The Archaeological Landscape of Frampton on Severn

Funded by English Heritage through the Aggregate Levy Sustainability Fund. Project No. 4625 ASS

Frampton on Severn is located in the southern part of Gloucestershire, on a spread of gravel between the Rivers Severn and Frome, which has been exploited for aggregate extraction since the 17th century (Elrington & Herbert 1972: 139). The Frampton on Severn area contains one of the larger reserves of sand and gravel in Gloucestershire outside the Upper Thames Valley. Growing demand for aggregates in the south west region adds to the need for understanding of this particular landscape, which is rich in archaeological sites. The Archaeology Service has been working on 'The Archaeological Landscape of Frampton on Severn' since early 2006.

Material dating from the prehistoric, Roman and medieval periods, including a number of human inhumation burials, have been recovered during the process of aggregate extraction between Frampton on Severn and Eastington. A series of crop mark sites are also visible on aerial photographs in this area. Excavation took place at several of these sites, in particular Netherhills, Frampton, directed by Richard Atkinson in 1948, but none of the results have been adequately published. The wider context of this material and how the excavated sites fit within their wider landscape is also poorly understood. The Archaeological Landscape of Frampton on Severn assessed the archive material from the Atkinson excavations alongside that from several museums to build a picture the of prehistoric, Anglo Saxon and Roman exploitation of the area.

The earliest materials assessed were Paleolithic flints from Eastington Gravel Pit held by Stroud Museum. Further lithic items in the collections at Stroud Museum and from unpublished excavations in 1991 attest to the utilisation of the area in the Mesolithic period, the first evidence of activity of this date from the Severn Vale in Gloucestershire.

A series of ring ditches were constructed in the Bronze Age and assessment of the archives suggest that these include a rare example of a bell barrow dating to the Beaker period. This may have acted as a focus for the construction of a series of other ring ditches, at least three of which were excavated by Atkinson in 1948. Further lithic material of Neolithic and Early Bronze Age dates from immediately adjacent to the ring ditches, and a single sherd of Bronze Age pottery, were identified in the archives.

The pottery assessed from Eastington predominantly dated to the later Iron Age and Roman periods and it is possible that this site was utilised as a cemetery over a relatively extended period. Further Roman material from the Frampton on Severn area was also assessed, suggesting significant occupation in the Roman period. Human remains in the archives of the Natural History Museum were assessed as part of the project and cross referencing these with the pottery recovered from the same site held in Stroud Museum suggests that these are of Roman date.

Material of Anglo Saxon date, including a spearhead, a loom weight and bone objects, from Eastington Gravel Pit, were identified in the archives at Stroud Museum, along with a single human skeleton. No dating evidence is available for the latter, and, although other skeletons were recovered from this quarry during extraction in the 1930s (Gardiner 1932) none of these survive in the archives.

In parallel with the assessment of the archive material from the Frampton on Severn area, aerial photographs were transcribed by staff working at the English Heritage Aerial Survey and Interpretation offices at Swindon. This analysis revealed that the area is heavily covered in ridge and furrow cultivation, but was successful in locating on of the ring ditches excavated by Atkinson for which no other location information survives. An area of alluvium was identified in the Frome valley, which will form the focus of proposed further work aimed at collecting data to enable the past environment of the study area to be understood. Further work on the archives and a series of radiocarbon dates are also proposed in the next stages of the project. A Research Framework for archaeological work in this part of the Severn Vale will also be prepared as a product of the project, which will result in the publication of the material from the Frampton on Severn area, its wider landscape setting and its significance and importance.

The results of the assessment and proposed further work are listed in detail in the updated project design, approved by English Heritage in September 2006. The report on the aerial photographic transcription is also available. Please use the links above to download the attached pdf files.

The draft publication report was completed in March 2007. Human skeletal remains are currently being dated by English Heritage experts in Portsmouth.

Renewed gravel extraction at Netherhills Quarry by Moreton C. Cullimore (Gravels) Ltd., in early 2007, allowed further archaeological features to be excavated and recorded. Archaeological material recovered is currently being assessed and the results will be combined with those of the earlier material for final publication.

Bibliography

Elrington C & Herbert N (eds) 1972. A History of the County of Gloucester: Volume X Westbury and Whitstone Hundreds. HMSO.

Gardiner, C 1932. Recent Discoveries in the Stroud Valley. Proceedings of the Cotteswold Naturalists Field Club XXIV(3), 163-180.