Broadcast 17 October 2010 | Report available

The town name of Burford in Oxfordshireis of Anglo-Saxon origin and means ‘ford by or leading to the burh’, a burh being an enclosed site ranging from a fortified town to an estate centre. No sign of a burh has ever been found in Burford, but it is thought that one did exist there, probably built in the 10th century. Elsewhere in Burford, the existing grand house at Burford Priory hides the remains of the medieval hospital of St John the Evangelist, which was certainly in existence by the early 13th century, and may have been founded in the 12th century. Time Team aimed to find out how much of the original medieval buildings survived, and to see whether there was any evidence for Anglo-Saxon activity here.

No firm evidence for any Anglo-Saxon features was found on the site, although a number of pottery sherds of this date were found in the Kitchen Garden.

The foundations of a medieval building were revealed on the lawn in front of the present house. This building was aligned on a medieval arcade, part of which was revealed during restoration work on the Priory in 1908, and has been identified, by its position, as part of the infirmary chapel. Pottery sherds from an old ground surface through which the foundation trenches for the chapel were cut were dated to the 12th or 13th century, which broadly corresponds with the historical evidence for the probable foundation of the Hospital in the 12th century. Other medieval finds include decorated floor tiles, glazed roof tiles, and an iron padlock key.

The rest of the medieval Hospital is thought to lie beneath the present building.

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Broadcast 24 October 2010 | Report available

The Royal Garrison Church is all that now remains of the Domus Dei (‘House of God’), the medieval pilgrim hospital that once stood on the site of Governor’s Green in Portsmouth. Probably built in 1212, it accommodated poor pilgrims en route to pilgrimage sites overseas, and also those arriving on these shores to visit popular shrines in England. The hospital survived until the Reformation; in the time of Elizabeth I it was transformed into a home for the Governor of Portsmouth. Time Team’s aim was to investigate the origins of the medieval hospital.

The initial geophysical survey confirmed the cartographic evidence by identifying various buildings within the hospital complex as depicted on maps and drawings of the 16th century and later.

The trenches subsequently dug demonstrated that the 13th century buildings of the Domus Dei hospital had been heavily truncated and reused during the remodelling of the hospital complex into the Governor’s House. The remains of a medieval floor had been reused within the 16th century rebuild, as had much of the useable stonework from the medieval buildings. The main enclosure wall of the medieval hospital complex did survive to some extent, but it had also been replaced in the 16th century.

Medieval finds included pottery and a very worn silver coin. One intriguing hint of the medieval hospital came in the form of one pottery sherd that could have come from a vessel used in the distilling process - the hospital would have used distilled alcoholic liquors in the treatment of the sick.

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Broadcast 10 October 2010

Tregruk Castle in south Wales is today largely forgotten. An enormous ruined structure, it sits on a hilltop amongst dense woodland; nothing survives within the enclosing walls, but there is a massive keep gatehouse at the south-west corner, and a large residential tower at the north-west corner. In the medieval period, however, the castle formed part of the enormous estates of the de Clares, a powerful Welsh Marcher family, and this was an exceptionally large and well appointed residence, which survived in a habitable condition well into the 17th century; the defences were re-used during the Civil War.

No archaeological work had previously been undertaken on the castle, and Time Team aimed to test some of the theories recently advanced, based on surveys and documentary research, as to its date and development. It was thought that the existing stone castle replaced an earlier (12th century) motte and bailey ringwork in the early 14th century by Earl Gilbert de Clare.

Trenches were dug, mainly on the western side of the castle, within the Great Gatehouse and West Gate, and inside the residential tower, but also within the interior of the castle.

There were very few finds from any of the trenches, and so it has proved very difficult to prove or disprove the existing theories about the castle. However, a few sherds of 12th or 13th century pottery from a trench dug at the West Gate may hint at a pre-14th century foundation for the castle. Within the gatehouse and residential tower, two phases of building were identified, of which the earliest could relate to Earl Gilbert de Clare’s construction of the castle in the early 14th century.

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Broadcast 3 October 2010

Between 1792 and 1818 over 200,000 prisoners of war were brought to Britain, as a result of the Napoleonic Wars with France. The existing prisons were soon overflowing, so in 1797 a large prison camp was built at Norman Cross in Cambridgeshire – ‘The Norman Cross Depot for Prisoners of War’. This was the first of its kind in the country, specially designed with health and hygiene in mind, and housing up to 7000 inmates. We know a fair amount about the Norman Cross camp from documentary records, plans and contemporary drawings, but little is known about the surviving archaeological remains, a situation that Time Team hoped to address.

Nine trenches across the site confirmed the basic layout of the camp and provided some detail of its construction and use. The outer perimeter appears to have been a double ditch, separated by a walkway, all contained within a single brick wall. There was also evidence of an earlier timber palisade, which had been mentioned in documentary sources.

Conditions were better at Norman Cross camp than in other prisons, but even so, at least one epidemic, probably typhoid, wiped out a proportion of the prison population. Time Team found a number of graves to the north and north-east of the camp, just outside the walls. Several of these contained more than one individual, although these may have been interred in several phases. However, the ‘plague’ cemetery, reported (by local tradition) to lie to the west of the camp, was not located.

