
County History, and the Somerset Studies
7
Library. If all goes to plan the new centre
will open in September 2010, and in the
interim a number of services will be
operating at reduced capacity.
for further information on the move of the
Somerset Record Office:
phone 01823 278805
web http://www1.somerset.gov.uk/archives
FOOD AND DRINK IN ARCHAEOLOGY
The subject of food and drink is a topic that
has long been central to archaeology,
encompassing, as it does, the study of
material culture, ideology, economics, the
use of biological
resources (plants
and animals),
nutrition and its
effect on the
population, and
the environment
within which all
this occurred. The
study of food and drink in all its guises has
therefore encouraged a diversity of
approaches, from more traditional
techniques to newer methods that employ
experimentation and bio-molecular
research.
From 22 to 24 April 2010, Exeter University
is hosting the fourth in a series of con-
ferences designed to bring together re-
searchers from these various fields, in the
hope of developing a more holistic view
and understanding of the topic. This con-
ference particularly encourages post-
graduate students, though all submissions
on food and drink-related subjects are
welcome.
The conference will start with a plenary
session on the Thursday night (22 April),
followed by two days of papers on the
Friday and Saturday.
for further information on Food and Drink in
Archaeology 4:
contact Wendy Howard
email w.j.howard@exeter.ac.uk
web http://huss exeter.ac.uk/archaeology/
conferences/food2010.shtml
THE 2010 BRITISH ARCHAEOLOGICAL
AWARDS
The British Archaeological Awards are
intended to identify and then showcase the
most impressive and imaginative arch-
aeological endeavours of the past two
years. The awards ceremony will form the
opening event of the Festival of British
Archaeology, and will be held on 19 July
2010 at the British Museum.
The success of the awards naturally
depends on the nominations submitted by
as many people as possible within the
archaeological community. Full details of
the criteria for each award and a
nomination form can be accessed via the
Awards website, and the closing date for
nominations is 1 March 2010.
for further information on the 2010
Archaeological Awards:
web www.britarch.ac.uk/awards
DISCOVERING PLACES
Discovering Places is a major element in
the Cultural Olympiad and a country-wide
8
programme designed to give people the
opportunity to discover, explore, be
inspired by and benefit from our nation’s
hidden gems – such as historic and con-
temporary buildings, public spaces and
natural places in and around our cities,
towns and villages. The project will be
launched over the early Bank Holiday
Weekend from 1 to 3 May 2010, and there
will be four further key dates in the run-up
to the Olympics.
This is a major initiative of great potential
benefit to the archaeological community,
and we hope to include a more detailed
report in our next edition.
for further information on Discovering Places:
contact Joanna Busk
phone 07900 608440
email Joanna.busk@naturalengland.org.uk
web http://www.london2012.com/get-
involved/cultural-olympiad/major-
projects/discovering-places.php
THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF MINING AND
QUARRYING IN THE SOUTH WEST
The National Association of Mining History
Organisations (NAMHO) has recently
launched a two year project, part-funded
by English Heritage, to develop a research
framework for the archaeology of the
extractive industries.
As part of the first phase of the project
NAMHO will be holding a series of
seminars and workshops across England,
the first of which will be held at the Tamar
Valley Centre in Gunnislake, on 20
February 2010. The purpose of the seminar
is to review the current state of knowledge
concerning mining and quarrying
archaeology in the South West of England.
There will be three presentations on
aspects of the archaeology over the course
of the day, and there will be ample time for
discussion and contributions from the
floor.
The morphology of fire-setting in late medieval / early
post-medieval silver workings at Combe Martin in North
Devon.
for further information on the NAMHO project
and seminar:
contact Dr Peter Cloughton
phone 01437 532578
email p.f.claughton@exeter.ac.uk
web www.people.exeter.ac.uk/pfclaugh/
mhinf/
SEEING THROUGH THE GLOUCESTER-
SHIRE TREES WITH LIDAR
Thanks to an ‘Awards for All’ National
Lottery grant, the Gloucestershire and
District Archaeological Research Group
(GADARG) has been able to learn about,
and then apply, the latest cutting edge
technology to investigate hitherto
undetected archaeological features in the
local countryside.
The technology in question is LIDAR, an air-
borne laser system which can detect and
9
measure with great accuracy physical
features on the ground that are obscured
by trees and undergrowth, and therefore
invisible to conventional aerial photo-
graphic techniques. Ancient earthworks
and habitations sites, burial mounds and
roadways are just some of the features
that can be revealed in this way. An
impressive example of the ways in which
LIDAR can see through trees is reproduced
on page 10.
Thanks to the lottery grant, a survey of
parts of the North Cotswolds has been
carried out, and the data obtained is now
in the public domain and available for
recording and interpretation. The funding
has also provided the equipment needed
to assess the evidence on the ground, and
to train volunteers in vital tasks such as
interpreting the data, recognising
potentially interesting sites, undertaking
field-walking and surveys and carrying out
documentary research. The project thus
brings together volunteers, members of
the professional archaeological service,
local heritage groups and interested
individuals in a very worthwhile exercise,
which has already identified some 400 sites
of possible interest.
Naturally some of these features have
proved to be of natural origin, or man-
made features of no archaeological
interest, such as modern field boundaries.
Other sites have proved difficult to
investigate because of their situation.
Nevertheless, an ancient barrow, a possible
Roman villa, a previously unknown
medieval watermill site and earthworks
possibly dating from the Civil War are
among the features which will be more
fully investigated as seasonal conditions
allow.
Typical aerial photograph and a LIDAR surveyed ground surface of the same area.

