Search results for ""Author Alan Hardy""

How did Middle Saxon kings govern their estates, and how did the mechanism of early forms of regional administration work? A spectacular site on the outskirts of Higham Ferrers in Northamptonshire has demonstrated that archaeology can add significantly to the debate. Between 1993 and 2003, Oxford Archaeology undertook a major programme of survey and excavation on the outskirts of the town, uncovering extensive remains dating from the Middle Bronze Age to the late medieval period. This volume deals with the Anglo-Saxon and medieval remains, and concentrates on a large 8th-century complex of enclosures and buildings, along with other structures including a large malting oven. It is argued that this represents the infrastructure of a purpose-built tribute centre for a royal estate. The character of the material evidence indicates that wide variety of produce came into complex and was then redistributed rather than consumed on site. The centre administered judicial as well a

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The construction of a new electricity substation at Northfleet, Kent provided an opportunity to investigate the archaeological remains at the site. Excavations in 1999 revealed field boundaries, paddocks and structural remains dating to the 11th and 12th centuries, possibly relating to the settlement known as Wenifalle in the late 12th century. The proximity of the Roman settlement at nearby Springhead has tended to distract from the later settlement in the area, so the results of this excavation represent a useful addition to the modest body of evidence relating to medieval settlement in North Kent. This short report includes a concise discussion of the project followed by reports on the artefactual evidence (Roman and medieval pottery, building materials, flint and worked stone and metalwork) and environmental remains.

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For five hundred years the small village of Eynsham in Oxfordshire has lived with the hazy memory of a great Benedictine abbey that once flourished at its heart. In recent years major archaeological excavations have revealed much of the abbey s remains and intriguing evidence of settlement going back 3000 years. Here for the first time the history and the archaeology have been combined to bring to life the story of the village and its abbey, and the characters that shaped their destiny. A companion to the Oxford Archaeology monograph, Aelfric's Abbey , this colourful booklet includes a series of reconstruction paintings showing the village and the abbey at various times through history, along with many illustrations of the archaeological finds. It also provides a list of suggested further reading.

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Archaeological investigations at Harding's Field, Chalgrove, revealed the remains of one of the most complete examples of a moated medieval manor yet excavated in England. Evidence of a pre-moat occupation dating from the first half of the 13th century, which may not have been seigneurial, was succeeded in the mid 13th century by the construction of the moated manor house. The documentary evidence indicates that this house belonged to the Barentins, a prominent Oxfordshire family. The manor underwent considerable alterations and improvements during the following 200 years, particularly during the early part of the 14th century and, to a lesser extent, in the late 14th and early 15th century. It passed out of the hands of the Barentin family shortly before it was demolished in the late 15th century.

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Southampton was one of England's leading medieval ports, with its trade in commodities such as wine, wool and cloth making it among the most prosperous and cosmopolitan towns in the country during the 13th and 15th centuries. From the late Saxon period, the heart of the city lay between two streets, English Street and French Street, an area known as the 'French Quarter'. A major new investigation of this area revealed an impressive series of medieval buildings with vaulted cellars, containing rare and exotic finds. The most significant building, Polymond's Hall, was home to notable residents such as the Venetian Consul in the 15th century and poet and the hymn writer Isaac Watts in the 18th century. This book uses new evidence from the extensive excavations, along with in-depth analysis of the documentary records, to revisit many ongoing debates on the origins and development of Southampton. It shows how the medieval tenements evolved from late Saxon urban estates, and how the dynamics of international trade and diplomacy shaped the changing fortunes of the city.

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