Boredom was also a problem, and to counteract widespread gambling the inmates were encouraged to make and sell craft items from bone, wood and other materials. Many of these survive in Peterborough Museum. Time Team found further evidence of this in the form of a large collection of bone-working debris, and some finished objects (combs, needles, buttons, dominoes). Personal items including metal buttons show the range of military affiliations represented amongst the occupants of the camp (British, French and Dutch).

The camp was closed in 1814 following the Treaty of Paris, and subsequently dismantled. Robber cuts found within a number of the Time Team trenches confirm this systematically dismantling. Most of the brickwork appears to have been removed and reclaimed.

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Broadcast 23 May 2010

Beyond the ground plan, very little is known of the Roman town of Cunetio, near Marlborough in Wiltshire; only very limited excavations have taken place here in the past. These excavations, together with aerial photographs and an early geophysical survey, showed a street system with stone buildings enclosed by two phases of defences (originally earth, later stone) as well as other buildings outside the walls. In the mid 1970s, the largest coin hoard known from Roman Britain – the ‘Mildenhall Hoard’, comprising over 55,000 coins of the later 3rd century AD - was found immediately south of the town.

Time Team were determined to find out a little more about the nature and development of the town, and opened seven trenches, five within the town, one across the south gate, and one immediately outside the defences. In the north-west corner of the town, part of a substantial, high quality building was uncovered. This building is likely to have consisted of more than a single storey, with a stylish, fully Romanised interior. The remains of a possible mansio (the equivalent of a guest house) in the centre of the town survived less well, although it too had a Romanised interior, and was probably roofed in stone.

A ditch, located to the south of the later Roman stone defences of the town, probably relates to the earlier, earth defensive circuit.  Part of the monumental south gate – part of the stone defences - was exposed. Although largely consisting of mortared flint rubble, the south side at least was faced with limestone and Greensand blocks.

Elsewhere, the trenches clearly demonstrated the survival of substantial, stratified archaeological remains, closely corresponding with the evidence from aerial photographs and geophysical survey. Considerable robbing of the main structural stone was evident in all areas of the town, with recent plough damage apparent in some areas.

No further coin hoards were revealed, but just under a hundred individual coins were found, mostly dating to the 3rd and 4th centuries AD. Other finds include pottery, animal bone, building material (both stone and ceramic) and metalwork, but beyond the evidence for Romanised buildings there was little evidence for lifestyle (personal items and vessel glass).

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Broadcast 16 May 2010 | Report available

In 1644, during the Civil War, the Parliamentary garrison of Hopton Castle in Shropshire was besieged and outnumbered by Royalist forces. After weeks of bombardment the garrison surrendered, and the commander was taken prisoner. He was marched out of the castle and lived to fight another day, but his men were not so lucky - all of them were executed and thrown into a pit on the site. Hopton Castle was later slighted by the Royalists, and was never used as a military base again.

The commander of the Hopton garrison, Samuel More, left an eyewitness account of the siege, and this provided an opportunity for Time Team to compare a contemporary account of the Civil War with the archaeological remains, as well as investigating the medieval origins of the castle, of which only the Keep, or tower house, survives today.

Part of the medieval moat and curtain wall were located, as well as a large cellared building and a stone-built tower, which may have been of medieval origin, but which was still standing during the Civil War siege.

More’s account mentions various buildings within the Castle, including the ‘out walls’, the ‘brick tower’, and ‘the new brick dwelling’. The ‘out walls’ appear to have been the medieval curtain wall, by this time discontinuous but in some places shored up by the defenders. Large amounts of brick rubble found in two of the trenches to the north-west of the tower house may be the remains of the ‘new brick dwelling’, while the most favoured site for the ‘brick tower’ seems to have been a mound to the south-west of the tower house. Part of the defensive ditch dug by the defenders was also found.

Lead musket shot found on the site, some of them clearly impacted through use, provided a grim reminder of the Civil War bloodshed. The most exciting find, however, was a gold coin of James I, dated 1623-4, found in a demolition deposit within the cellared building.

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Broadcast 9 May 2010

The site at Sutton Courtenay in Oxfordshire lies within an area rich in the traces of prehistoric and Anglo-Saxon activity. Extensive prehistoric and Anglo-Saxon remains are known from the near vicinity. Part of the Drayton Cursus (Neolithic) runs through the site, and there are a number of Bronze Age ring ditches and enclosures in the area. Previous archaeological work has revealed Anglo-Saxon settlement remains, including both sunken feature buildings (SFBs) and timber-built halls. Sutton Courtenay may have been a vill (royal administrative centre) at this time.

Time Team aimed to investigate both prehistoric and Anglo-Saxon features, and the relationship between the two. Were the Anglo-Saxon inhabitants of Sutton Courtenay aware of the prehistoric remains, and had they sited their dwellings here deliberately? Aerial photographs and geophysical data confirmed a picture of a densely occupied landscape, although it was not always clear which features belonged to which period.

