Summer 2005Number 57
This issue:
WORKING INHISTORICTOWNS andTHE IFA ANNUALREPORT
Bullring andbeyondp35
Usingmonuments intoday’s urbanenvironmentp37
English Heritage’surban surveyprogrammep43
Institute of Field ArchaeologistsSHES, University of Reading, Whiteknights,
PO Box 227, Reading RG6 6ABtel 0118 378 6446fax 0118 378 6448
email [email protected] www.archaeologists.net
The ARCHAEOLOGIST
1S u m m e r 2 0 0 5 N u m b e r 5 7
Contents
Editorial
From the Finds Tray
CV Surgery Lynne Bevan
Finds Group and BAG joint conference: the potential of buildings archaeology and building
materials Phil Mills and Catherine Cavanagh
Conference session: The urban cycle of understanding: a new policy from ALGAO Brian
Durham
Conference session: Buildings: where next? Catherine Cavanagh
Conference session: Getting upstream: influencing the decision makers Taryn Nixon and
Ian George
Conference session: Training in archaeology: workplace learning bursaries workshop
Kate Geary
Conference session: A regeneration issue: Bedford Castle Mound and gardens Jeremy Oetgen
Conference session: What a difference a year makes: recent developments in historic
environment records Martin Newman
Conference session: Public archaeology Don Henson
Confined in the depths of Edinburgh Ronan Toolis
IFA Annual Report 2005
Bullring and beyond: Archaeology in Birmingham city centre Mike Hodder
Using Roman monuments in today’s urban environment: a case study from Lincoln Jason
Wood
Current excavations in Huntingdon Rachel Clarke, Richard Mortimer and Aileen O’Connor
Nantwich: exceptional preservation and a mitigation issue Tim Malim
Working in Towns: English Heritage’s urban survey programme Roger Thomas
Pollen analysis in an urban archaeological context Katie Head
Archaeology and politics Christopher Catling
New books reviewed Alison Taylor
New members
Members news
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Work in historic towns, the theme of this TA, is thebedrock of many archaeological careers and was thekey issue that sparked the rescue boom of the 1970s.Winchester, one of our most interesting historictowns and the birthplace of much innovative work(including, as we learned in March, of the Harrismatrix) was an ideal place to reflect on how muchhas been achieved as well as how much needs to bedone, during our Annual Conference. In addition tothe headline events, several conference sessionsaddressed these points, and are reported here. Theseinclude the changing nature of historic environmentrecords, the importance of influencing policymakers (and the approaches this needs), and a newurban policy that has been developed by ALGAO.
Within the urban theme, this issue of TA has beenable to pick up on a few examples of work currentlyin progress in centres as disparate as Edinburgh andNantwich. Significantly, such work is providinguseful practical lessons that will affect practice inother centres, and will contribute to thepreservation in situ debate. Also within the urbancontext, we have an update on English Heritage’surban survey programme, an answer to the needsfor strategies before we approach problems andanalysis once data are gathered, and a scientificcontribution on the value of pollen analysis intowns.
The Annual Report, an essential part of ourpublication programme, gives formal details of thehard work various committees have been involvedin this year. This includes the exceptional work ofour Groups (Maritime and BAG have excelled thisyear in their involvement in special issues of TA aswell as organisation of their own conferences) aswell as the core contributions of committees such asValidation and RAOs.
Within the IFA office, Beth Asbury was promotedto replace Nick Davis, and Sonya Nevin wasappointed to replace her. Tim Howard joined us asrecruitment officer in July, and I will reduce myhours from September to concentrate onpublication.
Finally, congratulations to IFA Chair DavidJennings. He has just become father of twinsOphelia Neave and Vianne Grace, who join brotherOscar. The family all seem to be doing well, butDavid was understandably not able to write hisvaledictory View from the Chair at the same time –apologies for this.
Alison [email protected]
Ed
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Contributions and letter/emails are always welcome.
Short articles (max 1000 words) are preferred. They
should be sent as an email attachment, which must
include captions and credits for illustrations. The editor
will edit and shorten if necessary. Illustrations are very
important. These are best supplied as originals or on
CD, scanned at a minimum of 500kb. More detailed
Notes for contributors for each issue are available from
the editor. Views expressed in The Archaeologist are
those of contributors, not necessarily of IFA.
EDITED by Alison Taylor, IFA,
SHES, University of Reading,
Whitenights, PO Box 227
READING RG6 6AB
DESIGNED and TYPESET by
Sue Cawood
PRINTED by Charlesworth
Notes to contributors
Themes and deadlines
Autumn: Working with finds
deadline: 15 September 2005
Winter: Environmental archaeology
deadline: 15 December 2005
David Jennings,
retiring Chair of
IFA and new
father of twins
FROM THE FINDS TRAY
Farming the Historic LandscapeEnglish Heritage has completed publication of a series of leafletsFarming the Historic Landscape, which provide guidance on bestpractice in managing the heritage of England’s farmland.Separate leaflets have been published which deal with historicfarm buildings, parkland, archaeological sites in arable andgrassland areas and the implications of EnvironmentalStewardship. A booklet provides a general introduction to thehistoric environment aimed at professional farm advisers. Freecopies are available from EH Customer Services on 0870 3331181 or by emailing [email protected], or canbe downloaded from www.english-heritage.org.uk/farmadviceand the Historic Environment – Local Management websitewww.helm.org.uk.
Scotland’s Policy on Carved Stones This strategy document sets out policies and guidance for care and protection of carved stones (a generic term thatinclude prehistoric rock carvings, Roman, early medieval, later medieval and post-reformation sculpture; architecturalsculpture and fragments, and gravestones) in Scotland. It concentrates on carved stones still physically associated insome way with their place of manufacture or one of their stages of use. It includes guidance on legal protection, raisingawareness, conservation strategies and practice, including intervention, research and information, and best practice.Carved Stones: Scottish Executive Policy and Guidance is available on www.historic-scotland.gov.uk/carvedstones
Archaeology and Education conference1-4 September 2005York, St John University CollegeThe fourth biennial conference organised by the CBA for all thoseare interested in archaeology and education will cover all sectors ofeducation, from work with schools to higher and adult continuingeducation. Sessions will include presentations of current goodpractice, discussion of issues and themes, practical activities andvisits to sites. Enquiries should be made to Don Henson, tel. 01904671417, fax 01904 671384, [email protected]
T h e A r c h a e o l o g i s t S u m m e r 2 0 0 5 N u m b e r 5 7 54
FROM THE FINDS TRAY
English Heritage staff strikeAmazingly, Prospect members in English Heritagemarked the Summer solstice with synchronisedwalk-outs across the UK, in protest at an imposedbelow-inflation pay award (just 1.5%). There waspicketing at Savile Row and at regional offices in
Swindon, Guildford, Cambridge, York, Newcastle,Manchester and Bristol, and tourist attractions,from Stonehenge to Hadrian’s Wall, were affected.Nearly 500 members had voted to take industrialaction, reflecting the frustration over pay and themanagement attitude towards staff concerns.Prospect negotiator Dave Allen said: ‘These cutsstrike at the very heart of the organisation’s abilityto extend its educational remit into schools andcolleges, while its architectural resources, whichare so well-used in the preservation of thecountry’s physical heritage, will be diminished.Instead of preserving the nation’s culturalheritage DCMS have left English Heritagestruggling to appease its undervalued staff. Butthe decision to impose another poor settlementand bypass any consultation process with theunions has forced staff to make a stand.’
When you start in field archaeology you shouldamass as much practical site experience as possible.If you haven’t had paid work make the most ofyour experience as an undergraduate or volunteer,especially if this involved supervisory duties,surveying, data entry, finds or environmental work.As you progress ensure your CV reflects yourincreased supervisory and project managementexperience. Job descriptions are increasingly specificregarding the level of responsibility expected forstaff grades and you will have to demonstrate thatyou are ready for increased responsibility. Your CVmust reflect this. If making the transition to aheritage-related post working with the public, drawon aspects of work experience, includingsupervising volunteers and school students, talks tothe public and visitors and dealing with the media.
Non-archaeological work experienceMany people make the mistake of mixingarchaeological and non-archaeological workexperience. List any non-archaeological jobs brieflyunder a separate heading after your archaeologicalexperience, drawing attention to any useful andtransferable skills/experience, eg computing;financial control; report writing; event management;working with volunteers and different age groups;photography and drawing.
PublicationsMany adverts for more senior archaeological staff(Project Officers or Managers) demand an excellentstandard of English and sound writing skills, aswell as, increasingly, ‘additional specialisms’,perhaps in finds or building recording. Make surethat all your reports are listed under ‘Publications’,even if they are in press or forthcoming. Cite yourreferences as you would in a bibliography. Include aseparate section entitled ‘Client Reports’, and listany papers you have presented at conferences orday schools.
Tailoring your CV to the job description.A common mistake is to fail to tailor your CV to thejob description. You might have relevant experiencebut if you do not draw attention to it the employers
will not interview you. If your work experience hasbeen in different fields, site based archaeology andsites and monuments work, for example, your CVshould emphasise the most relevant experience.Time spent adapting your CV will not be wasted asyou can reuse different versions when applying forsimilar jobs.
Overcoming prejudiceAgeism and sexism are alive and well in mostprofessions, archaeology being no exception. Youcan give yourself a better chance by not stressingyour age, marital status or whether you havechildren, particularly if you entered archaeology asa mature student. It is also a commonmisconception that if people want to dig in their30s, 40s and beyond without climbing the careerladder they are losers.
Other informationMention any relevant training or first aid courses,and your driving licence. It is not necessary tomention hobbies and interests, which may actuallystop you getting jobs, particularly if they might beconstrued as weird or demand a high level ofcommitment. Likewise, annual digging trips abroadwill show up in your CV and might stop potentialemployers taking you seriously.
RefereesMany organisations take more notice of referencesthan CVs. If someone cannot write anything goodabout you it is better they decline to write at all.Some people give a bad or lukewarm referencewhile others will scribble down inaccuratereferences or fail to produce one, so be very careful.Unless specified on the application form you do nothave to use your current or last employer. Becreative in who you choose, make sure they are onyour side and are respected in their own right, andalways obtain permission before you cite them.
Good luck,
Lynne [email protected]
EducationFollowing graduation you do not need to cite everyschool exam grade. Surprisingly many people forgetto include their degree class, so it looks as if theygot a third class or pass. Though some employerswill specify no less than a 2:1 degree for certainsenior posts most employers value your trackrecord over degree class. If you have a postgraduatedegree state the date, title and awarding university.Include a paragraph on your thesis topic, especiallyif relevant to the job you are applying for. Includeany degrees or courses you are currently workingon.
EmploymentKeep your CV up-to-date, listing all employers,length of service and the main sites you haveworked on, with type of site and period. Keep aprecise record of your employment history and allrelevant documents for regularly updating your CV.
Users of JIS often write to me asking what they aredoing wrong, having applied for numerous jobswithout a single interview. After a quick scan oftheir CVs the reasons are apparent. Anarchaeological CV should start with a profile of theindividual, followed by sections on theireducational and career history, and any publicationsand conference papers. If it is inadequate, out-of-date, full of unnecessary details or typologicalerrors it will stop you getting the job. I havetherefore compiled this checklist of potential CVpitfalls.
C V S u r g e r y with Doctor Lynne Bevan
Lynne Bevan has run IFA’s Jobs Information Service
since 1991, and has therefore seen a huge number of job
descriptions and been in touch with most of the
employing bodies.
English Heritage strikers
picket the Eastern
England office in
Cambridge
C V S u r g e r y
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At the IFA Liverpool conference, ALGAO UrbanCommittee introduced some forward thinking(Rolling start, urban policy from ALGAO). A lot wasmotherhood-and-apple-pie, but some initiativeswere progressive and others were glue for jointsthat had not opened up yet. Coming on the back ofALGAO’s core strategy, it was never intended to beprescriptive, but when we contemplated issues thatan urban curator might encounter there were
several blindspots. For instance, faced with conflictsin setting a brief, curators ought to be able to fallback on criteria that would give an objective scoringsystem.
Following Liverpool, a draft document wascirculated, and partners asked to help implementthe more progressive parts before releasing anagreed text. English Heritage officers responded,and we met Colum Giles who leads their strategyon urban research (English Heritage Strategic Plan2005-10 (forthcoming). This was an opportunity toreview the ALGAO document in their perspective,particularly the ‘cycle of understanding’.
Research frameworks and reasonablenessALGAO’s own research interest is targeted on whata local authority curator needs to justify a planningcondition, and to defend it at inquiry. It isunreasonable to ask a developer to address aimsthat are speculative unless they are relevant to thosemost affected, the local community and visitors. Asoundly argued, targeted, achievable andcommunally acceptable research framework,adopted in regional spatial strategy, is a vital part ofthe ‘cycle of reasonableness’ that we need to keepPPG16 operations looking lean and hungry.
Impartial guidanceRegional frameworks need to be qualifiedaccordingly. Urban sites are often only a small partof a larger monument, and may depend on futureinvestigations to place them in context, so the aimsmay only be achievable over space and time, anddependent on actions of others. The urban curator’srecommendation can be contentious, and it isimportant that there should be an informed bodyable to advise impartially. There is no substitute forlocal feel, so a supplementary recommendation isthat each curator should be able to call on a relevantforum for guidance. And because urban sites mayhave upstanding historic structure, we must unifyour aims with the requirements of conservationofficer colleagues in IHBC.
Researching preservationIntellectual research aims must still be part of asound preservation strategy: it is ironic that themantra of ‘preservation in situ’, our ethical yardstickand strongest negotiating peg, is weakened byexperience in York where it was invented. Anothercentury down the line our successors may findimportant sites bristling with successive piledfoundations, while the organic deposits we soughtto protect have shrunk away (Davis et al 2002). Avital research area is therefore to understand the
as well as informing us about dating and formationof a site. Sandra Garside-Neville demonstrated thedevelopment of Ceramic Building Materials (CBM)studies, and how information can be lost whenCBM is discarded without study.
David Barker emphasised the need to record abuilding while still standing, as opposed to just itsfoundations. This still doesn’t happen often enough.Bruce Watson and Nigel Jeffries peopled a row ofnineteenth-century tenements using excavated,artefactual and historical evidence, again raisingquestions about ethnicity, when building surveyformed the basis of successful community projectsin Stoke. The new scheme will include publicdisplay of the findings
Stephen Dean emphasised the importance ofhistoric environment policies based on specialistadvice informed by data collection, to give anholistic approach. Understanding a resource beforemaking decisions is stressed in guidance such asStaffordshire County Council’s Conservation withinthe Highway: Structures of historic importance. OliverJessop and Mark Douglas deconstructed a group ofrecently recorded pubs in Sheffield. Unlessconsiderations such as setting, historical context andsalvage are explicit in briefs and specifications,developers won’t pay for them.
The papers are published on the Group’s page ofthe IFA website.
The seminar on 9 June 2005 was organised jointlyby the IFA Finds and Buildings Archaeology Groupswith the Archaeological Ceramic Building Materials(CBM) Group. More information about theArchaeological Ceramic Buildings Group can befound at www.geocities.com/acbmg1/. The groupshope to work together to achieve higher standardsfor archaeological work in the future.
Phil Mills and Catherine Cavanagh [email protected]@aol.com
The day school highlighted the scope and value ofthe two disciplines, with common themes thatincluded the need for• research agenda, to make better and more
accountable decisions• project designs to provide for specialist input at
an early stage• the historic environment to be promoted as
part of new development schemes.
Ian Betts drew attention to the shortfall in fundingfor synthetic research. He was also cautious aboutcurrent research frameworks becoming tooprescriptive. Pat Reynolds used moving maps toshow how ‘short wall anchors’ spread throughoutthe world with Dutch building techniques,enlivened by observations about ethnicity andidentity. Phil Mills showed how studying a CBMassemblage can elucidate status, cultural identity,the wider economy and the impact of urban form,
Win
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The urban cycle ofunderstanding: newpolicy from ALGAO Brian Durham
Finds Group and BAG joint conference:THE POTENTIAL OF BUILDINGS
ARCHAEOLOGY AND BUILDING
MATERIALS
At the Imperial Pottery,
Hanley, the planning
condition was only
implemented for below-
ground archaeology. So the
standing building was not
recorded and virtually none
of it remained to be
excavated. © David Barker
Fragile complexity in a lift
shaft: Excavators at 1-15
Spurriergate, York, record
Anglo-Scandinavian organic
deposits beneath a ground
floor slab. MAP
Archaeological Consultants.
Photograph: Brian Durham
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T h e A r c h a e o l o g i s t S u m m e r 2 0 0 5 N u m b e r 5 7 98
hydrological and microbiological principles thathave preserved Anglian York. Another technicalconcern is ‘brown land’, which is relatively morelikely to include archaeological remains but carries no presumption of investigation before bulk disturbance for remediation purposes(Durham 2004).
