the newsletter (pdf format)

Volume 8 Issue 1,February 2010
www.archaeologyinmarlow.org.uk
Archaeology in Marlow
Newsletter
New discovery in St Albans
Forthcoming AiM Events
Not far from the entrance to Verulamium Park a “treasure
trove” of Mesolithic finds and Roman architecture has
Thursday 25 February 8 p.m.
just been discovered during an archaeological excavation
Chairmaking in the Chilterns
before a planning application for a new leisure centre.
Garden Room, Liston Hall, Marlow: A talk by the
Twelve trenches, including two joined pairs were dug in
Curator of Wycombe Museum, Dr Catherine Grigg,
January and finds already include a probable Roman mill,
who has made a special study of this local craft. Find
and prehistoric flints.
out about traditional chair making, including how to tell
The
most
important
if a Windsor chair was made locally.
discovery is a two-phase
Members £2.50, non members £3.50
Roman
building,
but this seems
Thursday 25 March 8 p.m.
to have been at
Iron Age Hillforts of Marlow and Taplow,
least
partially
Garden Room, Liston Hall, Marlow: A talk by
demolished
Dr Tubb – he will discuss recent discoveries
during the Roman
regarding Danesfield Hillfort, Medmenham
or medieval period.
Hillford and Taplow Court. Dr Tubb is a
Preliminary dating
landscape archaeologist, a tutor at Bristol
suggests it was
OK, I admit it - the photos are not the new discovery University and teaches continuing education
built in the second to or even representative of it - but they were all I had courses. See page four for more details
third century AD.
of at Albans at short notice!
Members £2.50, non members £3.50
Other finds included prehistoric flints, possibly from the
late mesolithic to early neolithic periods, circa 4,000BC.
Thursday 27 May 8 p.m.
AIM Annual General Meeting
Garden Room, Liston Hall, Marlow
This is to give members notice that the Annual General
Meeting of Archaeology in Marlow will be held in the
Garden Room, Liston Hall on Thursday 27 May 2010 at
8 p.m.. You are invited, not only to attend the meeting
but also to stand for election to the committee and to
Hopefully it isn’t
propose motions for the meeting. Free entry.
Christmas Quiz
too late to wish
Other organizations events
Lynn Holmes Thursday 10th June 8p.m.
members and
Warren Wood Investigation
Fine Houses in the Thames and Chilterns
sponsors a Happy
Iron Age Hillforts - a talk
Mayan Head discovered
Garden Room, Liston Hall, Marlow
and Peaceful 2010
Competition
Members £2.50, non members £3.50
and to thank you
In this issue
Bisham Abbey
Roman Road Walk
Illustrated history of Bucks
Ackhampstead
Local Toll Roads
for all your support
in 2009.
We are also arranging a talk on Coins for the summer.
1
Annual Christmas Quiz
Held on Monday 7 December 2009
Other Organisation’s Events
Our quiz night was a very successful evening, where
everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and everyone
won at least one, if not several prizes. The raffle prizes
were donated by members and by sponsors and we
needed two tables just to display them all. Thank you
to The Dean
Street Market
who donated
a huge fruit
basket
and
plants
and
flowers, Saddle
Safari for the
pedometer,
H u n t s
Hardware for the Lights, Burgers for their Voucher
and to members who also brought many prizes.
Pits, Bumps and Hollows
7 February 2010,Time: 10am
Location: Bradenham Woods
A gentle walk through the woods at Bradenham
looking at archaeological evidence for historic
woodland management and past land use. Wear
stout footwear and waterproofs. Booking essential.
Meet at the Green beside the Church, Bradenham
village. Free.
Contact: Cathy Rose, Chilterns Conservation Board
01844 355506, crose@chilternsaonb.org
Everyone helped with the nibbles, food and drink and
selling the raffle tickets, the hot mulled wine was very
popular. The format was to have a chat and drink
and have two rounds of the quiz (questions set by
Keith Bracey), have the raffle and then have another
two rounds, with a prize for the winning team. (Very
inventive names for the teams!). Mike Miller was our
quiz host and adjudicator.
I thoroughly enjoyed the evening, even though we didn’t
win, I did learn a lot from the quiz questions.
