Downley archaeology

Book unearths village past

THE publication of a book about an archaeological project which unearthed fascinating discoveries in  Downley has brought the past back to vivid life.The scheme, which saw schoolchildren digging holes and people scurrying through the woods with strange contraptions, won £23,000 of lottery funding. A free book of the findings is available to anyone who wants to learn more about the village’s intriguing past.Dr Jill Eyers, a geologist and archaeologist from Pusey Way, Lane End, was one of the guiding lights of the project. She said: “I’m feeling a bit like Santa, giving away all these books. I have been overwhelmed – people are absolutely loving them. I have had them saying to me how wonderful it is.“At the start, someone said to me on Downley Common there’s no archaeology here’. But there is if you know where to look for it. It’s a matter of going through old maps, which are easily available for anybody,” she added.

More than 200 people became involved with the Time Team-style project, often joining in when they saw other people digging holes or using equipment. Many children from Downley School were also happy to help. The project involved landscape surveys, geophysics, map research and excavations, and workshops on subjects ranging from basic training to tips for recognising a flint tool.And there were plenty of intriguing discoveries. The archaeologists learned where the first farmers settled in the village, 6,000 years ago, discovered where an old brick kiln was located in the 1700s, and found out how the  West Wycombe Dashwood estate used to be run from the village.Dr Eyers explained that one of the most fascinating finds was some ancient money. She said: “It’s a very rare Roman coin, produced for Nero. We didn’t find much of a Roman presence, so someone must have dropped it passing through. I think that was the most exciting thing for most people.”The book detailing the discoveries, written by Dr Eyers, Bev Cabot and Alison Jewesbury, is titled Archaeology of Downley Common. It is available free at the community library in School Lane, the Le de Spencer Arms pub in The Common, the grocer’s shop in the High Street, and Adult Learning in Bartholomew Tipping Way, Stokenchurch.The project was organised by Chiltern Archaeology and also had start up funding from the Chilterns Conservation Board.

Scott’s penguin

Captain Scott’s Antarctic penguin sketches

Two chalk drawings of penguins by the explorers Captain Scott and Sir Ernest Shackleton have been discovered in a basement at Cambridge University.The priceless sketches, which date from 1904 and 1909, were probably done during the lecture tours given by the pair after they returned from their Antarctic voyages. The 3ft by 2ft blackboards, which are signed, were found lying among junk at the university’s Scott Polar Research Institute.“People often compare Scott and Shackleton in terms of their achievements as explorers and their leadership qualities,” said Dr Huw Lewis-Jones, a historian and curator of art who found the images. “Now, albeit with a smile on our faces, we can judge their artistic abilities as well.“We have absolutely no idea how we got them and we are still trying to find a record of them arriving in our collections, but I am sure they are authentic.

“Some people may think they look a little crude but I think they are incredibly charming.

“They were drawn at public lectures in front of an enthusiastic audience, to laughter and to cheers, and then signed with a flourish.

“It’s like having the explorers’ autographs, only more wonderful, because each has signed their name next to a hand-drawn penguin.”

Both Scott and Sir Ernest were national heroes because of their feats exploring the frozen wastes of Antarctica. Each saw penguins there for the first time and they toured Britain extensively when they returned home.

Hundreds of people flocked to town halls up and down the country to hear them talking about their experiences, and doubtless some in the audience asked them to draw what they had seen.

Scott had returned in 1904 from his defining voyage aboard the Discovery – in which Shackleton also took part. The expedition had successfully explored the Ross Sea, discovered the Polar Plateau and travelled further south than anyone had ever managed before.

Scott famously died attempting to return from the South Pole in bitter, blizzard conditions during a second expedition in 1912.

In 1909, five years after the Discovery expedition, Shackleton returned triumphant from his own command aboard the Nimrod – an expedition in which he almost made it to the South Pole and also became the first human both to cross the Trans-Antarctic mountain range and set foot on the South Polar Plateau.

He was knighted on his return.

Heather Lane, a librarian and keeper at the Scott Polar Research Institute, said: “We are delighted to have rediscovered these sketches, and we want to be able to give them pride of place in our new museum.”

Guardian report

Magna Carta

 Magna Carta fetches £10m in New York auction

A copy of the Magna Carta has been sold for more than £10m to an American tycoon who promises it will remain on public display in America.David Rubenstein, co-founder of the Carlyle Group private equity firm, paid $21.3m (£10.6m) for the document at  Sotheby’s in New York yesterday – the first time a copy of the historical charter has been sold by public auction. The copy was issued in 1297 by King Edward I, when the Magna Carta formally became part of English law, more than 80 years after it was written. It is one of only 17 in existence and the only one in private ownership. It has been displayed beside the Declaration of Independence in the National Archives in Washington, loaned by Ross Perot, the billionaire former US presidential candidate.Rubenstein, who worked in the White House during the Jimmy Carter administration, said: “Today is a good day for our country. I was moved when I saw the manuscript at Sotheby’s and I was concerned that the only copy that was in America would escape. I was convinced that it needed to stay here.“This document stands the test of time. There is nothing more important than what it represents. I am privileged to be the new owner, but I am only the temporary custodian. This is a gift to the American people. It is important to me that it stays in the United States.”

