Rob Woodside - Territory Archaeologist
Jeremy Milln - Archaeologist
HEREFORDSHIRE
Croft Castle
Following excavations in 2001 and 2002 (see AAR 2001/02), Dr Keith Ray and his team, supported by local volunteers and two National Trust Working Holidays, undertook a fresh season of investigation. This was to assess the extent of the remains of what was then believed to be the castle and later manor house first discovered in 2002. What they weren’t expecting to find was evidence of what must be one of the earliest fountains in Britain, just one of the many surprises that arose during the 2003 dig.
Keith and his team opened up a series of large-scale trenches and open area excavations to the west of the mansion in an attempt to trace the former extent of the fourteenth-fifteenth-century stone castle. This was in part undertaken on the mistaken premise that infilled drainage trenches were, at least initially, robbed-out castle walls.
What was revealed was a succession of builds belonging to the walls of the upper level terrace to the south-west of the mansion. These were begun in the mid-seventeenth century and were adapted several times through to c1720-40. A two-storey gazebo was added into the north-west angle of the upper level terrace, probably in the late seventeenth century.
An extension of the walls to the west for the creation of the west formal gardens probably began c1680. Again, there was a complex sequence of builds through to c1720-40, with the final element added being a west boundary wall to the south gardens, in brick in part at least on stone foundations.
The creation of the upper level terrace across a former side-valley to the west of the mansion (partly at least on the site of the medieval west ditch of the castle) caused considerable problems with drainage – and the evidence for attempts to resolve this problem spanned the period c1670 – 1870. It included the drains backfilled with medieval stonework, and a rock-cut small pond or large cistern to the west of the inner west gardens.
The massive north-south stone foundation had apparently been inserted into the top of an earthen bank on the same alignment. The origins of this bank are provisionally dated from the medieval period and included ceramics to the late 12th century. To the west was a waterlogged ditch, presumed to be contemporary with the bank. Only the upper deposits of this ditch were examined.
The final fill of this feature before dumping to create the terrace edge included mid seventeenth-century material, dumped timbers from dismantled wooden structures dendrochronologically dated to the first two decades of the seventeenth century, and preserved leatherwork. This deposit sealed a linear series of 2m long bored oak tree trunks held in place end to end by heavy oak collar pieces. A dendro date from one of these timbers indicated a felling date for a 100 year old tree of Autumn 1587.
This correlates closely with documentary evidence for the reimbursement of Sir James Croft for his embassy to Calais, in 1586. The water supply pipe represented by the timbers would have fed a water spout at the head of the lower part of the side valley. This must be among the earliest archaeological evidence for such a water feature anywhere in Britain. This also demonstrates that formal gardens complemented the mansion apparently built here by Sir James Croft as an adaptation of the medieval castle in the 1580s (and for which there is now both documentary and archaeological evidence).
The only other discoveries of note in 2003 were the location of a simple Medieval iron furnace, and the discovery of an assemblage of Delft tile fragments dating to 1610-20. Keith and his team will be returning in 2004 to investigate the site of the Medieval village thought to lie to the south-east of the church.
WORCESTERSHIRE
The HLF funded restoration of Capability Brown’s landscape gardens at Croome in Worcestershire continued with the dredging of the ornamental river and lake and the creation of two new wetlands. The lake was begun by John Phipps before 1751, when it can be seen on a map by John Doherty, but was adapted by Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown to create an ornamental river based on the meanders of the nearby River Severn. At the head of the river, Brown created an ornamental lake crowned by the Grotto, excavated by the Trust in 2000 and Oxford Archaeology in 2001 (see AAR 2001/02), and punctuated by three small islands, on one of which stands the Island Pavilion.
Plans to dredge the lake in 1998 were put on hold until the surrounding fields had been taken out of cultivation, bringing an end to the soil erosion that was slowly clogging its bed. The heavy silting had led to the growth of extensive reed beds, perfect for nature conservation, but totally contrary to Brown’s vision of a clear, mirror-like water surface. The decision was made to create new wetlands to relocate the habitats and act as a filter to improve the water quality coming off neighbouring fields and the M5 motorway.
An archaeological watching brief was undertaken by Rob Woodside to ensure the dredging works did not disturb the stone sets known to have lined the edges of the river and parts of the lake. Most of these were buried beneath the silt and required exposing using a mini-digger under archaeological supervision and marking out using bamboo canes. This ensured the dredgers avoided these areas, leaving the sets intact.
It became clear that these sets had been very carefully laid, even though they were never actually meant to have been seen above the water line. Their purpose was to prevent vegetation growth and to stop grazing cattle entering the water and crossing over to the other side. The stone sets did not line the entire extent of the river and seem only to have been laid at points where the river could be clearly seen from the house.
An archaeological assessment was also undertaken by Cotswold Archaeology on the site of the new Lickmore Coppice wetland. Although the creation of the wetland was largely non-invasive, it did require the flooding of a field known to include a number of earthworks, unusual for Croome where most pre-1750 features were deliberately removed. The field survey identified them as remnants of heavily disturbed medieval ridge and furrow, crossed by a later trackway, and a subsequent watching brief revealed evidence of post-medieval land drains.
Water management works will continue in 2004 with the laying of a new culvert through Church Hill Field that will replace the old Brownian drain that is now in a poor state of repair. The opening of the culvert trench will provide an opportunity to assess the degree to which Brown may have built up ground levels in the park, a crucial part of the design but previously very difficult to record.
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