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Marlow Society Local History Group
Angling on the Thames - A Talk by Ian Sutton
15 February 2010 7.30 p.m
Garden Room, Liston Hall, Marlow
Marlow Society Lecture
23 February, 2010 8 p.m.
Maps of Buckinghamshire
by John Leighfield
8 p.m. Main Hall, Liston Hall, Marlow
Two Woodland Archaeology workshops at Pigotts
Wood
5-6 March 2010 10am - 4pm
North Dean, near Hughenden Valley
The workshops are involving talks, walks and
mapping activities. £40 for professionals, £30 for
public and woodland owners. Bring a packed lunch,
teas and coffees provided. Booking essential
Contact: Donna Hunter, Chiltern Woodlands Project
Phone 01844 355504, dhunter@chilternsaonb.org
Chilterns Woodland Conference
12march 2010, 9.30am - 3pm
Green Park Conference Centre, Aston Clinton
The theme for this years conference is ‘The
importance of field and hedgerow trees’. It will
include a session on lessons learned from the
Special Trees and Woods Project 2006-2009. £30
per person. Booking essential
Meet at the Old Coach House, Green Park
Conference Centre, Aston Clinton
Contact Donna Hunter 01844 355504
dhunter@chilternsaonb.org
9 Dean Street, Marlow, Tel: 01628 891101
email : sales@computercavern.co.uk
www.computercavern.co.uk
2
Warren Wood Investigations
AIM’s Fieldwork/Research Group met up on the 12th of
January and (amongst other things) decided on a timetable
for our excavations at Warren Wood (Little Marlow).
As long as the visit of Ian Cook (Oxford Archaeology
Archaeologist) has taken place by the time you read this
newsletter, we will be starting our excavations on Sunday
14th of February at 10 a.m. We intend to work on alternate
Sundays until the work is completed. We will visit the site
every two weeks (weather permitting) continuing on the
28th February, 7th, 14th, 21st and 28th March, etc.
For newer members, and to refresh aging memories,
Warren Wood contains a double enclosure, thought to be
medieval. We hope to be able to discover artefacts that will
tell us what the enclosures were used for and to date the
site accurately.
Our plan is to excavate eight test pits measuring one
metre by one metre. Four of these pits will be in the inner
enclosure and four in the outer enclosure.
Although many archaeological techniques will be
employed on the site, our main task is to dig through
the various contexts/levels, recording them and the
More (non-AiM) Events
Marlow Society Local History Group
15 March 2010 7.30 p.m
A Talk on Hurley by Jeff Griffiths
3D reconstruction
of Warren Wood
‘finds’ unearthed as we go. As with all AIM excavations, training
will be given to those with little or no experience in order to
acquaint them with ‘best practice’ to be employed on site to
achieve our objectives.
Should you wish to take part in our investigations, please contact
me for further details and to reserve your places on days on
which you would like to attend. Either email me (John Laker)
on johnlaker@thamesinternet.com, or write to 9 Spinfield Lane,
Marlow, SL7 2JT, or telephone 01628 481792.
AIM
members
may attend free
of charge, but
non-members will
be required to
join as temporary
members at a
rate of £2/day
in order to be
covered by our
insurance.
Garden Room, Liston Hall, Marlow
You have probably all heard about the BBCs
“A History of the World in 100 objects”, the
radio programmes tie in with the website
which is www.bbc.co.uk/ahistoryoftheworld
and they are inviting listeners to upload
objects.
AIM is a member of CBA (Council for
British Archaeology), their website is www.
britarch.ac.uk.
AIM receives the CBA
magazine regularly, members can borrow
these, either at meetings or by phoning Ann
on 481792.
3
Iron Age Hillforts of Marlow and Taplow
-A talk by Dr Paul Tubb on Thursday 25 March 8 p.m.
Garden Room, Liston Hall, Marlow
The three hillforts in the vicinity of Maidenhead,
Taplow Court, Danesfield Camp and Medmenham
Camp, are all very different sites. Recently published
excavations at Taplow and fieldwork at Danesfield and
Medmenham have produced exciting new insights
into the construction, dating and occupation of these
Iron Age sites. This talk will discuss these recent
discoveries and place the sites within the context of
recent research into Iron Age hillfort-based activity in
the Chilterns and across southern Britain.
