newsletter - Worcestershire County Council

Worcestershire Archive and Archaeology Service
Explore the Past
newsletter
No.32: June 2014
Events coming up
Exploring Archives – School Records,
log books, attendance records and
punishment books are just some of the
sources we’ll explore in the latest historic
sources workshop. Wed 18 June, 10am-12pm,
£6.
Behind the Scenes Tour – visit our archive
storerooms, handle archaeological objects
and see our conservator in action.
Wed 16 July 2:00-3:30pm, £5.
Meet the Archaeologist – a talk by Rob
Hedge, our community archaeologist.
Thu 24 July 7pm, Free.
Details and booking forms from
[email protected]
or ring 01905 766352
Find out more online:
www.worcestershire.gov.uk/waas
Worcestershire Archive and Archaeology Service
Palaeolithic Worcestershire
Accreditation Success
Over the last 12 months WAAS has been working on
an English Heritage project to enhance the Palaeolithic
information within the County’s Historic Environment
Record. The Palaeolithic period extends from the first
appearance of tool-making human ancestors, which
occurs in Worcestershire around 500,000 years ago,
through to the end of the last Ice Age about 10,000
years ago. This is a fascinating period,
during which multiple species of the
human family occupied the area in
conditions which ranged from icy
tundra to periods of Mediterraneanstyle climate, leaving their traces in
the form of characteristic stone tools.
We were really pleased that The National Archives have
made Worcestershire Archive and Archaeology Service
one of the first Accredited Archives in the country.
This is a new system to ensure that archives across the
country meet rigorous standards.
The project involved visiting museum
palaeolithic
collections of lithic (stone) objects, handaxeAfrom
Bredon
such as handaxes, and reassessing
their age and typology. In total 304 lithic objects
were studied and 79% of them were found to be
of Palaeolithic date. Most of these objects have
been collected from active quarry sites during the
extraction of glacial sands and gravels. Dr Andrew
Shaw, of Southampton University, carried out the
assessments and believes that these collections
show that Worcestershire has the potential to be of
national importance in our understanding of human
development, migration and landscape interaction.
As well as lithic artefacts a large catalogue of
Palaeolithic animal remains was found, recording over
2000 examples, including lion, woolly mammoth,
woolly rhinoceros and giant deer. One entry records
a “butchered and gnawed fragment” within 3200026000 year old deposits from Bredon Pit. If correct,
this is the earliest evidence of human activity from
Worcestershire.
Lisa Snook, User Services Manager, said “We are really
pleased to be one of the first accredited archive
services. The application was a true team effort, with
all areas of the service inputting information required
from the Accreditation Panel. It is a great accolade,
and a national recognition of the service that the team
provide at The Hive, from managing and conserving the
archive collections, making them
available to our customers on site
and taking them out to school and
community groups.”
Pick a Peck of Pollen...
Suzi Richer has been working
in the Finds and Environment
team at WAAS since January
this year as our in house
palynologist (pollen specialist).
Suzi examines pollen grains
that have been preserved in
waterlogged deposits, such as
ditches, ponds, peat, moats,
wells or ancient river channels.
These reveal which trees and
plants were growing in the
past, allowing us to provide
an environmental context for
Suzi taking core samples
archaeological sites. Sometimes
we can also get an idea of what activities were
occurring too. This is especially useful if there aren’t
many structural or material remains.
For example, pollen will reveal:
A view of palaeolithic hunters in ancient Worcestershire .
Illustrated by Steve Rigby and based on archaeological evidence
from the County
More information can be found at www.worcestershire.
gov.uk/archaeology/palaeolithicguidance
Oliver Russell
•
a deforested landscape (there is a decline in tree
pollen),
•
an agricultural area (there are cereal pollen grains),
•
an activity like hemp or flax retting (lots of pollen
grains from hemp/flax, usually combined with a
site where there was a water supply, such as a pond
or a stream.
If you are part of a local archaeology group, community
group or if you would just like to know a little more
about what pollen can tell you, please contact Suzi at
[email protected]
Worcestershire Archive and Archaeology Service
Manorial Documents
Worcestershire Historic Environment Action
The manor was an institution that touched the lives of
people in many walks of life from before the Norman
Conquest through to the twentieth century. Archives in
the UK hold thousands of documents arising from the
administration of manors, and Worcestershire Archive is
no exception.
WAAS has recently completed a pilot study, funded
by English Heritage, which aimed to develop a
methodology for ‘Historic Environment Action Plans’
within Worcestershire. These are documents used to
promote, protect and enhance important areas or types
of landscape within the county.
In Worcestershire these documents, including court
rolls, accounts and surveys, survive from the thirteenth
century onwards. Local and family historians will find
names of manorial inhabitants, often with details of
occupations and family relations.
The project looked at four case studies:• the parishes of Alvechurch and Kempsey, to show
how Neighbourhood Planning, community engagement,
development control and flood risk management can
protect landscapes
• the Wyre Forest and its setting - to highlight where a
range of partnerships can enable good management of a
highly distinctive landscape and deliver a wide range of
objectives relating to archaeology, ecology, tourism and
business
Court roll for the manor of Kempsey, dating
from 20th May, 1485 (Ref. b705:4/BA54b).
The records shed light on economic development,
including markets, land values and the ability of tenants
to pay the various rents they owed the lord. They reveal
a great deal about social and community relations,
public order and petty crime, such as gambling or
brawling, and the punishments meted out to offenders.
