Every Spring the Society publishes a journal which we call our Transactions. Usually 250-300 pages in length, its main contents are reports of archaeological excavations and articles of historical research. Taking one year with another, we keep a balance between Bristol and Gloucestershire and between archaeology and other topics. Articles are peer-reviewed before publication. Abstracts of the articles in recent issues follow this introduction. In addition the 'Archaeological Review' is a highly-regarded feature. It presents brief summaries of research and fieldwork during the year. It is the only comprehensive survey of current archaeological activity in Bristol and Gloucestershire. The Transactions also includes a classified list of recent publications with reviews of some of the books, a summary of additions to the Gloucestershire county archives and a review of the activities of the Society. Articles to be considered for publication should be sent to the Editor, John Jurica, Gloucestershire Archives, Clarence Row, Alvin St, Gloucester, GL1 3DW.
Notes for Contributors may be downloaded here as a PDF file.
Carolyn Heighway, ‘Reading the Stones: archaeological recording at Gloucester cathedral’ (pp. 13-30).
On its creation in 1541 the diocese of Gloucester was endowed with property formerly belonging to the abbey of St Peter, with the abbey church dating from 1089 becoming its cathedral church. In her presidential address the cathedral’s consultant archaeologist describes how 25 years of observation and recording have augmented our understanding of the architectural development of the Abbot Serlo’s church.
Dan Stansbie, Alex Smith, Granville Laws and Tim Haines, ‘Excavations of Iron-Age and Roman Occupation at Coln Gravel, Thornhill Farm, Fairford, Gloucestershire, 2003 and 2004’ (pp. 31-82).
Excavations at Coln Gravel, Thornhill Farm, in 2003 and 2004 revealed outlying areas of an Iron-Age and Roman settlement, the main part of which had been excavated between 1985 and 1989. A ring-ditch and several pits dating to the early to middle Iron Age were discovered, along with three sub-circular ditched enclosures and the remains of a roundhouse belonging to the middle Iron Age. In the late Iron Age to early Roman period a series of field systems and enclosures developed. These features were elaborated throughout the early Roman period, but gave way to trackways and possibly hay meadows in the middle to late Roman period. A double ditched enclosure established in the south-west corner of the site during the later Roman period contained several inhumations. It was probably related to the settlement immediately to the south at Kempsford Bowmoor.
Neil Wright, ‘A Lead-lined Stone Coffin Cremation Burial from Harnhill, Gloucestershire’ (pp. 83-90).
Gloucestershire County Council Archaeology Service excavated a limestone container found by metal detectorists adjacent to the Roman villa at Harnhill near Cirencester. It contained a lead box within which were the cremated remains of an adult female thought to be of early Roman date.
Neil Holbrook and Clifford Bateman, ‘The South Gate Cemetery of Roman Gloucester excavations in Parliament Street, 2001’ (pp. 91-106).
Excavations in 2001 uncovered eight inhumation burials and one cremation to the south of the defences of the Roman colonia at Gloucester. The inhumations date to the 3rd or 4th centuries AD and include two burials laid prone (face down) and one that had been decapitated. A woman aged between 26 and 35 had been buried holding a glass snake-thread flask in her right hand. This remarkable artefact, the first of its kind found in Britain, was manufactured in the Rhineland.
Mark Brett and Annette Hancocks, ‘Excavations at Lower Mill Farm, Somerford Keynes, Gloucestershire, 2001’ (pp. 107-111).
The report summarises the nature, character and extent of two phases of archaeological investigation that revealed Roman and medieval field systems. An assemblage of late 17th century pottery from a pit discovered during the work was almost exclusively made up of products of the Ashton Keynes kilns and was reported in Medieval Ceramics in 2006.
Stewart Brown, ‘Excavations at Temple Church, Bristol: a report on the excavations by Andrew Saunders, 1960’ (pp. 113-129).
A series of trench excavations carried out by Andrew Saunders in 1960 within the standing ruins of Temple Church, Bristol, established the layout of the original church built by the Knights Templar sometime between the late 1120s and 1147. The church had a round nave, one of only sixteen examples known from Britain, with a projecting apsidal chancel and a western porch. Following the suppression of the Templars in England in 1308, the church and their estate at Bristol were transferred to the Knights Hospitaller. The church acquired its present rectangular form from the late 13th or early 14th century to the 15th century. Its nave was probably largely complete by the late 1390s and its tower, which now leans by more than 1.6 m was added in the period 1441-60. Also present in summary form are the results of excavations carried out at the church in 1971.
Edward Carpenter, ‘A Circular Moat at Long Hills Farm, Mickleton, Gloucestershire’ (pp. 131-138).
A circular moat has been discovered on aerial photographs consulted as part of English Heritage’s National Mapping Programme survey of the northern Cotswolds. The moat occupies a prominent location between the villages of Mickleton, which was a Benedictine estate of Eynsham abbey, and the deserted settlement of Overton. In symbolism and function the construction of moats provided a display of social division which, judging by the Mickleton moat’s position in the landscape was intended to be apparent to the population of both settlements. Possibly dug in the13th century, the moat appears to have been abandoned and ploughed over in the early 14th century. The relatively short life of the moat might have been the result of a dispute between competing individuals or groups.
Roy Martin Haines, ‘Roger Mortimer’s Scam’ (pp. 139-156).
The article examines the background to the death of Edward II at Berkeley castle in 1327 and the burial of his remains in a magnificent tomb in Gloucester abbey, since the Reformation a cathedral. It explores the report, based on a copy of the mysterious ‘Fieschi letter’, that he somehow escaped and settled as a hermit in Lombardy, where he died in the odour of sanctity, as well as the widespread rumour that he remained a prisoner in England, a ruse which trapped the unwary earl of Kent into believing that he was in Corfe castle and might be reinstated as king. It assesses the validity of a recent hypothesis which attempts to combine elements of these stories and to argue that the former king was not murdered at Berkeley but kept alive by Roger Mortimer and then by Edward III, his son, who ‘for propaganda reasons’ claimed that he was dead.
William Evans, ‘Paradise on a Limited Budget: how Norborne Berkeley funded his improvements at Stoke Park’ (pp.1 57-165).
The article explores how far Norborne Berkeley’s funding of his improvements to his principal mansion house and grounds at Stoke Gifford followed the pattern outlined by R.G. Wilson and A.L. Mackley in Creating Paradise: The Building of the English Country House, 1660-1880 (2000). Documentary sources are examined to show what resources Berkeley inherited; what his sources of income were; what other financial commitments he had; and what money he borrowed. The conclusion is drawn that Berkeley acted prudently, limiting his expenditure, for example by giving up horseracing, ad adopting economies such as engaging local craftspeople and carrying out landscaping that required low maintenance. His plan was upset when he felt obliged to mortgage his estate to satisfy promises given by the duke of Beaufort’s trustees in connection with his niece’s dowry; documentary sources suggest that the details of the transaction were not quite as related by Horace Walpole.
Joseph Bettey and W. John Lyes, ‘The Consistory Court of the Bristol Diocese’ (pp. 167-171).
Following the creation of the diocese of Bristol in 1542 a consistory court was established. Until the early 20th century it met in the cathedral in a small and inconvenient room at the top of the night stairs of the former Augustinian abbey. The badly worn stone steps leading to the room testify to the number of offenders and witnesses summoned before the court and to the wide range of its jurisdiction. The old court room survives and its door has recently been recognised as part of the original fittings of the abbey which was founded in 1140.