Dr Paul Tubb is a landscape archaeologist with 30
years experience, mostly in the chalklands of Wiltshire,
Dorset and Hampshire. He is particularly interested
in Bronze and Iron Age settlement. He is a tutor on
the Part-Time Archaeology degree course at Bristol
University and also teaches Continuing Education
courses at Oxford and Reading.
Each of the five Coats of
Arms have an association
with Marlow and all have
appeared in Histories of the
town - But can you identify
them?
Email answers to
johnlaker@thamesinternet.com
Mayan head suggests Ancient City
Archeologists
have
discovered a 10 x 11ft
Mayan
sculptured
head in Guatemala in
a little-known site close
to the border with
Belize and about 70
Miles from Tikal.
The head dates from
the early Classic period
between 300 to 600
The Mayan city of Tikal
AD and means the
site is much older than previously thought. The Maya
often constructed new buildings using older ones as
foundations.
“It could be an imaginary being, something from
the underworld, perhaps linked to a Mayan deity,”
Polytechnic University of Valencia Professor Gaspar
Munoz, part of the team of archeologists that found the
head, told Reuters.
COMPETITION - whose shields are they?
A
B
C
D
E
4
Bisham Abbey
Close by the Thames near Marlow, Bisham Abbey has
witnessed a rich slice of English history. But Bisham (the
name of the Abbey, like the village, should properly be
pronounced as ‘Bizum’) was a Priory, not an Abbey, for
much of its life, and most of what we now see is, in fact,
a Tudor mansion. It was originally built around 1260
as a preceptory of the immensely powerful Knights
Templar. On the suppression of that Order, it passed
into the hands of
William Montacute,
Earl of Salisbury, who
then built a priory
here
for
Austin
Canons in 1337.
The nearness of this
Priory to Windsor
Castle would have
led to heavy claims
on this community’s
hospitality.
In July 1536, Bisham
Priory was surrendered to Henry VIII on the suppression
of the monasteries. Uniquely among all the monasteries
of England, it was then selected by the fickle King to
be re-established on a grander scale as an abbey. In
December 1537, a charter was granted to this new
abbey of the Holy Trinity. It lasted, however, for only six
months before the Abbot, John Cordrey, and his monks
were again forced to surrender Bisham Abbey to the
King’s appointees.
During its complex history, Edward II used this
establishment to imprison Queen Elizabeth of the Scots,
the wife of King Robert the Bruce, and her female
relatives in 1310. Following the dissolution, it served
for about two hundred years as the main residence of
the Montacutes, who became Earls of Salisbury. One
of that line of illustrious Earls, who merits mention by
Shakespeare, was Richard Neville, known to history
as Warwick the Kingmaker, the wealthiest and most
powerful English peer of his age. A principal protagonist
in the Wars of the Roses, he lies buried somewhere in
the grounds of Bisham Abbey. It was probably also a
virtual gaol for Princess Elizabeth, later Queen Elizabeth
I, who was imprisoned by her sister, Queen Mary, around
the period 1555 and 1558. An ancient holy well close by
still bears Elizabeth’s name.
After its dissolution, Bisham Abbey was given by King
Henry VIII to his former Queen, Anne of Cleves. Following
Anne’s death, Bisham Abbey passed onto Sir Thomas
Hoby, the man who was responsible for the custody of
Princess Elizabeth during the reign of Mary Tudor. It was
the Hobys who demolished
the monastic church on the
site while adding the fine bay
window to the northern end
(see photo) and, in 1560,
an imposing brick tower.
After her accession, Queen
Elizabeth I appointed Sir
Thomas as Ambassador to
France. It is his wife, Dame
Elizabeth, who is purportedly
the tormented ghost who
haunts the Abbey. A son,
curiously named Thomas Posthumous from being born
after his father’s death, is believed to be the inspiration
for Shakespeare’s comic figure of Sir Andrew Aguecheek
in Twelfth Night.
When the Hoby line ran out, the Abbey passed into the
hands of the Vansittarts, the first member of that family
to live there, George, having made his fortune in India.
