Further Notes in Reference to the Discoveries at Ickleton and Chesterford

Abstract

Although it is generally well-known that a number of cathedrals and major abbeys in medieval England especially had detached bell towers, the towers themselves have never been considered as a group. Nor has a ‘complete’ listing been attempted. Their existence is difficult to explain because the majority of these buildings also had central towers and some had western towers. No doubt because so many of the detached towers have been destroyed, they are less well-known than the examples on the Continent, especially in Italy. Surprisingly, towers seem to have been rare in Romanesque and Gothic France and Germany. The Insular ones appear to have been less ‘standardized’ in their design and more variable in their location vis-à-vis the church building than those of Italy. The history of detached towers in England (and Scotland) is here traced from their earliest appearance, in wood in the 12th century and in stone c. 1200, to the end of the Middle Ages.     

Recent Discoveries at Ilium

Excavations revealed important elements of a pre-Flavian fort, including a well-preserved clay and turf rampart, barrack blocks and a granary. A good assemblage of contemporary pottery, metalwork and glass was associated with these levels. The results are assessed with a discussion of previous excavations in Abergavenny. The site also yielded the first firm evidence of the town's Norman defensive bank and later Edwardian town wall. A Civil War phase of defences was also recorded.     

Account of a Roman Sepulchre at Geldestone,Norfolk

Rescue excavation between 1988 and 1990 in advance of river erosion examined a substantial part of the small medieval rural hospital of St Giles by Brompton Bridge and later post-medieval farm. Established in the latter half of the twelfth century for the infirm, including lepers, the hospital layout consisted of a detached stone chapel adjacent to the river crossing, with a timber hall to the west. This hall was destroyed by fire, and a sequence of timber buildings were then constructed in adjacent areas. By the fifteenth century these structures also included a stone building, possibly a refectory. The first small chapel was replaced in the thirteenth century by a larger structure, which went through a period of expansion and then subsequent contraction by the fifteenth century. Only in the fourteenth century were a hall, probably a guesthouse or the master's lodgings, and dovecote built adjacent to the chapel. The cemetery to the south of the chapel was partially examined. The site appears to have been a largely economically self-sufficient unit with an attached farm. The hospital was abandoned during the latter half of the fifteenth century, but the site and some of the buildings were subsequently reoccupied as a farm from the mid-seventeenth century. The farmhouse underwent conversion from a longhouse to a house of hearth-passage plan in the early eighteenth century. The former chapel was reused as a byre and additional stables constructed. The farm was moved to its present location to the south in the mid-eighteenth century and the former hospital site finally abandoned.     

Roman Remains Discovered at Avenches,the Chief City of the Helvetii

More iron objects have been found in East Yorkshire than in any other part of Iron Age Britain of comparable size, largely in the burials of the Arras Culture, named after the excavations at Arras near Market Weighton (1815–17). The region also contains one of Britain's largest prehistoric iron production centres, contemporary with the Arras Culture. This article aims to contribute to re-establishing early iron production and consumption, and its social and economic significance in the archaeological mainstream, and demonstrate the importance of understanding ironworking for the Iron Age landscape.     

On Roman Remains Recently Discovered at Headington near Oxford

Plans to redisplay the Bayeux Tapestry raise anew the questions as to where and how it was originally intended to be displayed. Analysis of the linen fabric provides new insights into the tapestry’s design and manufacture, and enables its original length to be calculated. Re-examination of the (largely destroyed) 11th-century cathedral at Bayeux and of its liturgical layout demonstrates that the tapestry would have fitted neatly into the nave west of the choir screen. Its narrative falls into three discrete sections that reflect the way in which it would have been hung within the building, and the arrangement of the scenes takes account of the uneven bay-spacings of the nave arcades and the positions of the doorways. It can therefore be concluded that the tapestry was designed for a particular location within the nave of Bayeux cathedral. The cathedral’s liturgical traditions shed light on the way in which the tapestry would have been viewed in the Middle Ages, and the wider implications for the way in which it could and should be viewed today are briefly considered.