Research does not stop with the brief: the aimsmust be addressed on site, the results assessedagainst them in the report, and where they areinconclusive, the report and archive must jointlyinclude sufficient data that can be reassessed. Thisis especially important on urban sites, which canonly be properly interpreted when several sites arebrought together. Therefore we are backing our‘cycle of understanding’ with a plea for essentialdata such as the stratigraphic matrix for any sitewith an ‘urban’ level of complexity.
Intellectual appetites and design of communitiesSatisfying communal intellectual appetites isimportant, but the developer should be gettingsomething back too. So the cycle branches toinclude feedback to spatial planning and the designof communities. Modest as we are, we remain parexcellence the students of settlement design, theultimate human ecologists, we probe unashamedlyinto the underskirts of our communities and comeup with plausible models of the morphing theymust have gone through.
As an economically successful nation, the UK needsto create new communities, and designers shouldexpect to come to us for advice on how existing
successful places have evolved and how theymight go on evolving successfully. Towns that aregrowing organically may demand a lighterplanning touch than those growing speculatively,ergo an increased bureaucratic efficiency that mightplease government. There may come a time whenthe ‘presumption of preservation in situ’ is so wellestablished that we can campaign for a morechallenging yardstick, ‘presumption of organicgrowth’. The world may thank us.
Brian Durham ALGAO Urban subcommittee
Brian Durham is Archaeologist to Oxford CityCouncil. Views in this article benefit from advicefrom ALGAO members and other colleagues; they donot necessarily represent the views of Oxford CityCouncil.
ALGAO policy framework for urban places, DraftJune 2004 available from [email protected]
Davis M, Hall A, Kenward H and J Oxley 2002‘Preservation of Urban Archaeological Deposits:monitoring and characterisation of archaeologicaldeposits at Marks & Spencers, 44-45 ParliamentStreet, York’, Internet Archaeol. 11
Durham, B 2004 ‘Cleaning up: protectingdeposits on brownfield sites under EIA’, in TNixon, ed, Preserving Archaeological Remains insitu, MoLAS, 239-248.
Are buildings archaeology? When shouldthey be recorded? Who is responsible?What type of recording is appropriate? Can buildings archaeology elucidate socialaspects of living and working in historictowns? Buildings archaeology is a rapidlyexpanding field, but how much has reallychanged in ten years? IFA BuildingsArchaeology Group (BAG) ran a half daysession to address these questions
Edward Roberts, author of Hampshire Houses 1250-1700, studied changing life-styles derived from thedendrochronological study of buildings, in his talkLiving in Trees. A sixteenth-century barn tells thetragic story of its owner trying to establish himselfin county society. Tree ring dates also showed howowners adapted to the ‘Great Rebuilding’ byconverting medieval open halls. Simon Roffey,University College Winchester, introduced atechnique for analysing church fabric. His recordingtemplate for chapel recording has been used oneighty chantries and chapels in Hampshire,Wiltshire and Somerset. The highlight of his talkwas the spatial and visual interpretation ofstructures arising from this methodology.
Oliver Jessop, ARCUS, explored current Englishpolitics, where inconsistent Government policiesdirectly impact on our work. With responsibility forheritage and development control split between theDCMS and the ODPM, how do we reconcileconservation with pressures of brownfielddevelopment, regeneration and house building? Willthe current Heritage Protection Review lead to a moreconsistent approach in recommending conditions,writing briefs and monitoring building investigation?
Based on his experience as a chartered surveyor,Bob Hill, Wessex Archaeology, challenged us toproduce better reports in order to impress andeducate our clients. We agreed more training isneeded, and debate led to the suggestion that BAGupdate the IFA’s Standard and Guidance for thearchaeological investigation and recording of standingbuildings or structures (if only to shorten its name).
Jeremy Lake, English Heritage, gave a psychedelictour of historic farmsteads. Characterisation shows
BAG logo
designed by Brian
Tattersfield to
reflect a wide
range of buildings
from Roman to
post-medieval
periods.
Buildings: where next?Catherine Cavanagh
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Preservation in situ: Impact
at the new Lincoln City and
County Museum was
minimised by retaining the
slab of the former car-park,
and reusing piles. The
mosaic in this lift shaft was
lifted and will form an
attraction in the Roman
displays. © APS/Lincolnshire
County Council
the topographical impact of past and present social,economic and cultural activity, and colourfulpatterns emerged, the above ground equivalent ofdrift geology maps, illustrating distinct areas ofland use. A pilot project in Hampshire is informingfuture management and research priorities. AndrewWestman, MoLAS, then entertained us with lessonslearned from twentieth-century buildings, includingthose demolished without record. Documentaryresearch complemented physical and socialdivisions evident from internal layout.
Debate, led by our chair, Marilyn Palmer,emphasised that archaeologists should be confidentenough to advise on design of new development,based on the significance of existing structures. Ourunderstanding of how buildings functioned and thepeople who lived and worked in them is valuablein this process.
Full papers are available atwww.archaeologists.net/buildings
Catherine CavanaghProject Manager, England’s Past for Everyone, Victoria County History, Institute of HistoricalResearchUniversity of LondonSenate House Malet StreetLondon WC1E 7HUTel 020 7862 8000
10 S u m m e r 2 0 0 5 N u m b e r 5 7T h e A r c h a e o l o g i s t
IFA has been awarded a grant by HLF to develop abid for funding workplace learning bursaries inarchaeology (see TA 56). This conference workshopexplained the background to the project, how thebursaries might operate and whom they couldbenefit, and it was an opportunity for delegates tohave their say. It was attended by Hannah Cobb andAnge Brennan of the Higher Education AcademyHCA Archaeology Subject Centre who presented theresults of their Fieldwork Evaluation Project. Theworkshop was well attended, with debate on thewider issues surrounding training in archaeology aswell as those relating specifically to the project.
We discussed potential overlap between the HLFbursary placements and those already offered atundergraduate and graduate levels, notably byBradford University and Oxford UniversityDepartment of Continuing Education. Anothermajor issue was the level of bursary, as cost, bothfor employers and for trainees, is one of the biggestbarriers to skills development in archaeology. Theaim of the project is to offer bursaries
Malcolm Cooper predicted dangerous watersahead. He argued that incremental changes acrossthe profession and in society were likely to have acumulative effect which was unpredicted and maynot be to our advantage. He encouraged moreexplicit debate about our possible futures andpreparation to face the future through well-testedstrategic thinking.
The validity of the message was not in doubt:heritage can unite communities and stimulatepublic debate; heritage is a catalyst for regeneration;heritage does contribute to the economy. However,we have to improve the way we convey ourmessage. We need to be absorbed into Codes thatplace heritage at the heart of urban design from theoutset, and therefore need to be enshrined in policy.
To get into policy we need legitimate views,demonstrably valuable ideas and hard, persuasivedata. How should we gather the data? We couldcommission original research; other sectors usethink tanks and professional lobbyists – whyshouldn’t we? And how should we communicateour benefits to a high quality urban landscape? Itwas suggested that characterisation projects willprove one key tool for engagement.
In any event, an effective public communicationsstrategy will be paramount.
Taryn NixonMoLASIan GeorgeEnglish Heritage
commensurate with the ‘going rate’ for the role forwhich training is being provided.
Archaeologists from academic, contract andcuratorial sectors attended and contributed to thissession, and their comments and discussion haveinformed the development process. The full bid hasnow been submitted and we are expecting the HLFresponse in December. If successful, we plan torecruit trainees early in 2006.
Fieldwork Evaluation ProjectHannah Cobb and Ange Brennan reported thefindings of the Fieldwork Evaluation Project whichexplored staff and student expectations of fieldworkplacements. The aim was to determine what currentarchaeology students think of the practical aspect oftheir course and whether it was a useful inclusionin an undergraduate degree. Initial results suggestthat students greatly valued this experience.Seventy-five per cent expressed an interest inpursuing an archaeological career as a result of thepractical elements of their course.
The IFA is building closer links with the HEAArchaeology Subject Centre and we look forward toworking with them on future projects.
Kate GearyIFA Training and standards [email protected]
This session examined how archaeologistscan engage with strategic decision-makersto develop our key messages: that thehistoric environment is a catalyst forregeneration; heritage provides iconicbuildings and brings pride to business,tourist and residential communities;heritage attracts business.
The session began by noting that archaeologistshave become vocal about their contribution toregeneration agenda and their potential to helpcreate sustainable communities, evidenced indocuments and published case studies from arange of organisations, but our message is still notbeing embraced. The session went on to questionmethod as much as message.
Wally Kumar, Development Securities (Projects)Ltd, discussed the Paddington Central
development, detailing the complex masterplanning exercise which emerged in the context ofwider principles of accessibility, improved publicrealm, mix of uses, community support,environmental sustainability, durability and qualitydesign. A wider strategic vision was set out by PaulHudson of SEEDA, who explained how successfulregional development was founded uponsustainable use of natural resources, competitivebusinesses, community participation and localleadership. Paul Finch of CABE set the world ofmajor developments into an historical and designcontext with a vision of the character of placesbeing enhanced by intelligent, imaginative and highquality design. As creators of tomorrow’s heritagewe need to create places in which people want tolive and work.
Kate Clark showed what a key role in the historicenvironment and in regeneration HLF now has,with annual expenditure of £300M. Given theappropriate tools heritage professionals caninfluence decisions, but the profession needs a farclearer vision of its priorities in a competitiveenvironment.
Getting upstream:influencing thedecision makersTaryn Nixon and Ian George
Training inArchaeology: Workplace LearningBursaries WorkshopKate Geary
Getting upstream: MoLAS
Excavations at Shoreditch
this July attracted politicians
to meet local children
involved in investigations of
the site of war-damaged
housing in their local park.
Photograph: Alison Taylor Con
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Motte and bailey castles are characteristicof medieval towns, but urban castles can beneglected, unsightly wastelands. With thehelp of Albion Archaeology, BedfordBorough Council is showing that it ispossible for a local authority take a grip ona problematic historical site and make it adistinctive urban landmark.
Often seen as a rather nondescript town, albeit withnice parks and an attractive riverside, Bedford, likemany towns, faces competition from out-of-townshopping and larger centres like Milton Keynes andthere is a run-down feel to some areas, highlightedby recent issues including yob-culture, vandalismand petty crime.
To counter this, the Council wants to stimulateregeneration by promoting• the riverside (Bedford’s ‘jewel’)• heritage (history and diversity)
• distinctive retailing and leisure facilities
• improvement of the High Street area
There is great unlocked potential in Bedford’sheritage. The town is a Saxon foundation and,although a tradition that Bedford was the burialplace of King Offa is probably spurious, we doknow that two burhs were established on respectivesides of the river. The original layout probablysurvived through the Middle Ages and is retainedin the modern street plan.
Capture and neglectBedford’s short-lived castle was built before 1130,on the south-east quadrant of the northern burh.
S u m m e r 2 0 0 5 N u m b e r 5 7
Henry III ordered it destroyed in 1224, havingcaptured it from unruly baron Falkes de Breauté.
The baileys were eventually built over and all tracewas lost. Between 1969 and 1973, David and EvelynBaker carried out excavations in advance ofthreatened redevelopment of the bailey area.Significant medieval and Saxon remains werefound, but development did not proceed and theland is now an open-air car park.
The massive motte survived and is now known asCastle Mound. The earthwork was occupied by agarrison in the Civil War. Afterwards, the top
became a bowling green and in the nineteenthcentury an ice house was inserted on its northernside. The southern face was altered with walls and asummerhouse on a projecting stone platform, andornamental trees were planted on the slopes.Despite being scheduled, the mound fell intoneglect and its flanks became overgrown with trees.Eventually it became unsafe and had to be closed tothe public.
For decades, the Borough Council had grappledwith the problem of how to manage the site. Itoccupies a key location in the town, between theprestigious riverside Embankment and the High
A regeneration issue:Bedford Castle Moundand gardens Jeremy Oetgen
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Bedford: the north bank of
the River Great Ouse in
2002. From left to right are
St Paul’s Church (rebuilt
after the 1224 siege of
Bedford Castle), the Town
Bridge (SAM), and the
historic Swan Hotel.
Behind the clump of trees
at far right is Castle
Mound before the recent
improvement work
Artist’s impression of
Bedford Castle Mound
before improvement.
Drawing: Cecily Marshall
Artist’s impression of
Bedford Castle Mound
after improvement.
Drawing: Cecily Marshall
15S u m m e r 2 0 0 5 N u m b e r 5 714 T h e A r c h a e o l o g i s t
There hadn’t been a session devoted toSMRs/HERs at IFA since the Brightonconference in 2000. Since then the sectorhas undergone considerable changes, mostdramatically over the last year, andcontinued radical changes seem assured. In fact there probably hasn’t been a moreinteresting point in the evolution of HERssince their conception. As Paul Gilman putit a recent paper in Internet ArchaeologyCinderella could finally be going to theball.
At the Brighton conference ALGAO launched itsstrategy for SMRs, Local Records National Resource,so it was apt that the first paper in this sessiondelivered by Ken Smith set out ALGAO’s vision for the future. One of the principal recentdevelopments has been the establishment of abenchmarking standard to accompany the plannedstatutory status of HERs. Issues raised by this andthe resources required to achieve it were discussedby David Baker in a paper written with Gill Chittyand Rachel Edwards. How to transform an SMRinto a true Historic Environment Record was atheme that ran through the presentations and wasspecifically addressed in two papers, a case studyfrom Worcestershire presented by Victoria Bryantand a Welsh perspective on HERs from MarionManwaring and Jeff Spencer.
Another development has been concerned withoutreach. The Brighton session had come shortlyafter HLF had outlined its support for SMRs inUnlocking Britain’s Past. This has recently beenupdated for HERs by English Heritage and ALGAOand retitled Unlocking Our Past. A number ofprojects have taken advantage of this fundingstream, one of which was outlined by Chris Websterand Talya Bagwell from Somerset County Council.There was also a user’s perspective by Neil McNab,archaeological consultant for Scott Walker. Thispaper addressed issues such as variation in serviceacross the country and the usefulness of onlinerecords. Digital archiving was addressed byCatherine Hardman and Kieron Niven from ADS.This very practical paper included back-up, datamigration, security, refreshment anddocumentation.
The session also helped promote the HistoricEnvironment Records Forum, and discussion ofthese themes has continued on its email list. TheForum organises twice-yearly meetings andpublishes Historic Environment Record News.Membership is free and open to all. To join [email protected]
Martin NewmanEnglish Heritage
What a difference ayear makes: recentdevelopments inhistoric environmentrecordsMartin Newman
Con
fere
nce
sess
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Street. Buildings to the north house the culturalassets of Bedford Museum, Cecil Higgins ArtGallery, and the BCA Gallery. Surveys show thatthe public is strongly in favour of developing thetown’s heritage, with the improvement of CastleMound high on their wish-list.
Stabilisation and improvementAlbion Archaeology is working closely with theBorough Council, English Heritage and the localplanning archaeologists to develop an effectivestrategy for the management of the wholearchaeological resource in the Castle Lane area. TheImprovement Scheme and Monument ManagementPlan set out proposals for stabilisation andconservation of the mound; creation of a useful andattractive public space, and provision ofinterpretation and education materials. Stabilisationand improvement of the site were a priority, sinceinterpretation would be pointless while themonument remained in a poor state. Success intackling these problems would also inspire
confidence in the Council’s ability to manageheritage-led regeneration of the rest of the CastleLane area, and improve chances of external fundingfor future projects.
Regeneration of Castle Mound included• removal of modern clutter and structures,
creating a unified space for public events and opening up views
• selective felling and pruning of trees, improving visibility and condition of the earthwork, whilst retaining its wooded character
• restoration of stonework and repair of paths and steps
• creation of new features of interest, including a timber-frame shelter on the mound and public art
• re-routing paths, to draw people into the site• improved safety and security
Last year’s British Archaeological Awards judgescommended the project (TA 54). Improved accessencourages the public to appreciate and value themonument and fosters awareness of the history ofthe town. Most importantly, it has shown thatBedford is serious about its heritage and wants tosee its past built into its future.
Jeremy OetgenAlbion Archaeology (Bedfordshire County Council)C
onfe
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History and diversity: Bedford’s
First Generation Italian club
members enjoy a dance on the
lawn at the top of Castle
Mound, which was reopened to
the public in 2004 after many
years as a no-go area.