Adding Neale to the family name in due course, this family
and its descendants held the Abbey, the estate and village,
up until 1965 when death duties necessitated their sale.
The Abbey, which had been let to the Central Council
for Physical Recreation as a memorial to two brothers
in the family who were killed in the Second World War,
was then purchased as the CCPR’s first residential site.
Bisham Abbey still remains in the hands of a successor
body, Sport England.
Stonor House in the Chilterns, a few miles outside
Henley, now provides a home for furniture, portraits,
china and other objects of interest which came from
Bisham Abbey, the families of these two houses having
had links. A comprehensive history The Story of Bisham
Abbey by Piers Compton was published in 1973.
Jeff Griffiths
5
Roman Road Walk
Over the last few months, we have been undertaking
research looking into the evidence for a Roman
road (or roads) passing through or near Marlow.
As members will doubtless be aware, there is little
evidence of substantial Roman settlement or activity
in the immediate vicinity of the town, but there is
plenty within near distance along the Thames (eg the
villa at Hambleden) and also north of Marlow, with
the remains of a substantial villa on the Rye in High
Wycombe.
We have undertaken significant desktop research,
mapping the details of known Roman archaeological
finds and suspected roads along the Thames and
south Chilterns. We have combined that with other
anecdotal evidence of Roman activity to form a high
level picture of the potential scale of activity in the
area during the Roman period.
Based on that, we initially undertook a field walk
exercise during September last year in and around
Bisham. This focused on following some wellestablished footpaths for indications of any road or
track suggesting a connection between Marlow and
Maidenhead across the Thames near the existing
bridge. Despite an extensive search, aided by
excellent weather, we identified no evidence of any
Roman tracks or roads.
We have also conducted brief surveys of a similar
nature to the west of Marlow, following the footpath
from opposite the Cheerful Soul restaurant, through
Harleyford and to Medmenham. Again, the extent of
Marlow Museum
cultivation and
work to the
landscape over
the centuries
meant
that
any evidence
of any Roman
tracks has long since disappeared.
Finally for now, we have also looked north of the town.
In early December, a group walked a footpath that runs
parallel with Burroughs Grove up towards Ragman’s Castle
and Handy Cross. This footpath - considerably sunken in
places - is clearly a very old path but again offered up no
obvious evidence of any Roman activity.
So our activities to date - while enjoyable and interesting have not yet yielded any success. Our next port of call will
be to make contact with other groups in the region who
have also been investigating Roman roads and settlements
to exchange findings and ideas.
In the meantime, if any members would like to know more
about the research to date or have any information that
they feel might be helpful in this elusive search, please do
contact Andy Ford by email at andyford.marlow@btinternet.
com or on 01628 481141.
Illustrated history of early
Buckinghamshire
Between March and July this year, Bucks Museum in
Aylesbury will be holding an exhibition
entitled ‘An Illustrated history of
early Buckinghamshire’.
Changing Opening hours,
Presently (Winter)
Sundays only 1 to 3 pm
Summer - From 6 March,
Saturdays, Sundays and
Bank Holidays 1 to 5 pm
Funded by National Lottery Awards for All - Reg. Charity No.1129346
groups
in
Court Garden Leisure Centre, Pound Lane, Marlow
AIM has been offered the opportunity
of contributing to the exhibition. It is
planned that we will have a display
case to advertise our previous and
future archaeological investigations.
So, if you are in Aylesbury, why not
pop in to see the displays created
by AIM and other archaeological
Bucks?
6
Ackhampstead - The chapel that vanished
Ackhampstead no longer exists, though for eight
hundred years its 465 acres nestled quietly just off
the road between Lane End and Frieth. All that is left
today are a large earth platform, a ditch running across
the next field, a clump of trees with the remains of
some flint walls and the word “Ruin” on the OS map.