David Redden, vice chairman of Sotheby’s, said the Magna Carta was “the most important document in the world, the birth certificate of freedom”.

It was originally written because of disagreements between King John and the English barons about the power of the king. It required the king to renounce certain rights, respect specified legal procedures and accept that his will could be bound by the law.

It established that no man is above the law and enshrines the right against unlawful imprisonment and the right to a trial by jury.

BBC and Times of London details on Cronaca

British Library treasures

Ventor Icenorum/ Caistor Roman town

 Stunning survey unveils new secrets of Caistor Roman town

On the morning of Friday July 20, 1928, the crew of an RAF aircraft took photographs over the site of the Roman town of  Venta Icenorum at Caistor St Edmund in Norfolk, a site which now lies in open fields to the south of Norwich.The exceptionally dry summer meant that details of the Roman town were clearly revealed as parched lines in the barley. The pictures appeared on the front page of The Times on March 4, 1929 and caused a sensation. Now, new investigations at Caistor Roman town using the latest technology have revealed the plan of the buried town at an extraordinary level of detail which has never been seen before. The high-resolution geophysical survey used a Caesium Vapour magnetometer to map buried remains across the entire walled area of the Roman town.The research at Caistor is being directed by Dr Will Bowden of The University of Nottingham, who worked with Dr David Bescoby and Dr Neil Chroston of the University of East Anglia on the new survey, sponsored by the British Academy. Around 30 local volunteer members of the Caistor Roman Town Project also assisted. The survey has produced the clearest plan of the town yet seen confirming the street plan (shown by previous aerial photographs), the town’s water supply system (detecting the iron collars connecting wooden water pipes), and the series of public buildings including the baths, temples and forum, known from earlier excavations.However, the survey also showed that earlier interpretations of the town as a densely occupied urban area — given by reconstruction paintings — may be totally wrong. Buildings were clustered along the main streets of the town, but other areas within the street grid seem to have been empty and were perhaps used for grazing or cultivation.Dr Bowden, a lecturer in Roman Archaeology, said: “The results of the survey have far exceeded our expectations. It’s not an exaggeration to say that the survey has advanced our knowledge of Caistor to the same extent that the first aerial photograph did 80 years ago.“The presence of possible Iron Age and Saxon features suggests that the town had a much longer life than we previously thought and the fact that it’s just sitting there in open fields instead of being under a modern town means we can ask the questions we want to.“For an archaeologist it’s a dream opportunity to really examine how European towns developed.”One of the most exciting new discoveries from the survey is what looks like a Roman theatre. Clear traces of a large semi-circular building have been found next to the town’s temples — the typical location for a theatre in Roman Britain.David Gurney, Principal Archaeologist of Norfolk Museums & Archaeology Service, said: “This is a fantastic discovery, and it goes to show that Caistor Roman town still has a great number of secrets to be disclosed in the years ahead through surveys or excavations.

“The town is already well-established as the most important Roman site in northern East Anglia, but the presence of a theatre is a significant indicator of the town’s status, and of the cultural facilities available to its inhabitants.

“It is brilliant that the project has located such an important feature so early on, and this is probably just the first of many discoveries that will completely change our understanding of the town as a result of the Caistor Project.”

Matthew Martin, Chairman of the Norfolk Archaeological Trust, which owns the Roman town, said: “We are delighted with all the work which Dr Bowden and his team are carrying out at Caistor. We are very excited not only by what has been discovered so far by the use of this new technology but by the possibilities for more discoveries as further work is done.

“I think that all this is of immense interest to not only archaeologists but to a much

Caistor lies in the territory of the Iceni, the tribe of Boudica who famously rebelled against Roman rule in AD 60/61. The survey revealed numerous circular features that apparently predate the Roman town.

These are probably of prehistoric date, and suggest that Caistor was the site of a large settlement before the Roman town was built. This has always been suspected because of numerous chance finds of late Iron Age coins and metalwork, but there has never been any evidence of buildings until now.

Now the burning questions are: was Caistor built on the site of an Iceni stronghold as retribution after Boudica’s rebellion, or was it built to favour a faction of the Iceni who had not taken part in the revolt?

Life at Roman Caistor was thought to have ended in the 5th century AD, when Britain was abandoned by the emperor of the struggling Western Roman Empire.

However, the new survey clearly shows a large ditched enclosure that cuts the surface of the Roman street in the north-west corner of the site. Possible structures are visible within this enclosure.

The earlier discovery of middle Saxon coins and metalwork outside the west wall of the site, combined with the presence of two early Saxon cemeteries in the vicinity suggests that these enclosures may be associated with continued life in the town after the Roman period.

The new research has demonstrated that Caistor is a site of international importance.

Rather than simply being a provincial Roman town, Caistor may represent the development of a major settlement from the Iron Age until the 9th century AD. Crucially, however, the site was ultimately superseded by medieval Norwich and reverted to green fields.