for further information on the GADARG LIDAR surveys by English Heritage in 1997, which
project: first revealed a ditch around the Great
contact Tony Roberts, County Archaeological Circle and concentric rings of postholes
Service inside it, but they have also shed new light
phone 01452 425705 on the origins of the Cove - the three large
email tony.roberts2@gloucestershire.gov.uk stones in the garden of the Druid’s Arms.
contact Ann Maxwell, GADARG Stone circles such as those at Stanton Drew
phone 01386 751662 are known to date broadly from the late
email dandamax@waitrose.com Neolithic and early Bronze Age (about
3000-2000 BC). BACAS team leader John
Oswin has produced computer plots that
show the outline of a burial mound or long
STANTON DREW NOW ‘1000 YEARS barrow immediately to the north of the
OLDER’! Cove, which would date from nearly 1000
years before the stone circles. As a result
the upright stones of the Cove might be
better explained as the portals or façade of
The results of research by Bath and a chambered tomb, similar to the Stoney
Camerton Archaeological Society and Bath Littleton long barrow near Wellow.
and North East Somerset Council’s Arch- Furthermore the known alignment from
aeological Officer, Richard Sermon, into the
the North-East Circle, through the Great
prehistoric stone circles at Stanton Drew Circle to the Cove, indicates that the Mid-
have recently been made public. winter sunset would have descended over
Geophysical surveys to identify any below- the prehistoric community’s ancestors,
ground archaeological features were thus making the Cove the focus and
carried out last summer. Not only have earliest part of the whole Stanton Drew
they confirmed the results of previous complex.
10
Richard Sermon says that Stanton Drew broad range of interests and also the
has been much neglected compared to amount of work being undertaken within
Avebury and Stonehenge, but these results northern Devon.
will raise its profile with the scholars, and it
will come to be recognised as one of the
major prehistoric sites in England

for further information on the Stanton Drew

project:
contact Richard Sermon, Bath and North East It is fully illustrated, and includes a colour
Somerset Council
section on the Harvest Jug exhibition and
phone 01225 477651
an index of recent finds compiled by the
email richard_sermon@bathnes.gov.uk Portable Antiquities Officer for Devon.
web http://www.bacas.homecall.co.uk
In all there are 17 wide-ranging articles of
interest to archaeologists, landscape
historians and historians in general. Copies
are available to non-members at £9.99,
plus £1.50 p&p, and an order form and a
detailed list of contents are available from
the society’s website.

Overhead photograph of the Cove, from the BACAS report.

©BACAS

NORTH DEVON ARCHAEOLOGICAL

SOCIETY’S GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY
BOOK
The North Devon Archaeological Society
has published a book to celebrate the for further information on the NDAS
society’s 50th anniversary. The wide selec- publication:
tion of essays reflects both the Society’s contact Margaret Reed, NDAS Secretary

