Introduction: It is now well established that the structure of the English medieval countryside emerged between AD600 and AD1000. During this time a patchwork of petty Anglo-Saxon kingdoms became a nation. Rural settlement patterns across much of England were redefined, contributing to the countryside’s strongly regional character. We still inhabit a good majority of the farms, hamlets and villages founded then.
This continuity means that later Anglo-Saxon settlement archaeology frequently (and quite literally) lies beneath our feet at the centre of modern rural communities. Public archaeology now regularly targets these places for small-scale excavation, as happened with Time Team’s Big Dig and the recently aired BBC series, Michael Wood’s Story of England: both of these deployed test-pitting in back gardens to unravel the development of villages back before the Norman Conquest in 1066. Commercial and public-funded archaeology too have helped flesh out the physical details of these hidden phases of village history, as vividly demonstrated at Raunds, Northamptonshire, and other expanding dormitory towns.
By Gabor Thomas
British Archaeology, No.113 (July/August 2011)
Introduction: It is now well established that the structure of the English medieval countryside emerged between AD600 and AD1000. During this time a patchwork of petty Anglo-Saxon kingdoms became a nation. Rural settlement patterns across much of England were redefined, contributing to the countryside’s strongly regional character. We still inhabit a good majority of the farms, hamlets and villages founded then.
This continuity means that later Anglo-Saxon settlement archaeology frequently (and quite literally) lies beneath our feet at the centre of modern rural communities. Public archaeology now regularly targets these places for small-scale excavation, as happened with Time Team’s Big Dig and the recently aired BBC series, Michael Wood’s Story of England: both of these deployed test-pitting in back gardens to unravel the development of villages back before the Norman Conquest in 1066. Commercial and public-funded archaeology too have helped flesh out the physical details of these hidden phases of village history, as vividly demonstrated at Raunds, Northamptonshire, and other expanding dormitory towns.
Click here to read this article from British Archaeology
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