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.

Eynsham: A village and its Abbey

History

Hardy, Alan

Smith, Rosalyn

Europe

Lancaster

In recent years archaeologists at Higham Ferrers, Northamptonshire, have uncovered a wealth of evidence, largely Saxon, that tells `a story both fascinating and intriguing, gruesome and tragic'. This colourful guide presents this story in layman's terms, explaining and illustrating what Anglo-Saxon remains look like, how the important settlement at Higham Ferrers functioned, how the inhabitants lived, worked, worshipped and died, and what objects they left behind. A good introduction for younger readers.

The Roots of an English Town: Exploring the Archaeology of Higham Ferrers

Reprinted from Oxoniensia (Volume 64, 1994) , this volume presents a detailed report of excavations carried out between 1975-76 and 1984-87 which investigated fourteen buildings belonging to a medieval settlement interpreted as a grange of Abingdon Abbey. The settlement originated in the late 12th century, with the 14th century seeing the maximum expansion of the settlement, which included a moat, fishponds, a fish-kitchen and a dovecote, and a stone boundary wall. The report follows the development of the site up to the early 17th century when most of the later grange was demolished and the existing farmhouse built on the site. The report includes an archaeological description, discussion of the finds and environmental remains, and historical evidence.

A Medieval Grange of Abingdon Abbey at Dean Court Farm, Cumnor, Oxford

Allen, T. G.

The site at Whitecross Farm, including timber structures located on the edge of the eyot, and a substantial midden and occupation deposit has been securely radiocarbon-dated to the late Bronze Age. The late Bronze Age artefact assemblages are suggestive of a high-status site, with a range of domestic and ritual activities represented. The bank of the Grim's Ditch earthwork was found to have preserved evidence of earlier settlement, dating to the Neolithic and Bronze Age, and a sequence of cultivation, including ard marks and 'cord-rig' cultivation ridges. Pottery and radiocarbon analysis dated the earthwork to the end of the late Iron Age or the early Roman period. A multi-period settlement, consisting of pits, a waterhole, postholes, gullies and field systems, was identified at Bradford's Brook, Cholsey. The main periods represented are late Bronze Age and Romano-British, while a small quantity of Saxon pottery indicates limited Saxon activity. A large pit containing late Bronze Age pottery, a cattle skull, waterlogged wood and plant remains, a complete loomweight and flint flakes has been interpreted as a waterhole. A series of radiocarbon dates were obtained for deposits within this feature. All three sites are discussed individually as well as within their local, regional and national contexts. Chapter 7 provides an overall discussion of later Bronze Age themes that have arisen through the excavation and analysis of these sites.

Archaeology of the Wallingford Bypass, 1986-92: Late Bronze Age Ritual and Habitation on a Thames Eyot at Whitecross Farm, Wallingford (Thames Valley Landscapes Monograph)

Robinson, Mark

Cromarty, Anne Marie

Barclay, Alistair

Lambrick, George

Excavation between 1983-5 at Barrow Hills, Radley, Oxfordshire recorded three distinct phases of activity: a prehistoric monument complex (already published in Volume 1), a Romano-British cemetery and an early Anglo-Saxon settlement. The Romano-British cemetery consisted of 69 burials dating to the 3rd and 4th centuries and occurring as distinct burial groups and isolated graves; both inhumations and cremations were found. The report considers the evidence for the organisation of the cemetery, orientation, age and sex, body position, decapitation, coffins, inhumation versus cremation, grave goods, chronology and location. The Anglo-Saxon settlement was composed of post-built structures, sunken-featured buildings, two inhumations, pits, debris dumped into the prehistoric barrow ditches and various other features. The settlement is dated by finds evidence to the 4th - early 7th centuries. The Anglo-Saxon features at the nearby site of Barton Court Farm may have been part of the same settlement. The finds and archaeological deposits are described in a series of gazetteers.

Excavations At Barrow Hills, Radley, Oxfordshire, 1983-5: Volume 2 - The Romano British Cemetery and Anglo Saxon Settlement (Thames Valley Landscapes Monograph)

Chambers, R. A.

McAdam, E.

Ancient Civilizations

This report documents the discovery, excavation and preservation of a Norman moated stone manor house found in 1984 at the Mount House, Witney. The trial excavations that were made in advance of housing development, revealed groups of buildings surrounded by a curtain wall and moat. Further excavations in the north-west and south-east parts of the complex uncovered a massive and well-preserved tower and attached range of the first half of the 12th century which was progressively enlarged by a chapel, a central pier, a raised terrace and a garderobe block. The buildings were further modified in the later medieval period. Coins in robber trenches indicate that some buildings were demolished during the English Civil War, though others were maintained. The front cover shows Nathaniel Buck's early 18th century engraving purporting to show the remains, which were systematically demolished in the mid-18th century to make way for a new house. The site remained in the ownership of the Bishops of Winchester until 1862, when it was purchased by the 6th Duke of Marlborough. The present house was built c 1904. The site was purchased by Oxfordshire County Council in 1993, and the tower is now on display to the public.