Four trenches located part of a prehistoric ring ditch and three Anglo-Saxon buildings, two rectangular timber-built halls and one SFB. The foundations of the larger of the two timber halls had been cut through the fill of the prehistoric ring ditch, perhaps deliberately sited to do so, while those of the smaller hall cut through the SFB. In other words, there had been more than one phase of Anglo-Saxon occupation on the site.

Perhaps disappointingly, finds from the site, either of prehistoric or Anglo-Saxon date, were not plentiful, and the precise dating of these features remains slightly uncertain. The ring ditch is presumed to be of Middle Bronze Age date, while the SFB dates to the early Anglo-Saxon period (5th to 7th century), and the halls slightly later.

Broadcast 2 May 2010 | Report available

Roman Piercebridge lies about 200m west of Dere Street (the major Roman road from York to the Antonine Wall) in County Durham. At its heart are the remains of at least three bridges crossing the River Tees. The remains of a civilian settlement (vicus) here date back to the later 1st century AD, and the site became the focus of major military activity from the 180s, although the surviving fort defences date no earlier than the mid 3rd century. Time Team hoped to investigate the bridges, and to trace the remains of a possible early fort at Piercebridge.

The early fort remained elusive. The trenches located a previously unknown area of activity to the north-west of the 3rd century fort, dating to the 2nd century AD. This could have been part of the civilian settlement, although a large area of cobbling suggests a more official or military structure.

To the east of the fort and the present village further remains were found. These included a grave, suggesting that there may have been a cemetery in this area; a cist burial was discovered just to the south-west in 1933. Underwater exploration found a number of timbers to the west of the course of the Roman stone bridge, and a radiocarbon date in the 1st century AD was obtained for an additional line of timber piles to the west of this.

To the south of the River Tees the geophysical survey found the exact route of the earlier alignment of Dere Street, although no further dating evidence was obtained.

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Broadcast 18 April 2010

Benedictine monks first came to Westminster in the middle of the 10th century, establishing a tradition of worship that continues to this day. The present church, begun by Henry III in 1245, is one of the most important Gothic buildings in the countrywith the medieval shrine of Edward the Confessor at its heart.

Time Team were extremely privileged to be invited to investigate part of this World Heritage Site, in particular the North Green, formerly known as the Sanctuary. Antiquarian illustrations show a row of five substantial houses built there, alongside the nave, probably in the late 16th century. The easternmost house reused the foundations, and perhaps also the walls, of a medieval sacristy built by Henry III. The sacristy would have housed the ceremonial vestments and objects used in services at the Abbey. A series of walls found in 1869 during clearance work were assumed to represent the remains of these houses, but the references are conflicting and unclear.

Part of the Abbey’s massive 13th century raft foundation was revealed, as well as the remains of Henry III’s sacristy. This was confirmed as being an L-shaped building, linking the north door of the nave with a second doorway. Five burials found in situ; all shared their alignment with the present Abbey, and their location in relation to the sacristy suggests that they are also of 13th century date. From a later period, part of a Tudor stairwell was uncovered, as well as brick wall foundations which were considered to be of 16th century date.

Of interest amongst the small quantity of finds recovered were a few fragments of Roman brick and tile, which are assumed to have been brought in from elsewhere for re-use in later construction - none were found in situ. Architectural stonework showed the use of several different types in the medieval Abbey: Reigate stone from Surrey, Taynton stone from Oxfordshire, and imported Caen stone.

Broadcast 25 April 2010 | Report available

One of the more remote and romantic sites visited by Time Team, Baliscate (Coille Creag A’Chait) is located close to Tobermory on the Isle of Mull, off the west coast of Scotland. Today the site is in woodland owned by the Forestry Commission, but amongst the trees are the tumbled remains of two stone-built enclosures, one containing a rectangular building thought to be the remains of an early Celtic Christian chapel.

Trenches excavated by Time Team were able to confirm that this was indeed a chapel, which originated as a timber building. A burial associated with this first phase gave us a radiocarbon date in the 7th century AD. To set this against the historical background, the arrival of Christianity in Scotland is traditionally associated with St. Ninian of Whithorn whom Bede recorded as having converted the southern Picts, perhaps as early as 397 AD, with a second mission by St. Columba to the northern Picts around565 AD, although the earlier date is now thought to be inaccurate.

The timber chapel was later rebuilt in stone. Exactly when is uncertain, but part of a stone cross recovered from demolition material overlying the chapel was thought to date to the 8th century AD. The chapel sat within a larger monastic complex containing at least one other building; the surrounding enclosure covers an area of just under 1.5 hectares. This is small when compared to sites such as Iona, where by the 8th century the monastic enclosure coveredapproximately 8 hectares. It is clear that Baliscate never sustained a large religious community, but it would have formed part of a larger Celtic Christian network throughout western and northern Scotland and the Isle of Man.

Exactly when the chapel went out of use is also uncertain. A few sherds of medieval pottery (late 12th to 15th century) were found on the site, as well as a coin of Edward II (1320-35). The chapel may have been reused as a domestic structure, but the few finds may just have been deposited during demolition. Stone from the chapel was later used to build the adjacent enclosure, which was shown to be a sheep pen (or ‘fank’) with a shieling for the shepherd.

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