Ackhampstead is not mentioned in the Doomsday book
but a pre-conquest account implies it existed as it was
given to Abingdon Abbey by Edward the Confessor
and his queen, Eadditha, “from sorrow at the undernourishment of the younger monks.” The earliest known
explicit mention of the chapel is in 1242 when it was
referred to as Ackhampstead or Chyssobock in the
registers of the Bishop of
Lincoln.
chapel nearer to
their own houses
as it was “more
convenient”, though
Earthworks in
Ackhampstead chapel
presumably not for
the 56 residents
of Ackhampstead! Two years later at a Consistorial
Court of the Diocese on 28 April 1848, the decision
was made to build a new church at Cadmore End.
A plan to move the responsibilities for the Chapel
over to the curate at Hambledon seems to have
fallen by the wayside – not least by the dismantling
of the building to provide stone for the new church!
Oxford’s County and City Herald
reported that the court was presided
over by Dr Phillimore, chancellor of
Interestingly,
in
1429
the Diocese; promoters were the
Thomas Chaucer, son of the
Rev. Edward Brietzake Dean, vicar of
famed poet, was the “Esquire
Lewknor “and others”; the opposers
for life” of the “manor of
were Sir William Robert Clayton,
Ackhampsted,” indeed he was
Bart., Joseph Townsend “and others”.
buried only a few miles away in
There was a discussion as to whether
Wallingford.
Dr Phillimore could hear the case
The site of Ackhampstead chapel
and it was thought the Bishop should
The last curate, the Rev. Fredrick Menzies and arguably
preside over it. However Dr Phillimore “corrected” this
the villain of our piece, considered it of “No architectural
view by announcing that “nothing can be more complete
value with no graves inside or out”. He also claimed that
than the surrender of all his powers to me”. He also
there was no road whatever, which was palpably untrue!
reported that the bishop had considered that the move
Perhaps he disliked the area as he also referred to the
would “promote the spiritual advantage of the district”.
district as “almost heathen, many of the people being
un-Baptised” – though he admitted the congregation
Dr Phillimore’s power to pull down the chapel was also
“usually consisted of 80 or 90 individuals” – which
contested, but again his view held sway, despite the
must have been a very tight fit in such a tiny chapel!
fact there was no written authority for him to do this.
On 12th August 1847, the residents of the Cadmore
End part of the parish met and resolved to move the
If you visit the chapel on a quiet sunny day you can
almost hear the echos of thoughts on sharp practices!
7
Taking the Toll
The earliest recorded toll road in the
world is the Susa–Babylon highway,
when travellers paid a toll during
the regime of Ashurbanipal (who
conquered Egypt) some 2700 years
ago. Aristotle and Pliny both mention
tolls in Arabia and other parts of Asia
and their use was also recorded in
India, before the 4th century BC.
In England, the upkeep of bridges was
placed in the hands of local settlements
by the Bridges Act of 1530 and, some
25 years, later Parliament (like today knowing a good
cost-cutter when they saw it!) devolved the care of
roads to parishes as statute labour. Every adult in
a parish was obliged to work for four consecutive
days a year on the roads - and had to
provide their own tools, carts and
horses. 1663 saw a section
of the Great North Road in
Hertfordshire become
England’s first road to
charge a toll, and the
first Turnpike trust
was set up some
forty years later in
1706.
The name “Turnpike”
comes from the military
practise of placing a pikestaff
across a road to block it - it was “turned”
to one side to allow travellers to pass. Turnpike trusts
became responsible for improving and maintaining most
main roads in England and Wales and eventually 1,000
trusts administered around 30,000 miles through some
8,000 toll gates. They were gradually abolished starting
in the 1870s, principally due to the growth of the railways.
During the 1800s, Buckinghamshire had at
least sixteen Turnpike trusts, including
“Great Marlow and Stokenchurch,”
which was incorporated in 1791 and
had its term extended for a further
21 years in 1813. It was responsible
for 8.5 miles of road including two
turnpikes and a side gate. There
is some evidence for a toll bar at
Seymour Court in a Notice of Auction
of Tolls in July 1821. Two other gates
are mentioned in the same notice and were
at Penley Hills and Well End – which were both
in Oxon until the boundary changed in 1896.
8
The A40 Toll Road.
The road between Beaconsfield and Stokenchurch was
“turnpiked” in 1719, with other sections turnpiked later.
In 1751 it was added to the “Wendover to Buckingham
Turnpike Trust” and remained part of it until 1852, when
the Beaconsfield and Red Hill Trust was formed.