Excavation of a Medieval Manor House,Witney (Thames Valley Landscapes Monograph)

Durham, Brian

Hiller, Jonathan

The Upper Thames Valley is an important area for prehistoric monuments and has one of the highest concentrations of cursuses, distinctive linear or elongated earthworks, in Britain. In the 1980s the Oxford Archaeological Unit along with the Abingdon Area Archaeological and Historical Society had the opportunity to extensively investigate one of these sites at Drayton. This site has produced many significant results for our present understanding of the date, construction and use of cursus monuments on the lowland river gravels of Britain. This volume reports on the excavations at Drayton, and includes an account of small-scale excavations undertaken at the Lechlade cursus by OAU and Lance and Faith Vatcher. It also provides a gazetteer of known cursus monuments in the Upper Thames Valley.

Lines in the Landscape: Cursus monuments in the Upper Thames Valley (Thames Valley Landscapes Monograph)

MOORE. John

The minster church at Eynsham, Oxfordshire, was founded in the 7th or 8th century and refounded in 1005 as a Benedictine abbey. The excavations carried out by Oxford Archaeology revealed substantial remains of the abbey, tracing its history from its foundation until the Dissolution in 1538-9. The excavated precinct buildings included part of the Great Cloister, refectory, kitchens, cellars, domestic range and latrines. A programme of geophysical survey was carried out in addition to the main excavation in order to study as much as possible of the abbey's inner and outer wards, and to place the excavations in their wider context. The recovery of archaeological evidence at the site, combined with a study of documentary sources, has provided a rare opportunity to study in depth the development and economy of a major religious house from its origins through to its demise. This large volume is the final report on the excavations. It includes chapters on the stratigraphy of the site, the building materials, the small finds, animal and botanical remains, human skeletons, and a comprehensive discussion of the sequence of occupation at the site, from the Anglo-Saxon through the medieval and post-medieval periods.

Aelfric's Abbey: Excavations at Eynsham Abbey, Oxfordshire, 1989-1992 (Thames Valley Landscapes Monograph)

Dodd, A.

Keevill, G. D.

A review of the rich and diverse evidence for understanding past climate and environmental change in the Thames Valley, and the effects on plant and animal populations and the challenges and opportunities these presented to early humans. Part 1 of this volume covers the Pleistocene, the epoch of the Ice Ages, in an integrated review of the geological, palaeontological and archaeological data for the last half million years and more. Part 2 takes up the story from the beginning of the Holocene, the warm period in which we are still living, which began around 11,500 years ago. The authors review the evidence for early hunter-gatherer populations in the Mesolithic, the gradually increasing impact of humans in the region in the Neolithic and early Bronze Age and their rich social lives and belief systems. Much of the evidence has been recovered during extensive gravel quarrying. The volume is excellently illustrated with colour and line illustrations and maps.

The Thames through Time: the archaeology of the gravel terraces of the upper and middle Thames. The formation and changing environment of the Thames ... 1500 BC (Thames Valley Landscapes Monograph)

White, Mark

Hey, Gill

Morigi, Tony

Schreve, Danielle

In common with other volumes in the Thames Through Time series, this account of the Thames Valley in the millennium and a half before the Roman conquest seeks to examine change in human society from a thematic point of view. The geographical and chronological framework for this volume is established in Chapters 1 and 2, but thereafter we have tried to get away from the traditional, somewhat artificial pigeon-holes of 'periods' 'ages' 'eras' and 'phases' to look much harder at how change in human society actually works. In a period when the 20th century has come to dominate secondary school history and much popular TV, the notion that the first foundations of modern society can be traced back more than 3000 years may seem a rather surprising proposition. But some fundamental patterns of settlement and landuse, political boundaries, human impact on the environment, and even the specific use and form of a few places can be traced back to late prehistoric times despite millennia of subsequent change - even though otherwise we may now have very little in common with those remote ancestors. Exploring these issues on a thematic basis should help us to gain a better understanding of how human society evolves and also of how people have altered their natural environment, providing a better long term perspective on what we are doing to the planet.

The Archaeology of the Gravel Terraces of the Upper and Middle Thames: The Thames Valley in Late Prehistory First 1500 BC-AD 50

Dodd, Anne

See the best price to sell, buy or rent books by the Lancaster publisher. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Lancaster