They help us decipher the historic environment,
particularly the way the land was farmed, exploitation
of natural resources such as minerals, and the presence
of mills, fishponds, ditches, and roads.
Because of the way landholding developed over
centuries, manorial documents relating to a county are
held not only in the county archives, but in repositories
across England, Wales and elsewhere. For example,
records for Worcestershire manors may be found in
Kent, Oxford colleges and The National Archives (TNA).
The Manorial Documents Register (MDR), the official
register of manorial documents for England and Wales,
contains information about the nature and location of
surviving documents, and is useful for tracking down
scattered records.
The registers are held as card indexes at TNA, so TNA
is running a project to update and computerise the
MDR for each county. Worcestershire Archives is
working jointly with Herefordshire Archives to complete
their sections. By the end of this project they will be
available to search online. For further information, see
www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/mdr
Bethany Hamblen
• Unenclosed lands, commons and open hill pasture
have been identified as rare and ‘at risk’ by the
Worcestershire Historic Landscape Characterisation
(HLC) project . This case study showed how land
management partnerships between specialists could be
successful in conserving these important landscapes.
The project provided improved perspectives on
the use of historic characterisation and ‘historic
environmentalism’ in areas including urban design,
landscape management strategies, Conservation Area
appraisal, and Neighbourhood Planning amongst others.
The method allows for the diverse resources and
expertise we hold in landscape characterisation to be
utilised in a more efficient, cost-effective and accessible
format.
Further information can be found in the project report
http://public.worcestershire.gov.uk/sites/archaeology/
Reports/SWR22703.pdf
Jack Hanson
Hanley Castle Community Dig
In 2012 we worked with The Hanley’s Society on
an archaeological excavation. Instead of a written
archaeological report we put the excavation results online, using an interactive map to link information, finds
and photos. Take a look and see the results for yourself.
http://gis.worcestershire.gov.uk/website/
HanleyCastleCommunityProject/
The view from the
trenches at Hanley
Castle.
The Great Roman Bake Off
Those of you who came to The Butts excavation on
the site where The Hive now stands, may remember
the puzzling pottery fragments which we found. Similar
pieces had been found before, but we did not know
what they were. At The Butts however, over 117kg of
fragments were found, many in their original positions,
and our archaeologists realised that they were pieces of
beehive shaped ovens, transforming our understanding
of this pottery and the site.
Since then we have continued to work on the analysis
of these finds at The Hive, only a few metres away
from where they were originally used. This has included
talking to archaeologists elsewhere in the country to
compare our ovens with similar discoveries.
Jane Evans has given a number of talks at conferences
about the ovens, producing a poster which brings
together a summary of the findings and explaining how
we think they worked. We will attach a copy of the
poster with the email version of this newsletter.
Student Placements
We’ve recently been lucky enough to have had several
students working with us on placements from university
taking part in interesting and important archaeological
work. Kathryn Ayling-Randall, an Archaeology student at
the University of Worcester, is currently cataloguing
a collection of finds with an unusual history. Excavated
from a gravel quarry near Broadway in the 1930s by
archaeologist John Morris, the finds ended up in a
garage, where they remained until recently discovered
by the excavator’s grandson, still wrapped in 1930s
copies of The Times and stacked inside wooden
boxes bearing the decals of ‘Lifebuoy’ and ‘Hudson’
soaps. Kathryn and our Finds Volunteers have been
painstakingly cleaning,
marking and sorting
the material, including
the packaging, which
in this case is a historic
assemblage in its own
right!
Nina Bradbury, a
former member of Worcestershire
Young Archaeologists’ Club
now studying Archaeology &
Anthropology at Cambridge
University, has been working with
archaeobotanist Liz Pearson on
the identification of plant remains.
These are from our excavation of
the ‘City Ditch’, opposite The Hive.
She is also cataloguing our animal
top - the surprise finds from
bone reference collection, processing broadway and below Nina
setting up the Saxon loom
some delicate Roman burials
uncovered during construction works, and
setting up a replica Saxon warp-weighted loom.
Rob Hedge
Worcestershire Archive and Archaeology Service is the main
contact point for all information about archaeology and
history in the county.
For further information contact our
General Enquiries:
By telephone: 01905 765560
To keep up to date with our latest news and events through
the year you can follow us in the following ways:
By post:
Worcestershire Archive & Archaeology Service
The Hive, Sawmill Walk, The Butts
Worcester, WR1 3PD
Blog: www.worcestershirearchives.blogspot.co.uk/
Twitter: @explorethepast
Facebook: www.facebook.com/Worcestershire-Archaeology/
Find out more about our work during 2012-13 in our Annual
Report www.worcestershire.gov.uk/cms/pdf/WAAS-Annual-Report2012-13-v4.pdf
To receive your newsletter by email as a PDF, please send an
email to our address with the subject ‘NEWSLETTER PLEASE’.
Unless otherwise stated all photographs and images are
©Worcestershire County Council.
Cover photos: Main - Glynis doing some finds illustration at
Hanley Castle; centre - a welcome cake break at Hanley Castle;
right - Community ‘Walkabout’, Kempsey.
By email: [email protected]
This document can be made available in other
languages (including British Sign Language) and
alternative formats (large print, audio tape,
computer disk and Braille) on request from
Corporate Diversity Manager on
01905 766938
or at [email protected]