11
address 58 Littabourne, Barnstaple, Devon,
EX31 1PU
web http://www.ndas.org.uk/
GEOPHYSICS OPPORTUNITIES
Would you or your local historical or arch-
aeological group like to learn more about
how geophysics could play a part in the
investigation of your locality? Would you
like to learn how to use either a resistivity
meter or a gradiometer (magnetometer).
Both are fairly easy to use and many
successful surveys have been carried out
by amateur groups. In addition to a TR
Systems Resistance meter owned by the
CBA SW, English Heritage have made
available on loan to the CBA a Geoscan
FM36 gradiometer.
The rectangular Romano-British farm
enclosure, illustrated below, was found by
recently trained members of the Westbury
Society in their first few weeks of using the
machine. The CBA SW is still looking for
individuals who would like to receive
training and then be willing to work with
groups in their local areas. If you would
like to volunteer please get in touch with
the chairman, Barry Lane.
12
for further information on the CBA SW
geophysics equipment:
contact Barry Lane, Chair
email barry.j.lane@btopenworld.com
CBA SW AGM, 10:30 – 12:30 AM
SATURDAY 24 APRIL IN TAUNTON
Two lectures, open to all, about important
community archaeology projects will
accompany the CBA SW Group’s AGM.
Jayne Lawes, Project Director of the Bath
and Camerton Archaeological Society’s
“Blacklands Project” will describe recent
work on this Iron Age and Romano-British
site in north Somerset, and Jill Cobley and
Mandy Eversett will report on the 2009
season of the “Mount Folly Enclosures
Project” in the South Hams area of Devon.
Both projects will be looking for volunteers
in 2010.
Site mascot of the Blacklands Project, a training dig in
archaeological fieldwork at Blacklands field, Upper Row
Farm, Laverton near Frome in Somerset.
It is hoped to be able to plan guided tours
to both sites for CBA SW members during
the Festival of Archaeology from 17 July to
1 August. Details will be posted on the
CBA SW website.
 for further information on Annual Historic
Environment Day:
web www.mendiphillsaonb.org.uk

“Treasures from the Earth” is a regional

travelling exhibition featuring iconic arch-
The Mount Folly Enclosures Project is an archaeological
investigation of Iron Age and Romano-British occupation of
aeological objects from the stored collec-
a coastal settlement in the South Hams of Devon. The tions of the South West’s museums. This
project started with a small two-week investigation in will be touring Somerset in 2010 and will
2003, since when it has grown to be one of the largest
volunteer excavations in the south west of England. be open at the Wells & Mendip Museum
from 27 February 2010 to 16 May 2010,
for further information on Blacklands Project: before moving on to the North Somerset
contact Jayne Lawes, Project Director Museum, Weston super Mare later in the
email jayne.lawes@homecall.co.uk year. The exhibition was created by the
web http://www.bacas.homecall.co.uk/ and Royal Cornwall Museum, the Royal Albert
go to ‘excavations’ Memorial Museum, Exeter and the
Plymouth City Museum. It was funded by
for further information on the Mount Folly
the Heritage Lottery Fund and Renaissance
Enclosures Project: South West.
contact Dr Eileen Wilkes of Bournemouth
University
email project@mtfolly.org
web http://www.mtfolly.org

At the same time as the ‘Treasures’

MENDIP HILLS HISTORIC
ENVIRONMENT DAY
Each year the Mendip Hills Area of Out-
standing Natural Beauty organises a
seminar featuring recent work on Mendip.
This year’s event will concentrate on the
English Heritage Mendip Hills Research
Project and on planning practical projects
for the future, and will take place on
Saturday 27 February 2010, at Shipham
Village Hall, Somerset BS25 1TG.
13
exhibition, the Wells & Mendip Museum
will be showing its own exhibition “New
Landscape Archaeology of Mendip” created
by a number of local groups including the
Charterhouse Environs Research Team, the
Harptrees History Society, the Westbury
Society, together with groups from Priddy
and Chewton Mendip. The show will
feature photographs, maps, earthwork
drawings and geophysical surveys, as well
as fieldwalking and other finds of
prehistoric flints and pottery of all periods.
The Museum will also be organising a refers to a license, granted in 1473 to
number of events including a “Romans in William Verney, to build a wall and seven
Wells’ Family Day on 13 March, a seminar round towers around Fairfield House, but
on the “New Landscape Archaeology of no evidence has previously been found.
Mendip” on 27 March and “Treasure,
Archaeology & Metal Detecting” on 10
April.