Photograph: Helen Parslow
17S u m m e r 2 0 0 5 N u m b e r 5 716 T h e A r c h a e o l o g i s t
Interest in the past has rarely been higher,with people keen to watch archaeology ontelevision, read magazines, visit sites, andmost importantly get involved in activeinvestigation of their personal or locality’spast. New technology has increasinglyplayed a part in helping archaeologistsreach out to this public, and in providingarchaeological content for education.
David Dawson from the Museums, Libraries andArchives council highlighted the potential that waslargely untapped or soon to be developed. Forexample, the internet is a potent tool, allowingpeople to input the results of their own research orcomments on the work of archaeologists. We havehardly begun to explore the potential of thirdgeneration mobile phones and links from these tothe internet. Andrew Jones from the York
Archaeological Trust showed how YAT’s websitewas making some of these aspirations a reality.Through the Integrated Archaeological Database,people could access the whole finds database ofparticular excavations by the Trust, eghttp://www.yorkarchaeology.co.uk/wgate/main/archive.php, and could input, amend or commenton records themselves. Jon Kenny showed how theArchaeology Data Service, http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/,was providing a mass of data to the public, andhow this supports higher education andprofessional and local research. For educators, theywere developing through PATOIS online tutorials inhow to use resources for teaching and learning,http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/learning/.
Cathy Grant from the British Universities Film andVideo Council explained how web-based resourceslike EMOL, http://www.emol.ac.uk/, providehigher, continuing and further education with awealth of audio-visual materials. Members of theBUFVC had access to the off-air recording service’sarchive of television programmes for use inteaching. The Portable Antiquities Scheme alreadyhas its growing finds database online, and Dan Pettand Cei Paynton showed us their new website,based around an interactive Anglo-Saxon village,http://www.finds.org.uk/village/index.html. Thesession ended with Rebecca Jones from RCAHMSexploring Canmore (its online database), and itsextension through Pastmap with Historic Scotland,http://www.pastmap.org.uk/. RCAHMS will alsobe looking to see how its data might becomeaccessible through mobile phones.
This is only a taste of the session and does not coverthe good discussion at the end, which coveredissues relating to the use of ICT by the public, suchas archive security. The digital age is upon us, it isthriving and leading to exciting new ways ofreaching out to our public.
Don HensonCouncil for British Archaeology
The investigation of urban archaeologicalsites can lead to complex health and safety,logistical and engineering issues notencountered in rural sites. Urbanarchaeological requirements may lead toarchaeologists working in very differentconditions, even from other constructionindustry workers on the same site.
For instance, while the main contractor of an urbandevelopment site may only be concerned with deepfoundation trenches or driving down piling, usingmachines at the top ground level, the archaeologistsmay first be required to bodily reach the depths ofthat hole. Obviously, the deeper an excavationtrench the more unstable the sides become. Theeasiest way of overcoming this is to step the sides,thereby maintaining a stable angle to the trenchsides. However, within a small urban location, thisis not always possible.
DIGGING 8M DOWNOne way such a problem can be overcome wasdemonstrated at AOC Archaeology Group’s recentevaluation of the medieval graveyard of St GilesCathedral in Edinburgh. This was within a smallcourtyard surrounded on three sides by five-storeybuildings, set on the steep south slope ofEdinburgh’s Old Town. From the start, AOCArchaeology was faced with problems in assessingthe spatial distribution and depth of archaeologyhere. As the depth of the nineteenth-centuryfoundations of surrounding buildings wasunknown, it was imperative that the evaluationshould not destabilise the walls. This wascompounded by results from earlier boreholes,which indicated that potential archaeologicaldeposits four metres deep were overlaid by anoverburden of made ground that was also fourmetres deep. This was a peculiar result of the local
topography of the Old Town of Edinburgh, set asit is on ridge with steep slopes south and north.We therefore had to plan for an evaluation trench8m metres deep.
The solution for AOC and the main contractorwas to step the ends of the trench to maintain astable 45º angle between the base of theevaluation trenches and the adjacent walls. Thesides of the trenches were supported with man-hole boxes 3m x 3m. These were pushed down as
Public archaeologyDon Henson
CONFINED IN THE
DEPTHS OF EDINBURGHRonan Toolis
Con
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First steps in
exploring life in
an Anglo-Saxon
village through a
new interactive
PAS website
The AOC evaluation of the
former medieval graveyard
of St Giles
AOC Archaeologists
entering the Crawley
Tunnel
18 T h e A r c h a e o l o g i s t
the excavation continued, the archaeologistsexcavating no more than 300mm below the boxplates to ensure that no archaeological remainswere damaged as the boxes were pushed down.
OTHER HAZARDSTrenches 8m deep raise other problems ofcourse. One is the removal of significantamounts of spoil. At the St Giles’ Graveyard site,this was overcome using a tray lowered by thesite machine excavator, onto which spoil couldbe loaded. However, because of the operation ofa machine within such a limited space, access
into the trench had to be carefully managed; accessroutes were demarcated and scaffolding erected toenable the archaeologists to safely enter and exit.Another problem of the sheer depth was that thebase of the trenches effectively became confinedspaces, with a significant potential hazard from thebuild up of gases. Gas monitors were constantlyemployed to ensure that if a critical level was aboutto be reached, the archaeologists would be alerted.The archaeologists were also required to wearharnesses so that they could be quickly and safelybrought to the surface.
TRAINING FOR SAFE WORKINGIn situations like this a proper programme of stafftraining pays dividends. Because our staff haveundertaken confined space training, the companycan not only react in a competent manner tosituations that develop during a long term project,such as the evaluation of St Giles Graveyard or theinvestigation of the Crawley Tunnel, Edinburgh butalso to plan ahead, for example for evaluation andexcavation beneath Waverley Station. In this lastcase, AOC Archaeology was required to use heavyplant within nineteenth-century vaults that had notbeen designed with adequate ventilation for theemission of plant fumes (the reason the vaults wereclosed in the 1960s). Archaeology works required atemporary ventilation system to be installed tocreate a sufficiently strong air current to ensurecarbon fumes did not build up. While anyone canemploy specialist contractors to carry out this work,the archaeologists were required to monitor the gaslevels to ensure that the system of safe working wasoperating efficiently and to take appropriate actionif gas levels approached a critical level.
In designing a safe system of work, flexibleworking practice is required to enablearchaeologists to work safely to the peculiarconditions of any individual site – which means atraining programme that enables staff to deal withany problem a site can throw at them.
Ronan ToolisAOC ArchaeologyEdgefield Road Industrial EstateLoanheadMidlothian EH20 [email protected]
THE INSTITUTE OF FIELD ARCHAEOLOGISTS
Annual report 2004/2005Covering the period July 2004 to June 2005
with financial statements for the period 1 April 2004 to 31 March 2005
SETTING STANDARDS IN ARCHAEOLOGYCompany RegistrationNumber 1918782
The Waverley
Vaults entrance
The working environment of
Waverley Vaults prior to the
evaluation
REPORT OF THE HONORARY TREASURER
In line with the IFA Strategic Plan, Council has continued to pursue the following strategies• S.4.9: We will ensure our long-term financial security so that we are well placed to implement
our strategies and activities for the benefit of members and others • S4.9: We will generate income• S4.10: We will manage our investments• S4.11: We will pursue a sound pricing policy• S4.12: We will manage the key risks to our financial security• S4.13: We will maintain adequate financial control procedures.
I am grateful to Alex Llewellyn, Andy Taylor (our accountant) and Ross Brooke (our auditors)for preparing the company accounts.
The Income and Expenditure Account for the financial year 2004-5 shows a higher surplus thanpredicted for the year of approximately £40,000 (see Income and Expenditure Account below).Although this is to be welcomed, it is also a matter of concern, as the financial viability of theInstitute remains heavily dependent on the income generated from externally-funded projectsand, as been demonstrated in previous years, the income from projects provides a volatileelement in the IFA budget. On the other hand, income derived from subscriptions andapplication fees for the year fell short of the budget, largely as a result of the recruitment targetsnot being met. Losses are predicted for the next few years
The surplus for the year has been added to the reserves, which the Balance Sheet shows stand atjust short of £290,000 (see Balance Sheet below). A proportion of the reserves are restricted tocover expenditure in the event of a financial crisis; in light of the recent rises in the Institute’sfinancial commitments this figure needs to be increased by £30,000 to £160,000, and anappropriate recommendation will be placed before Council in mid-2005. The remaining reservesprovide a financial base on which to plan expenditure to further the aims of the Institute’sBusiness Plan, including the provision of adequate staff resources to run the Institute’s affairs,the promotion of recruitment, and the expansion of the Institute’s publication programme. Inlight of the volatility of the Institute’s income, as described above, Council will continue toexercise prudence over the use of the reserves in order to provide protection for the Institute’score activities in the event of serious budget deficits.
Jack StevensonHon Treasurer
development of the sector. Their support has enabled us to pursue numerous initiatives that itwould have been difficult to develop from within our internal resources.
Finally, I would like to turn my attention to that which I conceive is still our most pressing issue– the need to continue to drive our membership levels upwards. All our aspirations will, Ibelieve, be predicated on more comprehensive representation of our sector. In this regard we stillhave a long journey ahead and all members need to perform an advocacy role for the Institute.
On a personal note, over the last six years I have learnt much and worked with many excellentpeople, such that I am assured that our positive agenda for archaeology can and will beachieved. It is transparent that the future will be challenging and that we will need to sustainour efforts. However, the IFA will undoubtedly perform a critical role in the development of oursector.
David JenningsHon Chair of Council
R E P O RT O F T H E
H O N O R A RY
T R E A S U R E R
Given the complexity of interests and issues on which archaeology impinges it is unsurprisingthat IFA has a broad-ranging, intricate and context-sensitive strategic plan that requiresconsiderable subtlety in its implementation. At every turn over my six years on IFA Council andthis last year as the Honorary Chair, I have been aware of the diversity of our members’interests, roles and responsibilities. This is before beginning to consider the breadth of the‘external’ environment in which we operate as archaeologists.
Against this background, it is to be expected that our objectives are pursued over a number ofyears and deploy a range of strategies. To this extent, I report on similar developments asprevious Chairs. To the impatient, however, I suggest this is not a sign of weakness but of thegathering maturity of IFA and the profession as it tackles large-scale and difficult challenges thatface our sector.
Therefore we have continued to make progress in relation to terms and conditions ofemployment. A Diggers’ Forum has been established and we continue to work with Prospectand SCAUM on national pay initiatives. Furthermore, the minimum salaries requirement for theRAO scheme is under active review and this benchmark continues to encourage improvementsin pay. The RAO scheme now has 48 organisations. This year has seen improvements in thecomplaints procedure and streamlining of the scheme’s administration (see report of Hon ViceChair, Standards), and we are making it more attractive and relevant to Higher Educationalestablishments and curatorial bodies.
Further improvements have involved an increase in the number of staff; enabling more effectivehandling of membership services and enabling us to develop towards our strategic goals.
We have continued to explore the longer term goal of chartered or similar status and ourdialogue with National Heritage Agencies relating to the implementation of the VallettaConvention has been maintained.
In terms of representing the sector, IFA continues to exercise a strong presence, responding toconsultation documents and being actively involved in collaborative efforts with otherinstitutions to promote improvements and recognition of the sector at Governmental level.Indeed, much of our strategy is reliant on good working relationships with other heritagebodies, and working together is a fundamental component towards effective representation andrecognition of our concerns in the wider community.
Whether the conference address by Tessa Jowell represented a coming-of-age or an election yearis a moot point. It is indicative that the IFA is recognised by Government as the leadingprofessional institution for archaeologists in the UK, hard-won recognition that represents manyyears of sustained effort; it is also a solid foundation on which we can build a beneficial future.
At this point it is appropriate and a pleasure to acknowledge and thank all of the hard work thatis put into making IFA a vital and progressive body. The Institute has a very dedicated andcapable cadre of staff, who carry forward the strategic plan with considerable skill, tenacity andperseverance. This team is supported by the Executive, Council and numerous Committeemembers who give their time and skills often far in excess of that which might be reasonablyanticipated. We are grateful for their continued contribution. Equally we would like to thank theproject sponsors that enable us to develop and drive forward initiatives beneficial to the
R E P O RT O F T H E
H O N O R A RY C H A I R
C O V E R I N G T H E P E R I O D J U LY 2 0 0 4 T O J U N E 2 0 0 5
W I T H F I N A N C I A L S TAT E M E N T S F O R T H E P E R I O D 1 A P R I L 2 0 0 4 T O 3 1 M A R C H 2 0 0 5
A N N U A L R E P O RT 2 0 0 4 / 2 0 0 5
The directors are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose withreasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the company and to enable them toensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 1985. The directors are alsoresponsible for safeguarding the assets of the company and hence for taking reasonable steps forthe prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.
AUDITORSA resolution to re-appoint Ross Brooke Limited as auditors for the ensuing year will be proposedat the annual general meeting in accordance with section 385 of the Companies Act 1985.
SMALL COMPANY PROVISIONSThis report has been prepared in accordance with the special provisions for small companiesunder Part VII of the Companies Act 1985.
Signed by order of the directors
ALEXANDRA LLEWELLYNCompany Secretary
Approved by the directors on 18 July 2005
E M P L O Y E E S O F T H E
I N S T I T U T E
C O M PA N Y
I N F O R M AT I O N
NAME POSITION PERIOD OF OFFICE
Kenneth Aitchison, MIFA Head of Professional Development Full timeBeth Asbury, PIFA Administrative Assistant (Nov 04) Full time
Membership Administrator (May 05) Full timeLynne Bevan, MIFA JIS Bulletin compiler Part timeNick Davis Membership Administration (to May 05) Full timeKate Geary, MIFA Training & Standards Co-ordinator (Jan 05) Full timePeter Hinton, MIFA Director Full timeGina Jacklin Finance and Administrative Assistant Part timeAlexandra Llewellyn Head of Administration Full timeSonya Nevin Administrative Assistant (June 05) Full timeGillian Phillips Senior Administrative Assistant (to Nov 04) Full timePaula Smith Administrative Assistant (to Sept 04) Part timeAlison Taylor, MIFA Head of Outreach Full time
Company secretary Alexandra Llewellyn
Registered office Institute of Field Archaeologists University of ReadingWhiteknightsPO Box 227ReadingRG6 6AB
Auditors Ross Brooke Limited 21/22 Park WayChartered Accountants& Registered Auditors Newbury
BerkshireRG14 1EE
Bankers Co-operative Bank Plc 34 St Mary’s Butts, Reading RG1 2LQ
Solicitors Simon Best Gaston Whybrew Solicitors, Tim Francis Westwood Park, London Road,
Great Horkesley, Colchester, CO6 4BS
T H E D I R E C T O R S ’ R E P O RT
F O R T H E Y E A R E N D E D 3 1 M A R C H 2 0 0 5The directors who served the company during the year were:
The following directors are to retire from the board at the Annual General Meeting in accordancewith the Articles of Association:
Mike Dawson*David JenningsRoy Stephenson*Jeremy Taylor*Robert Woodside*
Directors marked with an asterisk are eligible for immediate re-election and may therefore be re-nominated.
NAME POSITION
Beverley Ballin Smith, MIFAStephen Briggs, MIFAKayt Brown, AIFA Hon Vice Chair, Personnel and membershipCatherine Cavanagh, PIFAChristopher Clarke, PIFAHester Cooper-Reade, MIFA Hon SecretaryMichael Dawson, MIFADavid Gaimster, MIFA Hon Vice Chair, OutreachDavid Jennings, MIFA Hon ChairClare King, MIFAPhilip Mills, AIFADavid Parham, MIFARoy Stephenson, AIFAJack Stevenson, MIFA Hon TreasurerJeremy Taylor, PIFADavid Thackray, MIFAJoanna Bacon, MIFA (Appointed 27 Sept 2004)Patrick Clay, MIFA (Appointed 27 Sept2004)Veronica Fiorato, MIFA (Appointed 27 Sept 2004)Geoff Morley, PIFA (Appointed 27 Sept 2004)Roland Smith, MIFA Hon Vice Chair, Standards (Appointed 27 Sept 2004)Robert Woodside, MIFA (Appointed 27 Sept 2004)Evelyn Baker, MIFA (Resigned 27 Sept 2004)Annette Hancocks, MIFA (Resigned 27 Sept 2004)Jonathan Parkhouse, MIFA (Resigned 27 Sept 2004)Deborah Porter, MIFA (Resigned 27 Sept 2004)Mark Turner, AIFA (Resigned 27 Sept 2004)Robert Zeepvat, MIFA (Resigned 27 Sept 2004)
Company law requires the directors to prepare financial statements for each financial year whichgive a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the company at the end of the year and of thesurplus or deficiency for the year then ended.
In preparing those financial statements, the directors are required to select suitable accountingpolicies, and then apply them on a consistent basis, making judgements and estimates that areprudent and reasonable. The directors must also prepare the financial statements on the goingconcern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the company will continue in business.