This is quite unlike other Roman towns that have the same long occupation sequence which now lie buried beneath the modern towns of Britain and Europe.

This fortunate change of settlement location means that these same green fields at Caistor are a unique time-capsule that could give us vital clues to the complex processes through which our towns and cities developed. Funding is now being sought to test the results of the survey through excavation.

Update: Remote Central has posted and commented on the The Times piece relating to this discovery.

A Challenge!

I’ve been set an avatar challenge, to explain my avatar:

“…. who, what or where is it and then why did you pick it?”

I suppose she is an embodiment of  my past, as I lived in Wales for many years, and was involved in early medieval/Norse/Celtic studies in Wales and in Ireland, so interlace patterns and a medieval appearance are appropriate. The figure also has plaits – I’ve been known to wear plaits, and my hair, particularly in the morning when I try to get a brush through it, attempts to take on the form of Celtic knotwork! However, I must admit that she was intended to be temporary, to be a colourful, reassuring presence, rather than have a ghostly, grey, indeterminate pawn in a comments box. At some point, I intend to create a more fitting avatar and retire the medieval usherette.

I now pass the challenge on to anyone who wishes to explain their avatar.

St Mary’s Church, Houghton-on-the-Hill

St Mary’s Church Houghton-on-the-Hill has been recommended as a very interesting and outstanding place to visit. It is on our ever-growing ‘To visit’ list.  The church is sited just outside North Pickenham, near Swaffham, Norfolk, UK. Grid ref: TF869053 or 586931,305358.

Towards the end of the twentieth century the village of Houghton-on-the-Hill and its church had almost dwindled to nothing more than a few lumps and bumps and a ruin. However, thanks to funding from several government bodies, numerous charities and private donations, together with the enthusiasm and hard work of The Friends of St Mary’s, the site has experienced a startling renaissance. Visitors from many parts of the world come to see the remarkable wall paintings, to worship at the church or to appreciate its beautiful setting.

How the church has changed over the centuries

There has been a church on this site since 630, the first one would have been constructed out of wood and consisted of a chancel and nave. This was pulled down and a stone building started in 750/800. This stone building would have had a round tower and apsidal (round ended) chancel some time between 950 and the 12th century the nave was heightened and the south aisle was built. To serve it two arches were cut in the south wall.
The shapes of the two semicircular-headed arches of the aisle can be traced in the south wall, with the plaster underneath the arches still visible. A holy water stoop and two alter niches created either side of the chancel arch are part of the original flint church

The north door is part of the original building. It was the custom that the north door be opened and left opened during the service and until the priest left, in order to drive Satan out. But during the 13th century all churches were ordered by Pope Innocent III to have the north doors blocked up, because he decided this was mere superstition. One door jab on the north side survives in the wall, with a tiny shaft supporting a miniature Romanesque cushion capital.

The most striking survival of this early period are the wall paintings on the east wall of the nave. They show a very rare image of the Holy Trinity. This is the earliest known example of a wall painting showing the Holy Trinity in this way in Europe, and most likely unique to Britain.

Several further alterations took place in the 15th century. The aisle was demolished and the arches filled in, a new door was made in the south wall. A large window with decorated tracery was inserted at the east end of the north nave wall. In the 15th Century the chancel was almost doubled in length to 26 feet and given a square end. This chancel survived until the 1760’s when it was then considered to be in a ruinous state demolished and the present chancel built.

There are two nave alters one either side of the nave arch which would have been used for low mass, these are presently blocked up and enclosed. Originally they would have been open in order for the congregation to view the proceedings in the chancel. These low mass alters represent a very rare surviving Celtic influence for an English church and is thought to be a surviving part of the church that was built in the 8th century. The rest of the original chancel was slightly narrower than the nave, and appears to be bonded into the east end of the nave showing that they were built at the same time. This can just be seen where the surviving masonry breaks the surface of the ground. Remains of the east end foundation (just below ground level) have been discovered, and confirms that the chancel had a rounded semi -circular east end (apsidal). This was the normal practice in the 10th century.

There is also evidence of Romano-British rounded chancel within the Anglo-Saxon chancel. Of special interest is the Anglo-Saxon keyhole arch in front of the alter, thought to be one of only two examples in England. (The other can be found at St Olaf’s chapel/church in Gloucester)

The present nave is estimated to have been built as early as the 8th century. The small round-headed double splayed windows in the north and south walls are also typical of this period. Another visible clue to the early dating of this part of the building is the use of long and short work at the corners of the nave , together with the use of the roman bricks. (Which look like very thick tiles). On the south side of the east wall and the north side of the west wall you can see the original line of the nave roof. The semicircular arch between the chancel and the nave also dates from around this time.

The tower is estimated to have been built in the 14th century perhaps earlier, replacing a round Anglo-Saxon tower. (Typical of this area at that time). Evidence for the round tower is the higher archway leading to the tower. The tower has been added to in height over the years. The first two sections are original, the second was added around 100 years later and in 1630 a steeple was added, however this was blown down in 1665.