Nine groups of A/AS level history and

archaeology students from local colleges
and schools took part in ‘Archaeology
Taster Days’, braving the elements with
great verve. They worked in trenches laid
out in 2008, and revisited what was
Iron Age coin from Cornwall. thought to be part of the elusive wall, but
they found it was a much slighter
for further information on these various events: construction, a retaining wall forming the
contact Wells & Mendip Museum edge of a road surface, also shown on the
web www.wellsmuseum.org.uk map.
In week three, a team of school students
resident at Kilve Court Education Centre
THE FAIRFIELD PROJECT: seemed, finally, to have found a section of
the boundary wall in another trench south
ARCHAEOLOGY, ALLIED WITH
of the house, but this turned out to be a
OPPORTUNITIES FOR COMMUNITY solidly-constructed culvert.
EDUCATION. By week four, in deteriorating weather and
Thanks to a grant from the Big Lottery with increasing urgency, a team of adult
Fund, the final excavation season of the volunteers opened another trench and
Fairfield Community Archaeology Project finally exposed, exactly as on the map, a
excavation ran for four weeks, allowing corner of the wall complete with turret, cut
even more groups to participate. The through by another stone drain.
focus was on the unusual boundary feature
Other related activities in 2009 included a
shown on an 18th century map and
roof survey (prior to dendro-dating some
indicated by geophysical survey. Collinson
14
of the timbers), interviews with a retired
estate worker conducted by local primary
school children, fieldwalking with a local
youth group, a test-pit survey with adults
with learning disabilities and a survey of
the garden walls.
The project is supported by the Big Lottery
Fund; Fairfield Estate; Somerset Historic
Environment Service; the Gray Fund of
Somerset Archaeological and Natural
History Society and the CBA Challenge
Fund.
Gloucestershire and Somerset. The
material will fascinate anyone with an
interest in transitional periods or the
history of the region, and features
contributions from Mick Aston, Tim Darvill,
Barry Cunliffe, Philip Rahtz, Michael
Fulford, Peter Fowler, Teresa Hall, Carolyn
Heighway, Martin Welch, Della Hooke,
Richard Sermon and Tamara Rome.
It is available in paperback priced £9.75
(inc. P&P), or as a free PDF download. All
proceeds go to CBA-SW.

for further information on the Fairfield Project:

contact Rachel Shaw
email rcshaw@blueyonder.co.uk
web http://fairfielddig.blogspot.com/

PUBLICATIONS OF CBA SW
AVAILABLE VIA THE WEB
The Land of the Dobunni has been
republished and is now available from. the
CBA-SW website (www.britarch.ac.uk/
cbasw). Over the next few weeks we will
also be republishing the proceeds of
another symposium as The Last of the
Britons – Kings, Thugs or Saints: Somerset
and adjoining Counties 400 – 700 AD. Both
publications will also be available as free
downloads.
The Land of the Dobunni is a collection of
papers by some of Britain’s leading for further information on CBA SW publications:
archaeologists, which were presented in
web www.britarch.ac.uk/cbasw/
the course of two symposia. The collection
explores the transformation of the Iron Age
territories of the Dobunni into Anglo-Saxon

15
AND NOW – OVER TO YOU!
We hope that you have enjoyed this, the second edition of the CBA SW Newsletter, but –
more importantly – we hope that you will also become active contributors to it. We want
the newsletter to contain information about the full range of activities taking place in the
region, and we want to encourage comments and feedback on the articles; for example
we are happy to publicise forthcoming events, but we would very much like to include
reports from members of the archaeological community who attend these events and
want to share something they have learned that may be of general interest.

VOLUNTEERS WANTED!
We still need volunteers to join the CBA SW committee, which only meets three times
per year in Taunton. Please get in touch via cbasw@britarch.ac.uk.

SUBSCRIBE
If you would like to receive a copy of this Newsletter regularly through the post, and
become a member of the group, please send a cheque for £6 to the Treasurer, CBA SW,
Wainbridge, Otterhampton, Bridgwater, TA5 2PT.

This Newsletter has been produced by the Council for British Archaeology for the South
West; independent charity no. 268532. It is published in January, June, and October each
year. Please send copy for inclusion to the Editor (see below) before 5 December, 5 May
or 5 September. The deadline for Issue 3 is 5 May 2010, but please feel free to let us know
well in advance if you have something to offer!

to provide feedback on the newsletter and its

contents, or to submit items for a future edition:
contact Barry Lane, Chair, CBA SW
the Chair
email barry.j.lane@btopenworld.com
contact Alan Lambourne, editor, CBA SW
the Editor Newsletter
email alan-lambourne@clara.co.uk
address The Old Coach House, 70 East
Street, Ashburton, TQ13 7AX
phone 01364 654543

http://www.britarch.ac.uk/cbasw/
16