D I R E C T O R S ’
R E S P O N S I B I L I T I E S
NOTE 2005 (£) 2004 (£)
Fixed assetsTangible assets 4 3,832 2,424
Current assetsStocks 167 19,744 Debtors due within one year 5 67,845 31,711Cash at bank and in hand 338,578 314,546
406,590 366,001
Creditors: amounts falling duewithin one year 6 121,178 119,456
Net current assets 285,412 246,545
Total assets less current liabilities 289,244 248,969
Government grants 7 185 369
289,059 248,600
Reserves 9
Income and expenditure account 10 289,059 248,600
Members’ funds 289,059 248,600
These financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the special provisions for smallcompanies under Part VII of the Companies Act 1985 and with the Financial Reporting Standardfor Smaller Entities (effective June 2002).
These financial statements were approved by the directors on the 15 June 2005 and are signed ontheir behalf by:
JACK STEVENSONDirector
NOTE 2005(£) 2004 (£)
Turnover 488,459 441,977
Cost of sales (141,252) (121,087)
Gross surplus 347,207 320,890
Administrative expenses (311,313) (264,788)
Operating surplus 2 35,894 56,102
Interest receivable 4,565 4,624
Surplus on ordinary activities before taxation 40,459 60,726
Tax on surplus on ordinary activities 3 – –
Retained surplus for the financial year 40,459 60,726
INCOME AND
EXPENDITURE
ACCOUNT FOR THE
YEAR ENDED
31 MARCH 2005
BALANCE SHEET AT
31 MARCH 2005
The directors have pleasure in presenting their report and the financial statements of the company forthe year ended 31 March 2005.
PRINCIPAL ACTIVITIESThe principal activity of the company during the year continued to be the advancement of the practiceof field archaeology and allied disciplines.
We have audited the financial statements of Institute of Field Archaeologists for the year ended 31March 2005 which have been prepared in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard for SmallerEntities (effective June 2002), under historical cost convention and the accounting policies set out.
This report is made solely to the company’s members, as a body, in accordance with Section 235 of theCompanies Act 1985. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the company’smembers those matters we are required to state to them in an auditors’ report and for no other purpose.To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other thanthe company and the company’s members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for theopinions we have formed.
RESPECTIVE RESPONSIBILITIES OF DIRECTORS AND AUDITORSAs described in the Statement of Directors’ Responsibilities the company’s directors are responsible forthe preparation of the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United KingdomAccounting Standards.
Our responsibility is to audit the financial statements in accordance with relevant legal and regulatoryrequirements and United Kingdom Auditing Standards.
We report to you our opinion as to whether the financial statements give a true and fair view and areproperly prepared in accordance with the Companies Act 1985. We also report to you if, in our opinion,the Directors’ Report is not consistent with the financial statements, if the company has not kept properaccounting records, if we have not received all the information and explanations we require for ouraudit, or if information specified by law regarding directors’ remuneration and transactions with thecompany is not disclosed.
We read the Directors’ Report and consider the implications for our report if we become aware of anyapparent misstatements within it.
BASIS OF AUDIT OPINIONWe conducted our audit in accordance with United Kingdom Auditing Standards issued by theAuditing Practices Board. An audit includes examination, on a test basis, of evidence relevant to theamounts and disclosures in the financial statements. It also includes an assessment of the significantestimates and judgements made by the directors in the preparation of the financial statements, and ofwhether the accounting policies are appropriate to the company’s circumstances, consistently appliedand adequately disclosed.
We planned and performed our audit so as to obtain all the information and explanations which weconsidered necessary in order to provide us with sufficient evidence to give reasonable assurance thatthe financial statements are free from material misstatement, whether caused by fraud or otherirregularity or error. In forming our opinion we also evaluated the overall adequacy of the presentationof information in the financial statements.
OPINIONIn our opinion the financial statements give a true and fair view of the state of the company’s affairs asat 31 March 2005 and of its profit for the year then ended, and have been properly prepared inaccordance with the Companies Act 1985.
ROSS BROOKE LIMITEDChartered Accountants & Registered Auditors37 London Road, Newbury, Berkshire RG14 1JLDate: 3 July 2004
I N D E P E N D E N T
A U D I T O R S ’ R E P O RT T O
T H E M E M B E R S O F T H E
I FA F O R T H E Y E A R
E N D E D 3 1 M A R C H 2 0 0 5
5 DEBTORS2005(£) 2004 (£)
Trade debtors 35,397 314Prepayments and accrued income 32,448 31,397
67,845 31,711
6 CREDITORS: Amounts falling due within one year
2005 (£) 2004 (£)Trade creditors 48,024 22,180Other creditors including taxation & social security:PAYE & social security 6,243 5,177Other creditors 148 –Accruals and deferred income 66,762 92,099
121,178 119,456
7 CAPITAL GRANTS2005 (£) 2004 (£)
Received and receivable:At 1 April 2004 744 1,489Fully amortised – (745)
At 31 March 2005 744 744
Amortisation:At 1 April 2004 375 744Grants fully amortised – (745)Credit to profit and loss account 184 376
At 31 March 2005 559 375
Net balance at 31 March 2005 185 369
8 RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONSNo transactions with related parties were undertaken such asare required to be disclosed under the The FinancialReporting Standard For Smaller Entities (effective June 2002).
9 COMPANY LIMITED BY GUARANTEEThe Company is limited by guarantee and does not have ashare capital. In the event of the company being wound up,the members are liable to contributing up to £10 each tomeeting the liabilities of the company.
10 INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT
2005 (£) 2004 (£)
Balance brought forward 248,600 187,874Retained surplus for the financial year 40,459 60,726
Balance carried forward 289,059 248,600
1 ACCOUNTING POLICIES(i) Basis of accounting The financial statements have been
prepared under the historical cost convention, and inaccordance with the Financial Reporting Standard for SmallerEntities (effective June 2002).
(ii) Turnover The turnover shown in the income and expenditureaccount represents amounts invoiced during the year andamounts receivable on projects undertaken within the year.
(iii) Fixed assets All fixed assets are initially recorded at cost.(iv) Depreciation Depreciation is calculated so as to write off the
cost of an asset, less its estimated residual value, over the usefuleconomic life of that asset as follows:Office equipment - 50% per annum of net book value
(v) Work in progress Work in progress is valued on the basis ofdirect costs plus attributable overheads based on normal levelof activity. Provision is made for any foreseeable losses whereappropriate. No element of profit is included in the valuation ofwork in progress.
(vi) Operating lease agreements Rentals applicable to operatingleases where substantially all of the benefits and risks ofownership remain with the lessor are charged against incomeon a straight line basis over the period of the lease.
(vii) Foreign currencies Assets and liabilities in foreign currenciesare translated into sterling at the rates of exchange ruling at thebalance sheet date. Transactions in foreign currencies aretranslated into sterling at the rate of exchange ruling at the dateof the transaction. Exchange differences are taken into accountin arriving at the operating surplus.
(viii) Income in advance Income relating to future periods, includingmemberships, and other subscriptions are deferred and carriedforward as income in advance in creditors. Project grantsreceived ahead of costs are deferred and are also carriedforward as income in advance.
(ix) Area and special interest groups The IFA has a number ofregional and special interest groups, who organisecomparatively small scale events, conferences and otheractivities. The income, expenditure and funds held by thesegroups is incorporated into the accounts of the IFA.
(x) Deferred capital grants Grants in respect of capital expenditureare treated as deferred income and are credited to the profit andloss account over the estimated useful economic life of theassets to which they relate.
2 OPERATING SURPLUSOperating surplus is stated after charging/(crediting):
2005 (£) 2004 (£)Amortisation of government grants re fixed assets (184) (376)Depreciation 2,367 2,424Auditors’ fees 2,938 2,515
3 TAX ON SURPLUS ON ORDINARY ACTIVITIES
Corporation tax is only chargeable on bank interest received.
4 TANGIBLE FIXED ASSETSOffice Equipment (£)
COSTAt 1 April 2004 13,823Additions 3,775
At 31 March 2005 17,598
DEPRECIATIONAt 1 April 2004 11,399Charge for the year 2,367
At 31 March 2005 13,766
NET BOOK VALUEAt 31 March 2005 3,832
At 31 March 2004 2,424
31.03.05 31.03.04
Subscriptions 176,238 160,547
Application Fees 2,697 3,264RAO Fees 37,479 29,531
Adverts 2,690 3,476Publications 3,758 2,204JIS Subscriptions & advertising 15,146 15,064
Group income 2,386 2,900Sundry income 5,798 –Interest 4,565 4,624
Other grants – 5,000Sponsorship and donations – –
Total conference income 82,859 66,847Total project income 161,317 153,143
325,513 263,142
Staff salaries 215,708 176,470Temporary staff 4,442 1,714Staff travel 6,687 5,962Staff training fees 559 1,896Staff recruitment 2,035 470
Total non-core staff conference expenditure 66,978 53,217Total non-core staff project expenditure 76,182 67,870
Committee travel 4,261 5,146Group funding 932 1,935
JIS costs 1,420 2,285Publications TA 19,973 15,100Publications – Papers – 295Publications – Annual report – 295
Office rent/costs 10,002 8,327
Insurance 2,550 2,560Stationery 4,124 3,510Postage 9,453 8,788Copying 3,007 5,147General printing 3,986 2,417Computing & IT 7,586 5,797Telephone 3,305 4,735
Fundraising – 375Promotional material 625 740
Hospitality 324 653Magazine & institution subs 846 868General expenses 15 –Bank Charges 3,070 3,063Legal fees – –Accountancy 682 1,075Audit 2,938 2,515Payroll cost 600 600 Advice – –Depreciation of fixed assets 2,367 2,424Amortisation of capital grant (183) (375)Refunds – –
454,473 385,874
Surplus for the year 40,459 60,726
Contribution from projects 101,016 98,903
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL
STATEMENTS YEAR ENDED
31 MARCH 2004
DETAILED INCOME AND
EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT FOR
THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH
2005 (not forming part of the
audited accounts)
INCOME
Fees
Sales
Other
Grants andsponsorship
Projects
EXPENDITURE
Staff
Project
Committees andgroups
Membershipservices
Accommodation
Office costs
Fundraising andpublicity
Other
The personnel structure at the Institute has developed in line with the following key strategies• S4.1: we will be a good employer• S4.2: we will increase staff numbers• S4.3: we will develop a training programme for staff
In order to manage the potential risks of a single member of staff having sole knowledge of an importantarea of the Institute’s work, to allow for succession planning and to adapt to the growing office workload,a reorganisation of office staff took place during the year. Alex Llewellyn became head of administration,overseeing the finance team (herself and finance and administrative assistant Gina Jacklin) and themembership team (membership administrator Beth Asbury and administrative assistant Sonya Nevin,who now share responsibilities for looking after individual members and RAOs). Sadly we also saidfarewell, with grateful thanks, to Paula Smith, Gillian Phillips and Nick Davis. To ensure that weaccelerated progress on training and standards initiatives including a potential HLF-funded placementbursary scheme, Kate Geary was appointed as training and standards coordinator working with KennethAitchison, now head of professional development.
The role of this vice chair post includes oversight of the work of the Validation Committee which, underClare King’s guidance, has received 172 new and 62 transfer applications during the past twelve months.
The current (June) membership is as follows (2004 figure in brackets)Honorary members 13 (10)Members 855 (834)Associate 486 (471)Practitioner 333 (334)Students 146 (210)Affiliate 171 (128)Total 2004 (1987)
As reported by the Hon Vice Chair, Outreach, we fell short of our business plan recruitment targets in2004-5. Addressing this problem is a priority for 2005-6.
Kayt BrownHon Vice Chair, Personnel and membership
R E P O RT O F T H E
V I C E C H A I R ,
P E R S O N N E L A N D
M E M B E R S H I P
During 2004-5 we took forward the following key strategies• S1.2:We will raise our profile and increase awareness of the importance of archaeology and
archaeologists• S1.3: We will maintain a rolling campaign to recruit members and register organisations in the UK and
overseas• S2.1 We will define, develop and deliver a range of services and products• S2.4: We will offer a range of professional and personal benefits
Our principal publication this year has continued to be The Archaeologist, which reflects our members’wide interests and responsibilities. Themes covered this year were The IFA Liverpool Conference, MaritimeArchaeology, Buildings Archaeology, and Prehistoric Britain. I would like to take this opportunity to remindall members that our editor is always looking out for good stories, so do let her know if you have materialof interest.
Financial constraints meant we had to defer publication of our proposed journal, Archaeological Practice,but there has been strong Council support for carrying this project forward and in June there was finalapproval.
IFA’s website, www.archaeologists.net, re-vamped by CBA last autumn and managed by IFA staff, is nowcarrying more news and information than ever before, and we want to keep it as data rich as we canmanage. We see the site as an important part of IFA’s publication programme, hosting many IFAdocuments and publications (some duplicated in print, some only available digitally) and with usefullinks to a growing number of other archaeological organisations. It is an important promotional tool forboth IFA and our Registered Archaeological Organisations. News, Opinions and pages for all IFA Groupshave been added. The whole site is well used, and we are especially pleased that the most visited part isthe RAO section, showing that many people who employ archaeologists use this information.
An addition to our free member services that is proving popular is the fortnightly e-newsletter SALON-IFA. This derives from SALON (Society of Antiquaries of London Online Newsletter), with added IFAnews and is sent to the email boxes of all members who want it, 25 times each year. Edited by ChristopherCatling, it covers governmental consultations and new legislation (actual and proposed), news andreviews of conferences, books, discoveries and TV programmes, job vacancies, deaths, issues ofcontroversy within heritage, etc. It is valuable in spreading news, forming opinions, and generallyexpressing views from the heritage sector. All members are urged to submit items that will interest others,especially if they wish to publicise events, new discoveries or publications.
The Jobs Information Service, which many of you now receive online, is a benefit to employers and thoselooking for a career change alike. Other membership services include free legal advice, competitivespecialist insurance and health insurance, an arbitration scheme and discounts on books from anincreasing number of publishers, in addition to services supplied directly by the Institute.
Well over 400 archaeologists were drawn to Winchester to enjoy a conference on the theme ‘Working inHistoric Towns’. The key note paper by Martin Biddle included a challenge to archaeologists (especiallycurators) working in a developer-funded world to match the research objectives of earlier work. A speechby the Secretary of Stare for Culture, Media and Sport, Tessa Jowell, also created much interest. There wereat least three parallel sessions over three days, covering issues that included the problems of working onroad schemes, how to deal with archaeological archives, results of recent work in our smaller towns, post-medieval cemetery archaeology and some outstanding discoveries of 2004. We enjoyed informative toursand all the usual social occasions: wine reception, disco and party, Conference Dinner, and receptions.Plans are already being made for the 2006 Conference in Edinburgh.
Recruitment is crucial to the long-term success of IFA. This year we did not achieve our business plantarget. A power-point presentation can be borrowed to use for recruitment visits, whether to students orto groups of staff, and a recruitment coordinator, Tim Howard, was appointed in July 2005.
David GaimsterHon Vice Chair, Outreach
R E P O RT O F T H E
H O N O R A RY V I C E
C H A I R , O U T R E A C H
IFA Council 2004-05 is made up of 22 members. They are company directors of the IFA and haveresponsibilities to ensure that its business is conducted in a proper manner. The Council oversees thestrategic direction of the organisation and takes decisions on key issues. Financial and budgetary issues,progress against the strategic plan and matters of business requiring Council input are discussed at allCouncil meetings. Some decisions are delegated to the Executive Committee (Hon Chair, Hon Vice Chairs,Hon Treasurer and Hon Secretary), although day-to-day operations are devolved to staff. Councilmembers can serve for a maximum of six years, although they will need to stand for re-election after thethird year.
There are currently nine Committees dealing with areas ranging from validation, registered archaeologicalorganisations and disciplinary matters, through to organisation of the conference and training. Thecommittee structure varies, although all members of the Council sit on at least one committee.
The 2004 Annual General Meeting was held at the Society of Antiquaries, Burlington House, London on27 September. In addition to the election of six corporate members to the Council of the Institute, the AGMapproved the election of Martin Dean and Roger Mercer as Honorary Members. Following on from theAGM both Council and Executive have meet four times, with another Executive meeting planned beforethe 2005 AGM. Four of the current Council members are due to retire at the 2005 AGM, including ourChair, David Jennings, who has served as a member of council for six years. The time taken up serving onCouncil or the various Committees and Groups can be considerable and thanks are due to the hard workthat everyone puts in.