Beel Lodge does survive there. A “Whielden Lane” gate
appeared on a 1985 0.S.map - but not on the earlier
maps. It stood opposite the ‘Queen’s Head’ and seems
to have been demolished for road widening in 1929.
The Terriers gate turnpike was probably sited west
of Wycombe Heath - and the gate at Great Marlow
was to be found north east of the town where the High
Wycombe and Little Marlow roads meet. The Bisham
gate was north of Marlow Bridge and the Greenland
gate was opposite Greenland estate. The Ordinance
Survey also marks a turnpike at Medmenham, though
there seems to be no reason for a gate to be there.
The Marquess of Salisbury and the Earl of Essex, were
both afflicted by gout and made annual “treatment”
visits to Bath. To shorten the journey, their lordships
actually built their own road from Hatfield! It crossed
the Thames at Marlow and joined the A4 at Knowl Hill
- cutting their journey by some 20 miles.
There were five toll gates along this road, starting with the
Denham gate, opposite the “Dog and Duck” followed by the
Red Hill gate near the 18th milestone. The Holtspur gate
collected tolls at the north end of the road from Hedsor.
High Wycombe’s gate was pulled down in 1826 and
replaced by a new toll bar and although the toll house was
eventually dismantled in 1978, it has now been re-erected
at the Chiltern Open Air Museum, complete with its toll
board. Lastly, the West Wycombe gate was sited where
the road splits off to Princes Risborough.
From Chenies through Amersham, High Wycombe,
Marlow and on to near Henley-on-Thames.
This road was managed by the
Reading and Hatfield Turnpike
Trust, which was the very last
trust in the county and continued
until as late as 1881.
Debatably, there was a turnpike at
the intersection of several lanes
in Little Chalfont. But a statement
of income and expenditure for the
trust dated 31st October 1829
does not include it. However a
much altered toll house called
The surviving mile posts on this road are all from an
identical cast-iron mould and all show Reading, but give
the distance to Hatfield at the top. One of these is still
standing in St. Albans at the west end of St. Stephen’s
Hill near the King Harry public house. Others are at
Chenies, Little Chalfont, Medmenham and Greenlands.
Two more have been found locally at the entrance to
Bisham Church and at Burchett’s Green.
The Old Toll House at Bisham Gate
This cottage is of particular local interest and was
probably built during the 19th century for the Reading
and Hatfield Turnpike Trust. Over the years there
have been numerous
additions and alterations
to the building. Although
there is no direct
documentary evidence
of a tollhouse at this
location,
local oral
tradition suggests it was
a toll collection point.
I would carry on with
this subject - but writing
has taken it’s toll on me!
The Old Toll House at Bisham Gate
9
AiM
This is to give members notice that the Annual General Meeting of Archaeology in Marlow will be
held in the Garden Room, Liston Hall on Thursday 27 May 2010 at 8 p.m.. You are invited, not only
to attend the meeting but also to stand for election to the committee and to propose motions for the
meeting.
AiM would like to welcome the following new members Roger and Sally Ainslie.
AiM
Annual Membership Rates
Individual Membership £9.00 or £4.50 if in full time education
Family Membership £12.00, School Membership £18.00
Corporate Membership is available on application
AiM Committee Meetings
All members are welcome to attend all AiM meetings
The Main Committee Meeting - 7.30pm on Tuesday 2nd March 2010 @ 9 Spinfield lane. Marlow
The Fieldwork/Research Meeting - 7.30pm - To be announced
AiM Committee Members
Chairman
Vacant
Secretary
01628 631952 - aim@knowledgescape.co.uk
Kathy Bragg
Acting Treasurer
9 Spinfield Lane, Marlow, SL7 2JT
01628 481792
annpitwell@thamesinternet.com
Ann Pitwell
Membership Secretary
12 The Croft, Marlow SL7 1UP
01628 472126
Gerry Platten
Field Work Co-ordinator 9 Spinfield Lane, Marlow, SL7 2JT
01628 481792 - johnlaker@thamesinternet.com
John Laker
News sheet compiler 01494 637499 gerry@palmer-rose.co.uk
Gerry Palmer
10