In addition to routine matters, Council has covered a range of ongoing issues including recruitment ofnew members, the impact of the Valletta Convention on the profession, rejuvenation of the Groupstructure, plans for the publication of a members’ Journal and the development of other areas of the IFA’sstrategic plan. Through Council and the wider membership, the IFA is represented on a number ofexternal committees and other groups and as a result we are able to contribute to many currentconsultations, debates and discussions relevant to the profession. We are continuing discussions withProspect and SCAUM concerning industry-wide collective pay bargaining and have had input into themany sector-wide issues covered by the Archaeology Forum.
Thanks are due to all IFA staff who, through their hard work, ensure a smooth running Council andExecutive
Hester Cooper-ReadeHon Secretary
R E P O RT O F T H E
H O N O R A RY
S E C R E TA RY
Chris Clarke (Chair), Jez Taylor (Treasurer), Paul Everill (Secretary), Amy Gray-Jones, Kevin Wooldridge
Formed in autumn 2004 we held our inaugural meeting at Mortimer Wheeler House in London on 16October. On 19 February 2005 we ratified our Statement of Intent as
• the Diggers’ Forum, primarily conceived as a way of unifying contract archaeologists for the purposesof campaigning through the IFA for change within the profession
• archaeologists primarily involved in excavation and post-excavation assessment (as opposed tomanagers, consultants, county officers etc) are currently under-represented within the IFA. The Forumwill aim to redress the balance and keep the issues that affect us at the top of IFA agenda
• the Forum will serve as a platform providing up to date information and news about subjects affectingarchaeologists working in our sector, particularly how IFA responds to them
• through the Forum we can discuss and formulate appropriate responses to IFA initiatives and wherenecessary put forward our own
• we will aim to strengthen our voice within the organisation by increasing our representation on IFACouncil and various committees
• the Diggers’ Forum recognises benefits to site staff provided by the work of individuals andorganisations such as ‘The Digger’ newsletter, BAJR, IFA, Prospect and Unison and will endeavour towork in co-operation with all these bodies to further improve the situation for site staff.
It was agreed that it was important to encourage members by making it free to those within IFA and onlycharging £5 for non-IFA members. We also agreed that our early priorities should be to examine key
R E P O RT O F T H E
D I G G E R S ’ F O R U M
G R O U P
R E P O RT O F T H E
S C O T T I S H G R O U P
A R E A & S P E C I A L I N T E R E S T G R O U P S
I am very pleased to report for the first time on the work of those responsible in the Institute for the causeof ‘Standards’ in 2004/5. Aware that annual reports can be a little dry, I thought I would take theopportunity for a more personal view than might normally be put forward. As a very new ExecutiveCouncillor, previously unknowing of the internal machinations of the Institute, I offer the following.
During the course of the year several key issues have repeatedly featured high on the agenda of thevarious Committees and working parties of the Institute. Progress on a number of these during the yearcan be demonstrated.
Pay and conditions continue to dominate the concerns of many professional archaeologists, whethermembers of the Institute or not. The IFA’s AGM in September 2004 initiated useful dialogue between anumber of the key players (reported in TA 54) and which consequently has resulted in importantdiscussions between all parties on national pay bargaining. The IFA’s recently formed ‘Diggers’ Forum’will be seeking to make an essential contribution through ceaseless campaigning for better pay andconditions, while it is proposed that a sub-committee of CWPA be established to re-examine the minimumpay scales and inclusion of other benefits, such as holidays and pensions. As part of the ‘building blocks’for improvement, Prospect and IFA have established a working party to benchmark the roles of ProjectManager and Project Officer within the profession. Progress is undoubtedly slow, and painfully so forsome parties, but now, more than ever, is the time for resolve and determination.
Concerns over discipline, or the perceived lack of it, closely follows concerns over pay and conditions.Despite the negative views of our detractors, IFA continues correctly to encourage improvement andprogression rather than condemnation and punishment. There have, of course, been disciplinary cases thisyear, and several complaints about RAOs, and the seriousness of the process and outcome should neverbe underestimated. As a new Councillor, I have been party to a number of these cases and my eyes havebeen opened to the extraordinary sensitivity of these cases and the enormous impact personally andprofessionally they can have on all those involved. All such processes depend on transparency, fairnessand credibility and, in the light of experience, there have been proposed amendments this year to both thedisciplinary procedures and the complaints procedures for RAOs (RAO procedures have been amended;proposals on disciplinary procedures will be presented at the AGM).
In seeking improvements to standards of archaeological practice, there has been much emphasis this yearon RAOs. Registration for membership now occurs for a two-year period and, in streamlining the RAOscheme, there has been clarification and greater transparency in the benchmarked standards formembership, which are used to trigger recommendations or conditions for improvement. In the lattercase, ineligibility for membership will now apply if three conditions are imposed in a three-year period.The complaints procedure has also been revised and made less unwieldy and time-consuming. IFA haslooked at ways to promote membership amongst curatorial and academic bodies. A constructive meetingwith ALGAO resulted in an acknowledgement that the RAO scheme may be more relevant to curatorsthan they themselves have previously considered and the whole scheme would benefit from the inclusionof more curatorial organisations. A pilot scheme to share publications between RAOs has also beenintroduced to provide a tangible benefit to registration, as well as making a contribution to raisingstandards.
The considerable achievement of the Committee for Working Practices in Archaeology in establishing anew contract for archaeological work was promoted in last autumn’s TA. The Committee will turn itsattention shortly to issues arising from the tendering of archaeological post-excavation work.
Roland JC SmithHon Vice Chair, Standards
R E P O RT O F T H E
V I C E C H A I R ,
S TA N D A R D S
John A Lawson (Hon Chair), Mairi Black (Hon Secretary), Andrew Dunwell (Hon Treasurer), Tim Neighbour,David Strachan, Jenni Morrison, Murray Cook and Jack Stevenson.
The committee has meet on a regular basis through out the year, following the groups 2004 AGM held onthe 15 August. The AGM also saw the election of Murray Cook (AOC) and the re-election of AndrewDunwell (CFA Archaeology) as Hon Treasurer. The AGM coincided with a seminar chaired by JohnLawson on ‘NPPG 5 Ten years on’ exploring success and failures of this policy. The day was again wellattended by over 30 people and the notes from this meeting will be posted on the Group’s IFA web-page.
Following the pattern set over the last few years much of the work of the committee has focused onresponding to consultations emanating principally from the Scottish Executive and working closely with
R E P O RT O F T H E
WA L E S / C Y M R U
G R O U P
Jenny Hall (Hon Chair), Fiona Gale (Hon Secretary), Kate Howell (Hon Treasurer), Stephen Briggs (HonEditor), John Latham, Neil Johnstone, Ian Brooks, Richard Hankinson, Jonathan Berry.
Our AGM was held on 28 May 2004 and the Wales/Cymru committee met on four other occasions. Afterthe AGM, we had a dayschool on prehistoric archaeology in Wales. On 5 November we held a dayschoolon documentary sources and their uses.
IFA groups have been given their own space on the IFA website, and we hope to keep the site updated withinformation about forthcoming IFA Wales events.
The Research Agenda process, initiated at the IFA Wales/Cymru conference in 2001, is moving forward,and if all goes well, will be published during autumn 2005. Two publications are planned. An illustrated,bilingual booklet for the archaeological community at an operational level will include all period themesas well as the infrastructure and big issues. The other publication will be a glossy bilingual leaflethighlighting the ten big issues of the Welsh archaeological community to a wider audience. Further detailscan be found on the Clwyd Powys Archaeological Trust website, www.cpat.org.uk
Jenny HallChair, Wales/Cymru Group
the Built Environment Forum Scotland (BEFS). This has included: the Scottish Executives proposals fornew Model Planning Policies affecting the built and natural environment; the Cultural Commissions reportinto the future of Cultural Provision in Scotland jointly with CSA and the Society of Antiquaries ofScotland; the Scottish Executive workshop on its future Sustainable Development Strategy; the HEACS-BEFS seminar on the future of Heritage Protection Legislation and workshop on Historic Scotland’sCorporate Plan 05-08.
In early June this year the committee held in conjunction with the Glasgow University ArchaeologyDepartment a seminar with the Honours Students on careers in Archaeology. The seminar is an outcomeof the committee’s desire to encourage new recruits into the profession and also the development of the‘junior’ ranks. The seminar was a considered a success by all those who attended and feed back from thestudents will be taken on board to help in next years seminar. It is hoped that this essentially outreach eventwill be broadened in future to the other colleges and universities in Scotland.
The groups 2005 AGM will be held on 19 August at the Museum of Edinburgh and will coincide with aseminar, ‘Strategic Environmental Assessment for Archaeologists’. This new process has the potential toradically change our profession and the seminar will address what strategic environmental assessment arein terms of legislation, the scope of the work that can be anticipated and will present examples of work inprogress.
John A LawsonChair, Scottish Group
Committee up to March 2005Dave Parham (Hon Chair), Mark Dunkley (Hon Secretary), Andrea Parsons (Hon Treasurer) DouglasMcElvogue, Julie Satchell, Paola Palma, Annabel Lawrence
Committee March 2005Julie Satchell (Hon Chair), Mark Dunkley (Hon Secretary), Douglas McElvogue (Hon Treasurer), Paola Palma,Dave Parham, Mark Littlewood
The group organised the successful ‘Managing the Marine Cultural Heritage’ conference, 29-30 September2004, in Portsmouth Historic Dockyard. This attracted delegates from around the globe and resulted in
interesting debate on current approaches to management and challenges faced in the future. The group isworking to publish the proceedings of this conference and to organise another conference in September2006. A follow up to the conference was a maritime themed issue of The Archaeologist.
Maritime archaeology was represented at the IFA conference in Winchester with a well attended half daysession. The session highlighted the diversity of work being undertaken by maritime and coastalarchaeologists. The group AGM followed this session, a number of committee positions were up forelection this year (details of new committee above).
Department of Transport Titanic consultationStrategic Environmental Assessment of parts of the northern and central North Sea to the east of theScottish Mainland, Orkney and Shetland (SEA 5)DCMS Consultation Paper: Protecting the Marine Historic Environment – Making the system work better
The group continues to be represented on the Joint Nautical Archaeology Policy Committee, the ALGAOMaritime Sub-Committee and the Health and Safety Executive’s Diving Industry Committee. MAG hasorganised the re-establishment of the Keith Muckelroy Award as a British Archaeology Award, the firstpresentation of this award took place in October 2004 in Belfast. In addition we continuing to produce theMAG Bulletin and are working on standards and guidance papers relating to Diving Practices and Shipand Boat Recording.
Julie SatchellHon Chair, Maritime Affairs Group
R E P O RT O F T H E
M A R I T I M E A F FA I R S
G R O U P
R E P O RT O F T H E
B U I L D I N G S
A R C H A E O L O G Y
G R O U P
Duncan Brown (Hon Chair), Annette Hancocks (Hon Treasurer), Nicola Powell (Hon Secretary), Phil Mills, TallaHopper (co-opted June 2004) and Roy Stephenson (co-opted June 2004), with the UKIC Archaeology Sectionrepresentative Claire Heywood.
The committee met several times during 2004 and 2005. A wide variety of topics have featured on theagenda, including the minimum standards document and the organisation of a session at the IFA 2005Conference.
The 2004 AGM and meeting was held at Mortimer Wheeler House (LAARC), Museum of London andlooked at ‘Metals and Metalwork’. It was a popular event and was followed in the autumn by a hands-onsession looking at Iron Age and Roman metalwork at the British Museum, kindly provided by Drs JD Hilland Ralph Jackson. This was over subscribed and it is hoped other metalwork training sessions will bearranged at the BM as part of our continuing training programme.
We returned to the LAARC and Mortimer Wheeler House for this year’s AGM and meeting, with thetheme ‘The Potential of Buildings Archaeology and Building Materials’, organised by Phil Mills jointlywith the IFA Buildings Archaeology Group and the Archaeological Ceramic Building Materials Group.
IFA Finds Group meetings and seminars are open to non-members, but priority will be given to membersfor training sessions, where numbers may have to be limited.
Our Hon. Treasurer, Annette Hancocks, stood down at the AGM. The Committee would like to thank hervery much for all her hard work and will greatly miss her.
The Finds Group session in the 2005 IFA Conference in Winchester looked at ‘Archaeologists, Archives andour Future’. It was chaired by Duncan Brown, Hon, Chair IFA Finds Group, and provided a positive,upbeat programme. The Finds Group hopes to organise a session annually and welcomes ideas and papersfrom members.
We aim to bring out at least two newsletters a year. The newsletter includes an editorial reporting theactivities of the Finds Group, reviews of seminars and conferences, contact details and importantly a datesfor the diary section. This alerts members to conferences and day schools with a finds theme organised byother groups and organisations. Do contact the Hon Secretary if you would like to advertise a seminar orconference or submit a review for the newsletter.
Membership of the group stands at 286. The 19 members of the FG who are not in the IFA pay a small feeto cover mailing costs. The IFA Finds Group committee welcomes ideas for future meetings and trainingdays and will be looking for new committee members to be voted in at future AGMs. Please contact theHon Secretary, Nicola Powell, Museum of London Archaeology Service, 46 Eagle Wharf Road, London, N17ED, [email protected], 0207 566 9324
Nicola PowellHon Secretary, IFA Finds Group
concerns of site staff such as adequate and appropriate Health and Safety provision and access to trainingopportunities. Since the meeting in February a regional branch of the Diggers’ Forum has been establishedin the East of England, and they held their first meeting in Cambridge on the 23 April 2005. We are keenthat this be the first of many regional groups.
We have established a presence on the IFA website which is key to disseminating information to ourmembers (and potential members) and have recently produced our first newsletter. Our membershipstructure is now established and we have already received a number of applications. For furtherinformation and to download a membership form visit http://www.archaeologists.net/diggers
Paul EverillSecretary, Diggers’ Forum
R E P O RT O F T H E
F I N D S G R O U P
Marilyn Palmer (Hon Chair); Jonathan Smith (Hon Sec), Catherine Cavanagh (education officer), Phil Thomas(newsletter editor), Geraint Franklin (newsletter designer), Oliver Jessop (website editor), Robina McNeil,Shannon Fraser, Frank Green, Mike Nevell, Jonathan Edis (Hon Treasurer) and Bob Hill. The new members,Marilyn, Bob and Jonathan (Edis) were elected at this year’s AGM.
The Group, which had reformed in the previous year, continued to move forward in securing its ownhealthy existence and widening the scope of its activities during 2004-2005. All the vacant positions on thecommittee (chair and treasurer) were filled during the year. The committee also faced the sad loss of JohnSamuels with his death in 2004. 2004-2005 saw the group produce two newsletters, be central in theproduction of a buildings archaeology issue of The Archaeologist, organise a session on buildingsarchaeology at the IFA conference, develop its own website page and expand its output in makingrepresentations on draft guidance and policy documents coming from Government and otherorganisations related to buildings archaeology.
Reinvigoration of the group has seen nearly 100 new people join the group or request the service ofproviding an e-copy of the newsletter. This will remain free for 2005-2006, but the committee decided thatmembership of the group should lead to the charge of a £10 annual subscription for those who are not IFAor IHBC members. Membership is currently 178 (IFA and IHBC members) and 176 (non members).
In terms of liaison with other groups/organisations with similar or overlapping interests, the newslettersand The Archaeologist buildings issue have sent ripples beyond the IFA. This has been followed up by theinvitation of representatives from such groups to the buildings archaeology session at the IFA conference.During 20005/2006 the aim is to build on these emerging networks by, amongst other things, beingcentrally involved with the organisation and contribution towards a training day/seminar with IHBC andALGAO and a conference on historic farms.
The Group has made representations on emerging policy and recording standards documents includingEnglish Heritage documents on Recording guidance, Low demand housing, Conservation Area appraisal,Conservation Area management and Historic regeneration. In the next year important consultations willinclude the Heritage Protection Review. The Group will also be reviewing and updating IFA’s ownguidance on building recording and analysis.
The Group maintains a critical role in the development of IFA, especially as broader, political and historicenvironment issues increasingly require understanding of our built historic environment. BAG’s principalrole is to promote buildings archaeology within the profession. We believe that 2004-2005 has seen theGroup secure a strong position to more fully realise this aim in the next few years.
The newsletter editor, Phil Thomas ([email protected]) would be pleased to receivearticles, roundups of recent work, books reviews, etc and is happy to promote relevant courses in thenewsletter. Contact the secretary [email protected] to join IFA Buildings Archaeology Groupand receive free copies of the newsletter.
Catherine CavanaghEducation officer, Buildings Archaeology Group
35S u m m e r 2 0 0 5 N u m b e r 5 7
C O N F E R E N C E C O M M I T T E E
D I S C I P L I N A RY C O M M I T T E E
D I S C I P L I N A RY A P P E A L SC O M M I T T E E
2 0 0 4 / 2 0 0 5 C O M M I T T E E S
E D I T O R I A L B O A R D
M E M B E R S H I P A P P E A L SC O M M I T T E E
P R O F E S S I O N A L T R A I N I N GC O M M I T T E E
C O M M I T T E E F O R W O R K I N GP R A C T I C E S I N A R C H A E O L O G Y
R E G I S T E R E DA R C H A E O L O G I C A LO R G A N I S AT I O N SC O M M I T T E E
VA L I D AT I O N C O M M I T T E E
Mike Dawson (chair)Kenny AitchisonBeverley Ballin SmithPeter BarkerPaul ChadwickPatrick ClayTim DarvillPaul EverillMike HeatonPhil MillsGeoff MorleyTaryn Nixon Ken SmithRoland SmithJack StevensonJez TaylorJohn Woodhead
Clare King (chair)Beth AsburyJo BaconEvelyn BakerBeverley Ballin SmithStephen BriggsKayt BrownHester Cooper-ReadeRachel EdwardsPhil MillsBeccy JonesRoy KingGeoff MorleyDave ParhamJonathan Parkhouse Roy StephensonJez TaylorDavid Thackray
Victoria Bryant (chair)Chris ClarkeMike DawsonJames DinnLeigh DoddDavid Gaimster
Laura Schaaf (Chair)Evelyn BakerPeter BarkerStephen BriggsStephen CarterChris ClarkePatrick ClayHester Cooper-ReadeBob CroftSue DaviesRachel EdwardsPeter HintonGwilym HughesJohn HunterClare KingForbes MarsdenDavid MilesPeter MurphyRichard NewmanJonathan ParkhousePaul SpoerryRoland SmithDave StartJohn WilliamsJohn WoodheadBob ZeepvatMark LeahStewart Bryant
David Gaimster (chair)Beth AsburyJonathan BatemanStephen BriggsAndrea BradleyCatherine CavanaghAlison TaylorDavid ThackrayTracy Wellman
Mike Bishop (chair)Kenny AitchisonJo BaconBeverley Ballin SmithCatherine CavanaghJohn Collis Tom EvansDon HensonBob HookGary LockKen SmithPeter StoneJohn WalkerRoger White
Evelyn BakerNigel ClubbSue DaviesRoger ThomasMairi BlackJonathan Parkhouse
Mike DawsonCath PatrickJez TaylorRobin TurnerDan PooreAnnabel LawrenceDeborah PorterGarry MomberPeter DavenportJo BaconVeronica Fiorato
Andrea BradleyKayt BrownFrank GreenAlex LlewellynPhil MarterRob SuttonAlison Taylor Keith Wilkinson Birmingham has not been regarded as a ‘historic
town’ in the traditional sense and has never beenthe subject of urban surveys. Following some small-scale work, the first substantial excavation in thecity centre took place as recently as 1999, part of theBullring development. This and subsequent workhas overturned perceptions that the city centre waslargely a post-medieval creation and that thesurvival of any earlier deposits would be poorbecause of intense later development.Demonstration of the extent and quality ofarchaeological remains itself raises challenges forthe future.
Previous perceptions were based on sparsemedieval documentation and a lack until recently ofarchaeological evidence, compounded by the almosttotal lack of pre-eighteenth-century structures in thecentre. The potential contribution of archaeologywas not appreciated, so there was littlearchaeological work before the 1990s.
Bullring is a major award-winning retaildevelopment on a European scale. It is also in thehistoric heart of Birmingham, around St Martin’schurch. Four excavations between 1999 and 2001demonstrated extensive survival of medieval andpost-medieval remains, including palaeo-environmental data and industrial residues. Similardeposits have been excavated on other sites in thecity centre, also as part of new development. Theexcavations have shown that Birmingham was anewly-created twelfth-century town, and haverevealed a range of industries from the thirteenthcentury onwards, including some not normallyassociated with Birmingham such as potterymanufacture, leather tanning and hemp and flaxprocessing. Birmingham’s transformation over thelast few centuries is represented by important post-medieval deposits including industrial remains andSt Martin’s churchyard with its burials (see TA 44).Below-ground deposits complement above-groundarchaeology, which consists of eighteenth-centuryand later industrial and domestic structures,including canals and two gasworks.
B U L L R I N G A N D B E YO N D : A R C H A E O L O G Y I N
B I R M I N G H A M C I T Y C E N T R EMike Hodder
St Martin’s church in Bullring.
Photograph: Birmingham City Council
‘It is essential
to take a
strategic
approach and
to consider
archaeology
as part of the
historic
environment.’
B U L L R I N G A N D B E YO N D :
T h e A r c h a e o l o g i s t36 S u m m e r 2 0 0 5 N u m b e r 5 7 37
As in other urban areas, regeneration includes majordevelopments that sweep the existing townscapeaway. Although Birmingham’s historic environmentis still largely understood in terms of designatedsites and areas, ie listed buildings and conservationareas, development-related professions arebecoming more aware of archaeology inBirmingham. Back in 1994, developers used toarchaeological requirements elsewhere expressedsurprise that they were expected to do the same inBirmingham! Archaeological remains ‘preserved byrecord’ have resulted in a huge gain in informationand assisted responses to development proposals onnearby sites.
Entrenched perceptions are hard to overturn. Thenew information must therefore be disseminatedwidely and quickly. Publication of the Bullring sitesis imminent, but smaller-scale work remains in greyliterature. In Bullring, archaeological results havealso featured on interpretation panels provided aspart of a Section 106 planning agreement.
It is essential to take a strategic approach and toconsider archaeology as part of the historicenvironment. Birmingham City Council’sArchaeology Strategy, adopted as SupplementaryPlanning Guidance in 2003, includes specificreference to the city centre, and archaeology isincluded in conservation area appraisals andmanagement plans. A project design has beenprepared to increase appreciation of the archaeologyof Birmingham city centre. This will includeanalysis of hitherto unpublished information anddeposit modelling.
Mike HodderPlanning Archaeologist, Birmingham City Councilwww.birmingham.gov.uk/archaeology
For a review of Mike Hodder’s Birmingham: theHidden History see p49
Excavations in the Bullring were carried out byBirmingham Archaeology for The BirminghamAlliance, with CgMs as archaeologicalconsultants. The excavations are to be publishedby Oxbow as two volumes in 2005 and 2006.Simon Buteux’s Beneath the Bull Ring (BrewinBooks, 2003) summarises the results.
The recent Conservation Plan for Lincoln’s
Roman monuments offers fresh
opportunities to work across the social
and cultural spectrum to meet objectives
for regeneration, tourism and education.
The project has been promoted by English
Heritage as an exemplary study in
conservation planning and community
engagement.
Lincoln boasts 27 surviving Roman monuments.The majority formed parts of the city walls, gatesand forum-basilica but some include evidence forhouses and the water-supply. Newport Arch, part ofthe original north gate to the Roman city, is perhapsthe best known. It is the only Roman gate-arch inBritain still used by traffic. Equally significant is theMint Wall, the only surviving upstanding basilicawall in Roman Britain and part of Lincoln’s earliest‘town hall’. Lesser known monuments include awell-head and shaft, various hypocausts, a sectionof aqueduct and part of the Fosse Way.
The City of Lincoln Council recognises its duty topromote and safeguard this major heritage asset,and commissioned a conservation plan to inform
the monuments’ long-term conservation,management and interpretation and provide a basisfor seeking funding to improve access and enjoyment.
A plan to conserve ...The plan was a collaborative effort between the CityCouncil, County Council and key stakeholdergroups, with myself as facilitator/editor.Contributors covered a range of topics in order togain a wide perspective on the monuments andtheir settings. These extended beyond the umbrellaof conservation to issues with possible effects(positive and negative) on the monuments,including ownership, access, health and safety,transport, tourism and education.
... and engagePublic consultation began at the outset and evolvedas an integral and influential part of the plan’s
The housing and public
realm design adjacent to
the Mint Wall contributes
to a quality environment
of heritage character.
(Photo: City of Lincoln
Council)
Engraving of Newport
Arch by Godfrey, 1773
The city wall at Cecil
Street is in poor
condition due to severe
erosion and collapse.
(Photo: City of Lincoln
Council)
St Martin’s church
and Selfridges.
Photograph:
Birmingham City
Council
A R C H A E O L O G Y I N B I R M I N G H A M C I T Y C E N T R E
LIN
CO
LNUsing Roman monuments in
today’s urban environment: a case study from LINCOLNJason Wood
39S u m m e r 2 0 0 5 N u m b e r 5 7T h e A r c h a e o l o g i s t38
Walden House site: medieval expansion and post-medieval industryThe first of the town centre redevelopment sites wasat Walden House, a project designed to involve thelocal community through on-site participation, findsprocessing, open days, presentations and visits toschools. The main period of occupation spanned theeleventh to fourteenth centuries, when the townwas at its most prosperous. Features characteristicof urban settlement included dense zones of pittingand quarrying, wells, ovens, timber buildings,cobbled surfaces and ditched property boundaries.Pottery and animal bones were abundant and thereare early indications that tanning was a majorindustry. Soil samples await analysis.
Evidence of urban contraction in the later medievalperiod was found across the site, represented by anextensive cultivation or levelling layer and agenerally lower level of activity. This supportsdocumentary evidence, which suggests thatHuntingdon suffered a period of decline from thefourteenth century onwards.
A group of plank and brick-built pits are theremains of the only tannery known in Huntingdon,first documented in 1811 and owned by the Mailefamily; it had gone out of business by 1877.
Huntingdon celebrates the 800th anniversary of its charter this year, and amongst the
events in the town are several archaeological excavations. Most are small pieces of work,
but two major projects have fortuitously coincided with the celebrations. Major
redevelopment of the town centre has afforded an excellent opportunity for Cambridgeshire
Archaeology, Archaeological Field Unit to investigate significant parts of this historic town.
The excavations, which are expected to continue over the next two to three years, comprise
the largest area of the town to be investigated, covering approximately 2ha.
Lost church?Did St George’s, one of Huntingdon’s lost churches,stand on this site? Although no sign of an in-situbuilding matching this description was found,architectural stone fragments consistent with anecclesiastical origin had been reused in a post-medieval boundary wall.
preparation, enabling the local community tobecome involved in ‘real time’. The approach was inline with current agenda for social inclusion andcommunity engagement in the historicenvironment, but on a scale previously notattempted. Target groups included residents andbusinesses, local school children and visitors to thecity. Over 540 people were consulted.
Thirty-six policies addressed the key issues. Thefollowing points focus on those exploringenhancement of the monuments and their use intoday’s public realm.
Damage and decayThe condition of some monuments is deterioratingdue to climatic and human activity, reducing theirvisual attraction and amenity value. Lincolnshirelimestone is not a robust building material andrepairs in line with earlier national guidance havenot stood the test of time. Decay may also be due toinappropriate use, accidental damage or vandalism.The monuments and their settings would definitelybenefit from an enhanced fabric and groundsmaintenance regime.
Low to negative visual impactAlmost a third of the monuments were graded ashaving low to negative visual impact within theirbroader setting, and over half have a landscapesetting of only poor to average quality. Many sufferby being incidental to their immediate setting rather
than the focus. Visual impact could be improvedthrough design, landscaping and lighting. Forexample, if it proves essential to continue usingNewport Arch for traffic, it should at least bepossible to prevent all goods vehicles and tointroduce paving and other public realm works todeter through-traffic, whilst allowing access fortrade and parking.
Opportunities also exist for interpretation within abroader Lincoln context; for example along Romanroads and within amenity areas that abut them.Interpretative events, re-enactments andreconstructions could be developed, and the creationof public art might offer distinctive solutions andreinforce the significance of the monuments.
... but interested communities The quality of the historic environment is often animportant concern for communities, and theconsultations demonstrated much interest inLincoln’s Roman heritage. Getting local peopleinvolved leads to positive social and educationaloutcomes, including developing skills, raisingaspirations for a neighbourhood, and a sense ofcommunity. Any new developments should buildon the inclusive process of community outreach andengagement already begun.
Jason WoodHeritage Consultancy [email protected]
The plan is available (£20 plus p&p) from Oxbow Books,Park End Place, Oxford OX1 1HN tel 01865 241249(and don’t forget IFA members can get a discount on allOxbow books).
C u r r e n t e x c a v a t i o n s i n
H u n t i n g d o n Rachel Clarke, Richard Mortimer and Aileen Connor
Only nine of the Roman monuments are provided
with interpretation boards and some of these
contain information which is now out of date or
discriminatory. A number are inappropriately sited.
(Photo: City of Lincoln Council)
Newport Arch was
almost destroyed by a
fish lorry in 1964. The
Arch was hit again in
the early 1990s and as
recently as May last
year. (Photo: City of
Lincoln Council)
LIN
CO
LN
Grimston face pot
(AD 1250-1350)
discarded in a
rubbish pit ©
Cambridgeshire
County Council
At its height, Huntingdon had 16
churches; by the sixteenth century
only four were still functioning.
Large fragments of architectural
stone reused in later foundations
could be from one of the ‘lost
churches’ © Cambridgeshire
County Council
S u m m e r 2 0 0 5 N u m b e r 5 740 T h e A r c h a e o l o g i s t
Historically Nantwich was Cheshire’s mostimportant town after Chester, and lies at a nodalcommunication point. Its economic importance, incommon with Middlewich and Northwich, rests onsalt production from brine springs, an industry withprehistoric origins. In 1583 the centre of the townwas engulfed by a ‘great fire’. The consequences ofthis conflagration can be visible as a significantstratigraphic horizon, often leaving earlyfoundations in situ.
Salt production and deep preservationExcavations over the past century have consistentlydemonstrated the depth and quality of itsstratigraphic sequence and finds assemblages, incontrast to other historic towns in Cheshire with theexception of Chester. Since 1990 around 25investigations have confirmed that high qualitypreservation extends over approximately 17.5ha,rising to some 6m above river level, withstratigraphy on top of the hill of 2.5m, andconsiderably deeper on the alluvial plain.
Buckets and spades and cisternsAt Kingsley Fields, on a clay terrace above theWeaver, University of Manchester Archaeological
A Saxon boundary One intriguing discovery was a series of massivepost-pits, the largest 2x1m and 2m deep, dating tothe tenth or eleventh century, which formed aboundary across the site perpendicular to the HighStreet. There is evidence for different activities oneither side of this boundary, which may have been agate structure, marking an entrance to the townitself or to a separate enclosure, perhaps for StMary’s church or Priory. The posts appear to havebeen removed at or after the Conquest.
Medieval industryExcavated medieval features dating to the twelfth tofourteenth centuries include wells and quarry pits,an area of small kilns or ovens, on-sitemetalworking, and large, square pits, some ofwhich may originally have been wood-lined. Findsinclude large quantities of pottery (sequencesspanning the Late Saxon to medieval transition areof particular importance) and domesticated andwild animal, bird and fish bone. Substantialquantities of metalworking waste indicate that thesmith in question was working principally with ironbut also copper and lead.
Coming up…Further small-scale excavations are soon to beundertaken, including a community excavation onMill Common immediately west of the Normanmotte and bailey castle. These will focus on whatmay be outworks to the Late Saxon and medievaltown defences.
Rachel Clarke, Richard Mortimer and Aileen ConnorCambridgeshire County Council Archaeological Field [email protected]
Hartford Road: Saxon and medieval centralHuntingdonThe excavation lay immediately north of St Mary’s,still the principal parish church, at the junction ofthe High Street and Hartford Road in the centre ofmedieval Huntingdon. Archaeological depositswere up to 3.5m deep, though the upper metre hadbeen truncated. The surviving remains span LateSaxon to the early 15th century, with a few intrusivefeatures such as wells and a brick cellar.
41
N A N T W I C H :exceptional preservation and a mitigation issueTim Malim
Remarkable survival of wet deposits,
timbers and organic remains within
York, London and Carlisle is well
publicised, but recent work at Nantwich,
Cheshire, has demonstrated that this
small town is amongst the premier
league for ‘urban wetlands’. Roman salt
tanks, wooden tools, an Anglo-Norman
tub-stave and in-situ structural timbers,
a medieval ‘salt ship’, timber-frame
buildings and barrels are some of the
finds made in the last two years alone.
Particularly surprising is that these
finds do not only come from low-lying
areas, but also up the hill, in
waterlogged deposits apparently
overlying natural sand.
Unit recorded Roman waterlogged features,probable brine wells, containing a rich assemblageof leatherwork and woodwork such as spades andbuckets, animal bone, complete ceramic vessels andmetalwork. Two timber brine cisterns, 10 x 2m and2m deep, constructed of planks revetted with sillbeams and uprights, were excavated. Adjacent tothe Weaver, Earthworks Archaeological Servicesrecovered a medieval ‘salt ship’ (hollowed-out log)which had been used as a salt cistern, below sixwooden barrels set within a timber channel,positioned against the wall of a timber frameworkshop which had burnt down. Organic depositswere 3m deep and contained leather and woodenartefacts with medieval pottery. An earlier ‘salt-ship’ had been found in Wood Street in 1979.
Tracks and pavementAcross the river land rises steeply to the centre ofthe historic town. Excavations for a gas main andcables in the High Street during the early 1980sdetailed a complex stratigraphic sequence, with1.3m of organic deposits over sand. A corduroytimber trackway at the base of this sequence wasoverlain by cobbles and organic build-up ‘rich invegetable matter’ with hazel-nuts, straw, hazel-rods
Looking south
to St Mary’s
Church ©
Cambridgeshire
County
Council
Hartford Road
excavations ©
Cambridgeshire
County Council
Post-pit, part of a possible
gateway © Cambridgeshire
County Council
Excavating and lifting the
salt ship © Earthworks
Archaeological Service
H u n t i n g d o n
4342 T h e A r c h a e o l o g i s t S u m m e r 2 0 0 5 N u m b e r 5 7
Fresh approaches and design solutionsAt present there is a welcome reassessment of thecurrent approach within the profession towardspreservation in situ, which has tended to use theOve-Arup study of York to permit up to 5% of anurban area to be lost directly to piling, and anunknown quantity of waterlogged deposits throughcollateral damage and local drainage around eachpile. Into this debate, fresh evidence andapproaches from other areas could be usefullyincluded. In Nantwich it is essential that a survey isadopted soon to map the extent of waterloggedpreservation, and to investigate the cause of suchpreservation on top of the hill. A strategy can thenbe put in place by Cheshire County Council’sHistoric Environment Team, so that in future allparties can take full regard for the significance ofthe archaeological resource in this small historictown. Justified balance can be given torecommendation for research (preservation byrecord) as opposed to a design solution withminimal impact.
Tim MalimPrincipal Archaeologist for Gifford & Partners Ltd [email protected]
for wattling, animal bone and shoemakers offcuts.Oak planking above this had formed a pavement,with a coin of Henry III lying on the planks. Sandand modern deposits sealed the sequence.
Anglo-Norman and medieval timber housingFurther east, at the Lamb Hotel, Gifford excavatedclay and organic-rich silts 2.6m deep overlyingnatural sand. Soil micromorphological analysis byIan Drew and Jonathan Lageard of ManchesterMetropolitan University showed that clay floorswere interspersed with deposits from stables andworkshops. Five oak timbers from a wide selectionof in-situ planks and sill beams and a wash-tubstave, were dated by dendrochronology, the earliestto post-1048 with a second timber from the sametree dated 1158 – 1183. Others have thirteenth-century dates which correspond to the potteryevidence. Ian Tyers (ARCUS) remarks that thisassemblage comes from local well-managedwoodland, which concords with other Nantwichtree-ring sequences and matches planks from thetransept of Peterborough Cathedral, perhaps fromthe same timber source.
Preservation in situ: new systemsAt the Lamb Hotel preservation in situ was chosenas the mitigation measure (full excavation had beenadopted elsewhere) and Gifford designed a schemeusing 200mm top-driven steel-sleeved piles sunkinto clay below the natural sand, preventingdrainage and desiccation. This mini-piling, coupledwith raising the ring-beam and pile caps, amountedto only 0.9% disturbance to archaeological deposits,and allowed repositioning of the pile if itencountered an obstacle such as timber whilst beinginserted.
Before 1990, a large proportion of English Heritage’s archaeology budget wastied up in urban rescue. When PPG 16moved the cost of development-ledexcavation from the state onto developers,EH was able to use this budget to supportstrategic activities. One of the largest ofthese – and one of EH’s most importantcurrent initiatives in the urban historic environment – is the programme of surveyand characterisation projects, underway in partnership with local authorities sincethe late 1980s.
Needs in townsIt was clear that PPG 16 would have a particularimpact in historic towns, with their combination ofrich and important archaeological remains andheavy development pressures. In 1992, EHpublished Managing the Urban ArchaeologicalResource, setting out support for a new generationof ‘intensive’ and ‘extensive’ urban survey projectsto produce better information, understanding andpolicies for local authorities. The new programmewas foreshadowed by pilot projects in Cirencester,Durham, York and the Central Marches. Thisprogramme now embraces the wider concepts of‘historic environment’ and characterisation.Funding comes from EH’s Historic EnvironmentEnabling Programme (HEEP), with ‘in kind’support from participating local authorities andsome finance from regeneration agencies (Cornwalland Leicester, for example).
Intensive projects‘Intensive’ projects cover 35 major English historictowns and cities, chosen for their chronologicaldepth, good archaeological survival and obviousdevelopment pressure. Each is the subject of aseparate project, funded through the city, district orunitary council concerned. Each project has threestages: database, assessment and strategy.
An Urban Archaeological Database (UAD) recordsand maps ‘events’ (eg excavations), monuments anddeposits in the historic core. Information from awide range of sources is drawn together, and GIS iscentral to the work. UADs are either held as part ofthe County SMR or separately by the localauthority. Some 25 UADs are either completed orare progress, and are proving extremely valuablefor planning and other purposes in major historicurban centres.
Assessment produces a monograph-lengthsynthesis with maps to show each town’s evolution.Cirencester, Greater London, Lincoln and St Albanshave been published, and Bristol, Shrewsbury,Winchester, Newcastle, Colchester and Bath are inpreparation. They are, however, proving
WORKING IN TOWNS: ENGLISH HERITAGE URBAN SURVEY PROGRAMMERoger M Thomas
Excavations at the Lamb
Hotel with remains of
Anglo-Norman timber
structures, and piling in
progress © Gifford
Excavation of Roman
cistern in Nantwich ©
University of Manchester
Archaeological Unit
N A N T W I C H
Progress on UADS, May 2005
44 45T h e A r c h a e o l o g i s t S u m m e r 2 0 0 5 N u m b e r 5 7
challenging to complete, a reflection of theproblems of attempting synthesis on this scale.
The next stage (strategy) is the local authority’spolicy statement on the management and use of itsurban archaeological resource. This may be adoptedas Supplementary Planning Guidance (as in Bath –http://www.bathnes.gov.uk).
Extensive surveys‘Extensive’ urban surveys (‘EUS’) cover smallertowns on a county-by-county basis. Projects arefunded through county (or equivalent)archaeological services, and the results held in theSMR. Again, the broad database-assessment-strategy structure is followed. Twenty-nine counties,covering nearly 700 towns (out of a likely total ofaround 1100), have been completed or are inprogress, and the assessment reports are beginningto be made available on the internet (via ADS:http://ads.ahds.ac.uk).
In small towns, where there is often little evidencefrom excavation, attention is paid to urbantopography, trying to understand its evolution bydefining a series of ‘plan components’ such asmarket places, burgage plots and churchyards.
Recent developmentsSince 2000 and Power of Place, the EUS programmehas developed to embrace characterisation and theneeds of regeneration. It has also begun to tacklemajor conurbations and their associated industriallandscapes, as well as traditional ‘small towns’.
In Cornwall, eighteen towns have been examined indetail, with 50% funding from Objective 1 (an EU
regeneration fund). The aim is to protect thedistinctive regional character of Cornwall’s townsfrom erosion by regeneration-led investment.Character areas have been defined for each town,and the salient characteristics of each documentedin text and photographs. In Sussex, an EUS projectconcerned largely with market towns has sought todefine ‘Historic Urban Character Areas’ (HUCAs)and to give a numerical ‘Historic EnvironmentValue’ to each HUCA.
In Lancashire, the EUS deals with the complexity ofthe county’s major industrial towns of thenineteenth century. Work has also now begun oncharacterising the conurbations of Merseyside,South Yorkshire and the Black Country, where thereis often no meaningful distinction between urban,rural and industrial landscapes. These projectsapply a characterisation approach (a fusion ofHistoric Landscape Characterisation (HLC) andEUS) across the whole area.
HEEP, historic environment management and theprofessionEH’s urban surveys are a good example of howHEEP is supporting strategic programmes whichprovide better tools for the management of thehistoric environment. UADs typically cost EHbetween £50,000 and £100,000 each (with furthercosts for assessment and strategy stages). EUStypically now costs EH about £5000 per town. Eventaking into account ‘in kind’ contributions fromlocal authorities, these projects are good value formoney.
Important benefits include better and moreaccessible information to allow clear and confidentadvice to be given quickly. A large body of digitalinformation with enormous potential (largelyunrealised as yet) for outreach and communityinvolvement has been created. The programme hasalso built up capacity in local authorities, advancedthe role of GIS in curatorial archaeology andprovided valuable career developmentopportunities.
Through HEEP, EH is therefore supporting themanagement of the historic urban environment andstrengthening the development of our profession.
Roger M ThomasHead of Urban ArchaeologyEnglish Heritage23 Savile Row, London W1S 2ET
0207 973 [email protected]
An extract from Wiltshire Extensive Urban Mapping Survey,
mapping the planform analysis for the town of Devizes. Drawn
by Archaeology Service, Wiltshire County Council
Using palynology to investigate how humanpopulations alter the landscape has a longhistory. On-site pollen analysis ofarchaeological soils however is relatively newand is still underused, especially in an urbancontext, even though its potential has beenwell documented since 1982 (Greig 1982).
Pollen can be preserved within urban deposits suchas floors, burials, hearths and cesspits. At NewportStreet in Worcester, a post-medieval cesspitcontaining highly minerogenic layers revealed apollen suite primarily of grasses, as well ascornflower, nettle and vetch, material used todampen down the cess. When investigating specificcontexts such as a burial or floor surface, it isadvisable to distinguish the background flora fromthat context. This is successful if a range of samplesis taken spatially. Experimental investigations havehighlighted differences in pollen flora andconcentrations between stable and domestic floors.The pollen record has been successful inestablishing background urban flora for example atboth Saltway in Roman Droitwich and in the OldMarket area of medieval Bristol.
Fodder from outsideDeposits of dumped material often found on urbanwaterfront sites are also a valuable source of pollenremains. At St Julian’s Friars in Shrewsbury, a peatlayer of medieval date had been formed behind thetown wall close to the River Severn, providingevidence of damp or seasonally floodedmeadowland and dumped hay waste.Environmental evidence of fodder brought in fromoutside is often found on urban sites. The time offodder collection can affect both the arboreal andherbaceous pollen record, reducing or increasingflowering, and can indicate managed areas offodder production, although due to taxonomicuncertainties, on-site samples must be taken toprevent a bias towards regional pollen rain.Sampling from probable hayfields and meadowsadjacent to the settlement may highlight fodderpractices, as these herb communities can beidentified down to genus or type. Reliableidentifications within the cereal record againdepend on preservation and taxonomic precision.Questions on the provenance of cereals have alsoemerged, highlighting the need for research on thetransport and deposition of cereal pollen usingmodern analogues.
Garden plants insideAn urban site will often include evidence of buriedsoils and gardens (see Murphy and Scaife 1991).Although weeds of waste and arable and an outsidearboreal component usually dominate, the pollenrecord can include plants cultivated for food orexotics. Cultivated plants are common in plantmacrofossil assemblages, but pollen is moreproblematic due to confidences in taxonomicprecision. Pollen of hemp, broad beans, and hopswere recorded from a medieval barrel latrine inWorcester, the identifications supported by plant
Pollenanalysis in anurban archaeologicalcontextKatie Head
Cesspit excavated by
WHEAS at Newport Street,
Worcester
Gorse pollen
47S u m m e r 2 0 0 5 N u m b e r 5 746 T h e A r c h a e o l o g i s t
&
It is rare that archaeology per se is discussed in theUK Parliament (through we have been promised aHeritage Bill in 2007, primarily to see throughchanges to the heritage protection regime inEngland). Yet political decisions often have animpact on archaeology, even when archaeology isnot the focus of the legislation or debate. That istrue of several bills in the Queen’s Speech and nowbeginning their passage through Parliament.
IMPACT OF OLYMPICSOne is the Olympics Bill (sponsored by DCMS), tohost the 2012 Games. For archaeologists there willbe a double impact. Construction of new facilities
may lead to developer-funded work, but it will alsomean top slicing Lottery budgets to raise the £2-4billion which are already estimated. This will muchdiminish HLF funds from now to 2012 and beyond.
GOVERNMENT INTERFERENCE IN GOODCAUSESThe Lottery Bill is proving to be contentious.Ostensibly it is designed to merge the NewOpportunities Fund, Community Fund andMillennium Commission to create the Big LotteryFund (BLF). Theresa May, Conservative ShadowCulture Secretary, has warned that it ‘will lead tothe Lottery becoming just another arm of
A R C H A E O L O G Y A N D P O L I T I C S
C h r i s t o p h e r C a t l i n g ( e d i t o r o f S A L O N ) b e g i n s a n e w c o l u m n o n p o l i t i c s a n d
a r c h a e o l o g y b y l o o k i n g a t t h e b i l l s c u r r e n t l y g o i n g t h r o u g h P a r l i a m e n t
Children learning
about archaeology
at Segedunum
Museum and
Archaeological
Park, Wallsend, one
of several HLF-
funded projects that
opens up
archaeology for the
local community
and a wide circle of
visitors. Will such
high-quality
archaeological
projects survive all
the new pressures?
Photograph: Zak
Waters, for HLF
macrofossil evidence. Pollen records from medievalgardens need to be increased however, in order toidentify plants of culinary and medicinal use.
Pollen from augeringWhere little is known about an area, but excavationis not initially required or practical, augerassessments adopting pollen analysis can behelpful (smaller sample sizes), particularly whencombined with a rapid coring technique using apower auger or drilling rig. These types of augerrigs, particularly track-mounted models, areespecially relevant to urban archaeology whereaccess is difficult, sediments impenetrable, orexcavation hazardous.
Frameworks which incorporate environmentalanalyses are vital (see guidelines by the Associationfor Environmental Archaeology 1995) and we needto increase on-site pollen analysis, particularly onurban excavations. Other requirements are• a considered sampling strategy specific to pollen • multiproxy approach, to improve taxonomic
precision• increased modern analogues and experimental
work on taphonomic problems• inform curators of the advantages of palynology
Association for Environmental Archaeology1995 Environmental archaeology and archaeologicalevaluations. Recommendations concerning theenvironmental archaeology component ofarchaeological evaluations in England. WorkingPapers of the Association for EnvironmentalArchaeology 2, 8 pp. York: Association forEnvironmental Archaeology.
Balaam, ND, and Scaife, RG 1987Archaeological pollen analysis, In: Mellars, P(ed) Research priorities in archaeological science,CBA Occasional Paper, pp7-10
Edwards, KJ 1998 Detection of human impacton the natural environment: palynologicalviews. In: Bayley, J (ed) Science in Archaeology:an agenda for the future, English Heritage,London: 69-88
Greig, J 1982 The interpretation of pollenspectra from urban archaeological deposits, In:Hall, AR and Kenward, HK (eds) EnvironmentalArchaeology in the Urban Context. CBA ResearchReport No. 43: 47-65
Murphy, P and Scaife, RG 1991 Theenvironmental archaeology of gardens, In: AEBrown (Ed.) Garden Archaeology: Papers presentedto a conference at Knuston Hall, Northamptonshire,April 1988, CBA Research Report No 78: 83-99
Dr Katie HeadWorcestershire Historic Environment and Archaeology Service (WHEAS)Woodbury HallUniversity College WorcesterHenwick Grove, Worcester WR2 [email protected]
Drilling rig (courtesy of
Global Probing and
Sampling Ltd) used in both
rural and urban landscape
assessments at WHEAS
The author sampling pollen
at a Romano-British site at
Weston super Mare
S u m m e r 2 0 0 5 N u m b e r 5 748 T h e A r c h a e o l o g i s t
Birmingham: the hidden history
Michael Hodder 2004
Tempus publishing 192pp £17.99 pb
Most archaeologists approaching archaeology inBirmingham would assume that its interest layprincipally in the post-medieval period, and for onceit would be pretty fair to say they would be right.Michael Hodder, Planning archaeologist forBirmingham City Council since 1994, has greatknowledge of the local archaeology, especially of theintricacies of recent excavation in this huge city, andmakes impressive attempts to report early evidence,but great gaps appear to be quite genuine. Burntmounds are the only substantial Bronze Ageevidence, and Metchley fort is the best the Romansoffer, though there are a couple of excavated kilnsites. Things only improve in the middle ages, withthe usual features of numerous villages plus theplanned creation of Birmingham itself in the twelfthcentury. This thrived as a market and industrial townaround the thirteenth-century church of St Martin’s.
It is interesting to see the effect of features such asdeer parks, moats and churchyards on the city’s
topography, but Birmingham’s real significancecomes alive from about 1500, as excavations give ustangible evidence for example for metalworking,glass making, tanning, hemp and flax working, tileand pottery kilns and manufacture of artefacts frombuttons to bricks. Accounts of these excavationsmust be a resource of national importance, as arethose of the power sources that fuelled them andthe transport systems (for which Birmingham hasno natural advantages) that enabled success on aglobal scale. It is these processes themselves thatdeserve the attention of archaeologists who dealwith the products all over Britain.
Excavations at the priory of the Order
of the Hospital of St John of
Jerusalem, Clerkenwell, London
MoLAS monograph 20
Barney Sloane and Gordon Malcolm 2004
Museum of London Archaeology Service and English
Heritage 434pp £31.95 pb
How should we publish large-scale but bitty urbanexcavations, where innumerable specialists need togive detailed reports, complex stratigraphic dataabsorbed the excavators’ interests for decades, butwhere it was the overall story these materialremains elucidate that must become the authors’priority? Mixing narrative and data may be theheart of our discipline, but it is no easy feat. Forsome time MoLAS have been pioneering thisapproach in less promising circumstances, and thiswell documented site, fitting into a dramaticinternational context, benefits immeasurably froman integrated style that gives priority to theunfolding story and keeps data controlled in asupporting role. The authors’ are also fortunate inthe quality of the archaeological, architectural anddocumentary evidence, which is explored throughseven thematic sections that place it in its widercontext.
The international significance of this site is that it isa rare example (unique in Britain) of provincialheadquarters of the Knights Hospitaller. Nineteen R
EV
IE
WSNEW BOOKS REVIEWED Alison Taylor
Brick-built
bottle-shaped
craft pottery
kiln, c. 1830,
at Sutton
Coldfield
Excavating a crypt
wall beneath the
Knights
Hospitaller’s round
church
government,’ and Don Foster, Shadow CultureSecretary for the Liberal Democrats, has describedthe Bill as a new ‘stealth tax’. Their concern lies inits terms of reference. In place of tangible goodcauses (sport, heritage, the arts, charities) BLF hasbeen given broad funding themes: improving thequality of life of local communities, promotingwellbeing, encouraging community learning,enhancing community safety, for example. Sectorcommentators have pointed out that these themeslook remarkably similar to the Government’s owncore priorities of health, education and crime. Theyworry about Government interference and the useof lottery funding to plug gaps in public spending(a new Jamie Oliver trust to improve schoolcatering, for example).
VIEWERS’ VOTESThe Government hasn’t (yet) attempted to denythis. Instead, it says that Lottery Funds are ‘thePeople’s Millions’ and that using funds for theOlympics and school meals is simply responding to popular opinion. In fact, the Government wantsto see even greater response to public opinion. Starting this autumn, ITV will broadcast the first of a series of programmes asking viewers to vote for projects they think should win money.
The Lottery Bill has one other implication forarchaeology: why stop at 50% of Lottery proceeds?The Government could argue that it is moreefficient to abolish the existing ‘good causes’ (HLF,Arts Council, UK Sport), and have one applicationcentre. How well would archaeology compete withcomputer training for teachers or new hospitalequipment, let alone demands for the Olympics?
STEERING CONSULTATIONSWhen the time comes (this autumn) forGovernment to review the Lottery, they will publish a consultation document. Government hasdeveloped consultation as a fine art for disarmingcriticism and setting out limited parameters fordebate. Civil servants craft documents to steerrespondents in the direction of preparedconclusions. HLF consultation will fall a long wayshort of a fundamental review, but will ask us toendorse broad principles, such as that HLF shouldbe more accountable to the public (or civil servants).
MANAGING THE COUNTRYSIDEAnother small Bill in the Queen’s Speech that hasproved to be surprisingly controversial is theNatural Environment and Rural Communities Bill(sponsored by DEFRA), creating a new integratedcountryside agency called Natural England tomanage delivery of rural and environmentalservices and advise the Government on biodiversityand nature conservation. According to an apoplecticopinion piece in Country Life (2 June 2005), thismeans ‘an army of bureaucrats armed with rigidfarm plans laid down at the centre and imposed bysatellite spying on every inch of rural England’. Aless self-interested writer might have welcomedNatural England’s remit to rebalance the use of thecountryside in favour of wildlife.
MARITIME ARCHAEOLOGYAnother DEFRA-sponsored bill is the Common Land Bill, intended to ensure that common land,especially in SSSIs, is managed in the interests ofwildlife and protected from overgrazing. DEFRAsays that the common land is ‘an important part ofour national heritage’, and so it is. But it begs thequestion why the protection of natural heritage isworth so much Parliamentary time, whenarchaeology and the built heritage is not. The point is reinforced by the Marine Bill (DEFRA again),aimed at ‘improving sustainable development of themarine and coastal environment’, which will extendthe protection given to marine species and habitatswhilst introducing a streamlined system for planning and managing developments in coastal and marine waters. A vast amount of archaeologicalresource lies in the coastal zone and under the sea, so this legislation that could have major implicationsfor archaeology, yet archaeology is not mentioned inthe draft of the Bill.
So, it is rare that archaeology is ever mentioned inthe UK Parliament – but surely that is a situationwe need to change. The Marine Bill is the result oflobbying by Wildlife and Countryside Link, WWF,RSPB, Wildlife Trusts and the Whale and DolphinConservation Society. We archaeologists couldachieve just as much if we took politics as seriouslyas they do.
Christopher [email protected]
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T h e A r c h a e o l o g i s t S u m m e r 2 0 0 5 N u m b e r 5 7
Peter Marsden, now on the point of retiring asdirector of the Shipwreck Heritage Centre, has beenpart of British archaeology over nearly half acentury. In 1959 he was employed at the GuildhallMuseum, City of London, as the museum’sarchaeologist, and throughout the 1960s was alonetackling the City’s archaeology as the last wartimebombed sites were redeveloped. Fortunately he wasable to form the City of London Excavation Group,enthusiastic volunteers who worked at weekends.Finding a Roman barge at Guy’s Hospital in 1959led him to maritime archaeology, and other Roman,medieval and later wrecks found at Blackfriarsopened this field further. With Joan du Plat Taylorhe formed the Committee for Nautical Archaeology,leading to the Protection of Wrecks Act 1973. In 1986he was involved with a trust which established theShipwreck Heritage Centre in Hastings. Othercampaigns include trying to stop the MoD sellingoff wrecks of early historic warships. The trust now
owns two warship wrecks, both of which weretargeted by treasure hunters.
Peter will continue writing when the Mary Rose ispublished in 2006 – and continue campaigning.Currently he is trying to stop amateur divers lootinga merchant ship, the SS Storaa, sunk by enemytorpedo in 1943 but considered by the MoD not tohave been in military service. He has officiallyappealed to the High Court for permission for aJudicial Review which could open up the possibilityof protection for merchant ships in which thousandsof men died in two world wars.
He comments that ‘it is a great delight to see theprofessionalism and enthusiasm of so many youngpeople through the IFA. It has been a privilege to bepart of the whole scene, and to know that ourdiscipline is in much more capable hands now thanit was in the 1950s and 1960s’. M
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Members news
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Gold pendant,
only paralled in
Friesland
excavations between 1985 and 1995 built up adetailed picture from its foundation in 1144 to theseventeenth century, most of the buildings havingstayed in private use after the Dissolution in 1540(though its round church was dastardly blown upby the Lord Protector Somerset to provide materialsfor his own house).
Despite the function of the site, there is only limitedevidence for military or religious activity, but thesection on diet, health, hygiene and livingstandards, all of an enviable standard for any date,confirms much that we thought about good-livingmonks. Evidence from twelfth/thirteenth-centurycesspits for example demonstrate the luxurious diet(veal, suckling pig, swan, duck, partridge, haddock,plaice, figs and strawberries are included) in the
inner precinct, with a more restricted but stillnutritious diet apparent outside the enclosed area.The medieval and post-medieval pottery reportsconcentrate refreshingly on information learnedrather than on typology, and are hugelyinformative. Lyn Blackmore for example identifies‘bird pots’, which are well documented in theNetherlands and were hung from trees or buildingsto attract nesting birds (alas, for culinary rather thansentimental let alone ecological reasons) from thefifteenth to seventeenth century. There were alsopottery watering cans and flower pots from gardensthat were always an important feature here. Mostlybought at the neighbouring annual StBartholomew’s fair, pottery in general fromClerkenwell is informative for import anddistribution networks of London.
The origins of mid-Saxon
Southampton: Excavations at the
Friends Provident St Mary Stadium
1998-2000
Vaughan Birbeck with Roland JC Smith, Phil
Andrews and Nick Stoodley 2005
Wessex Archaeology 217pp £15 pb
Southampton Football Club’s decision to return toits old site, which happened to cover a sizeablepiece of Hamwic, provided a fine opportunity toinvestigate this international mid-Saxon tradingcentre, uncovering rich burials along with evidencefor various manufactures, squalid living conditions,streets, houses etc, mostly within a tight time-frameof the late seventh to ninth centuries. This report istherefore packed with data for several aspects ofthis poorly-understood period.
The burials, which immediately preceded and wereignored by the settlement, unusually fall into twodistinct categories which, again unusually, canarguably be explained by a sudden change inreligion and the ruling power. Urned cremationswith scarcely any grave goods seem to date to ashort period either side of AD 700 (uncommon butfar from unique in this area of late conversion) andwere followed by inhumations, some richlyfurnished, perhaps a result of a West Saxon take-over. Weapon graves were common (the seax was afavourite), and included a decorated calf leatherscabbard with a belt set. Female graves includedtwo gold pendants and curated Roman jewelleryamongst other riches. Only three out of 23 burialshad no grave goods, which would haveconsiderable interest at this date were it not that theappalling survival of bones and the impossibility ofrecognising graves in brickearth meant that nearlyall had to be discovered through metal-detecting, acircumstance that should have been explained tothose writing the discussion (a common complaint).
The eighth/ninth-century settlement producedtantalisingly slight evidence for iron, bronze andeven gold working (a mass of gold thread), and forglass and pottery manufacture. More abundantevidence for a plain diet and squalid livingconditions give a less glamorous picture of life forthe inhabitants but, the authors suggest, thecombination of regal burials and a manufacturing/trading centre of rapid growth puts Hamwic intoline with London and Ipswich, also major tradingcentres probably established by royal intervention.The report therefore makes a major contribution tounderstanding the economy and politics of thisintriguing period at an international level.
51
New membersELECTED Member (MIFA)
Colin Buck
David Hunter
Nicholas Johnson
Neil MacNab
Dietlind
Paddenberg
Rebecca Roseff
Alistair Webb
Associate (AIFA)
Paul Adams
Sally Dicks
Christopher
Hewitson
Magnus Kirby
Ian McHardy
Bruno Mezec
Roger Oram
Richard Oram
Sally Parker
Naomi Payne
Sean Taylor
Kim Watkins
Ross White
Practitioner (PIFA)
Broughton Anderson
Charlotte Dawson
James Gerrard
Tim Vickers
Affiliate
Laura Hill
Student
Graham Aldred
Diane Butterfield
Christopher Caine
Trista Clifford
Michelle Crabb
Glyn Dodwell
Jonathan Dudley
Julia Gerken
Christopher Harrison
Maria LeRoi
Avis Lloyd
Panagiota
Markoulaki
Scott Pannell
Iwan Parry
Farnaz Parvizi
Guy Salkeld
Michael Shaw
Sarah Ward
Mary Wilde
Member (MIFA)
Martin Lightfoot
Gareth Watkins
Associate (AIFA)
Caroline Appleton
Syann Brooks
Jim Brown
Brian Hession
Rebecca
Thompson-
Lawrence
Practitioner (PIFA)
Jenny Hayward
Michael Keech
Ingrid Ward
TRANSFERS
RAO News
CKC Archaeology
As a result of Chris Currie’s sad death, CKCArchaeology will cease business when all currentprojects are completed this winter. Memberswishing to discuss any CKC business shouldcontact Neil Rushton on [email protected].
T h e A r c h a e o l o g i s t
ME
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SCatherine Cavanagh has recently left EnglishHeritage to become the manager of England’s Past for Everyone. This new project is sponsored by the Victoria County History in partnership with HLF and is based in the Institute of HistoricalResearch at the University of London. EPE isintended to bring local history to a wider audience, with thematic paperback publication and online resources for schools(www.englandpast.net).
Catherine successfully delivered the HistoricEnvironment Local Management project for English Heritage, which provides online access to information, guidance and training atwww.helm.org.uk. With a background in bothcommercial and development control archaeologyand specific interests in buildings archaeology,project management and training, Catherine is amember of IFA Council and Education officer forthe Buildings Archaeology Group.
Christopher Currie, MIFA 888
Christopher Currie died suddenly this June, aged52, whilst carrying out an archaeological survey forthe National Trust on the Isle of Wight.
Since the late 1980s Chris was a pioneer of gardenarchaeology in Britain, and his CBA handbook onthe subject is about to be published. His careerbegan in the early 1980s, when he spent severalyears in Wiltshire running a Manpower ServicesCommission archaeology unit and as anarchaeological research officer in Harrow. He tookan MPhil at UCL studying the archaeology ofmedieval fishponds, and in 1989 was appointedLeverhulme Research Fellow to test the applicationof archaeological methods to practical fieldwork onhistoric gardens, based at Castle Bromwich Hall,West Midlands. This led to the Gardens ArchaeologyProject, which amongst its projects carried outresearch excavations at Dartington Hall, Devon, andlong term excavation and survey of the landscapedgardens at Bushy Park, Greater London. He was apassionate believer in raising archaeologicalstandards, and was a supporter of the IFA, itsStandards, and the RAO scheme. From 1992 he wasPrincipal of CKC Archaeology, and never failed toappend the fact that the consultancy was IFA RAOno. 1!
Chris was a multi-faceted archaeologist, with anamazing range of knowledge on just about allperiods of British archaeology – he published almosteighty articles in county and national journals andbook chapters, covering sites from many different
areas. His historical training and meticulousapproach led to definitive papers on subjects asdiverse as the introduction of the carp to England,ponds as garden features, horticultural ceramics,Saxon charter boundaries, post-medievalenvironmental archaeology, and woodlandmanagement in the eighteenth century. His legacy ofpublications is testament to his assiduousness inensuring research was carried through todissemination at a time when many contractorswere drawing back from publishing more than greyliterature.
He believed that archaeology belonged toeverybody, and always tried to provideopportunities for schoolchildren, students andvolunteers on his projects. Although not by nature a‘committee man’, he served for long periods on theSociety for Landscape Studies and Hampshire FieldClub. Chris was never afraid to court controversy inhis interpretations and ideas, and his input intomany fields of British archaeology will be sorelymissed by fellow professionals and amateurs withinthe archaeological community.
Neil Rushton & Martin Locock
52
Obituary
recent books from
the Museum of London
Archaeology Service
MoLAS publications present the results of our excavation and
specialist research. Formats include integrated academic monographs
on nationally important projects and themes, studies papers on
individual site sequences and colourful, accessible popular books
for the general reader.
Prehistoriclandscape to Romanvilla
Excavations at Beddington, Surrey
1981–7
Isca Howell (ed)
M O LAS M O N O G R A P H 26
Holy Trinity Priory,
Aldgate, City of
London
An archaeological reconstruction
and history
John Schofield and Richard Lea
M O LAS M O N O G R A P H 24
The Cistercian abbey
of St Mary Stratford
Langthorne, Essex
Archaeological excavations for the
London Underground Limited Jubilee
Line Extension Project
Bruno Barber, Steve Chew, Tony Dyson
and Bill White
M O LAS M O N O G R A P H 18
Archaeology Service
Jubilee Line Extension Project
Material culture inLondon in an age oftransition
Tudor and Stuart period finds
c 1450–c 1700 from excavations
at riverside sites in Southwark
Geoff Egan
M O LAS M O N O G R A P H 19
Archaeology Service
A prestigious Romanbuilding complex on the Southwarkwaterfront
Excavations at Winchester Palace,
London, 1983–90
Brian Yule
M O LAS M O N O G R A P H 23
M U S E U M O F L O N D O N
A R C H A E O L O G Y S E R V I C E
A R C H A E O L O G Y S T U D I E S S E R I E S 1 3
Pre-Boudican and
later activity on the
site of the forum
Excavations at 168 Fenchurch Street,
City of London
Lesley Dunwoodie
Archaeology Service
To order these or any of our other
publications, please contact
Gary Warr on 020 7410 2200 or
visit the publications page of our
website www.molas.org.uk
Archaeology Service
Recommended
