Report

ROYAL COMMISSION ON THE ANCIENT AND HISTORICAL MONUMENTS AND CONSTRUCTIONS OF ENGLAND

Report to the Queen's Most Excellent Majesty

May It Please Your Majesty

We, the undersigned Commissioners, appointed to make an Inventory of the Ancient and Historical Monuments and Constructions connected with or illustrative of the contemporary culture, civilisation and conditions of life of the people of England, excluding Monmouthshire, from the earliest times to the year 1714, and of such further Monuments and Constructions subsequent to that year as may seem in our discretion to be worthy of mention therein, and to specify those which seem most worthy of preservation, do humbly submit to Your Majesty the following Report, being the thirty-third Report on the work of the Commission since its appointment.

2 With regret we have to record the retirement from the Commission upon expiry of term of office of Sir John Newenham Summerson, Knight, Commander of the Order of the British Empire, Fellow of the British Academy, Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects, and John Nowell Linton Myres, Esquire, Commander of the Order of the British Empire, Fellow of the British Academy, past President of the Society of Antiquaries.

3 We have to thank your Majesty for the appointment to the Commission of Paul Ashbee, Esquire, Master of Arts, Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, and Arthur Richard Dufty, Esquire, Commander of the Order of the British Empire, Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, and for the reappointment of Courtenay Arthur Ralegh Radford, Esquire, Fellow of the British Academy, Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, all under Your Majesty's Royal Warrant dated 5 March, 1975.

4 We have pleasure in reporting the completion of our recording of the Iron Age and Romano-British Monuments in the Cotswold area of the County of Gloucester (excluding Cirencester), an area of 182 civil parishes containing about 330 relevant Monuments, including 29 Hill-forts, 56 Romano-British Settlements and 40 Roman Villas. We believe that no relevant Monument known at the time of writing has been omitted from our survey.

5 Following our usual practice we have prepared an illustrated Inventory of these Monuments which will be issued as a non-Parliamentary publication entitled Iron Age and Romano-British Monuments in the Gloucestershire Cotswolds. This will be the first volume (Glos. I) of the general Survey of Monuments in Gloucestershire which we intend, in due course, to complete in obedience to Your Majesty's command.

6 Our thanks are due to many owners and occupiers of lands who have allowed us and members of our staff to investigate the Monuments in their charge or ownership. We are also grateful for ready assistance furnished by Directors, Curators and Officers of numerous Institutions: notably the Ordnance Survey; the Institute of Geological Sciences; the Committee for Research into the Iron Age in the North-west Cotswolds; the Committee for Aerial Photography in the University of Cambridge; Gloucester City Museum; Corinium Museum; Cheltenham Museum, and Stroud Museum.

7 Many persons have helped our staff in the execution of this survey, and we especially wish to thank Mrs. H. E. O'Neil, M.B.E., F.S.A. and Instructor Captain H. S. Gracie, C.B., M.A., F.S.A., R.N. (rtd.), whose assistance has been of outstanding value. We are also glad to acknowledge information and other help generously provided by—Mr. W. A. Baker, Mr. B. Beveridge, Dr. R. Cave, Mr. Giles Clarke, Mr. Wilfred Cox, Dr. G. C. Dunning, Miss S. Evans-Lawrence, Mr. P. J. Fowler, Mrs. E. Gander, Mr. P. E. Gascoigne, Capt. P. Gibbs, Mr. R. Goodburn, Mr. A. N. Irvine, Mrs. M. U. Jones, Dr. G. A. Kellaway, Mr. C. E. Key, Mr. R. Knight, Dr. J. Liversidge, Dr. R. M. Reece, Mr. J. F. Rhodes, Mr. R. D. A. Savage, Mr. N. Spry, Miss M. Travell, Mr. D. J. Viner and Dr. Graham Webster: to all these, and others named in the Inventory, the Commissioners offer sincere thanks.

8 The rapid and widespread destruction of field monuments continues to be a cause of anxiety. All field monuments listed in the Inventory of Iron Age and Romano-British Monuments in the Gloucestershire Cotswolds should be treated with respect, not only on account of their rarity, but also because the visible remains need not by themselves indicate a monument's archaeological importance; this can be revealed only by excavation. Destruction should never be allowed until competent archaeological investigation has taken place. With this in mind, we humbly recommend to Your Majesty's notice the following Iron Age and Romano-British Monuments in the Cotswold area of Gloucestershire, as Most Worthy of Preservation:

Aldsworth

(1) 'Celtic' fields and associated ditches on Bibury old race-course, a remarkably well-preserved portion of a formerly more extensive field system.

Ampney St. Peter or Eastington

(1) Ranbury Ring hill-fort.

Bagendon (extending into Daglingworth and North Cerney)

(1) Iron Age and early Romano-British Settlement with Dykes, the site of a capital of the Dobunni.

Barnsley

(1) Roman Villa with walled closes, the subject of recent excavations.

(2) 'Celtic' fields associated with (1); a very rare example to survive.

Batsford

(1) Romano-British Settlement, Dorn.

(3) Roman Road, The Foss Way, a rare survival, with road bank and side ditches.

Bibury

(1) Ablington Camp hill-fort.

(2) Roman Villa, near Bibury Mill, marked by exceptionally extensive earthworks.

Bisley with Lypiatt

(1) Roman Villa, Lillyhorn. (fn. 1)

Bourton-on-the-Water

(1) Salmonsbury, an Iron Age settlement with bivallate defences enclosing some 56 acres.

Brockworth

(1) Cross-ridge Dyke in Brockworth Wood, a well-preserved rarity.

Buckland

(1) Hill-fort on Burhill.

Charlton Kings

(2) Linear Dyke, a rarity in the Cotswolds.

Chedworth

(1) Roman Villa, Chedworth Woods, mainly of the 4th century, but including 2nd-century elements (National Trust).

(4) Roman Temple (platform), in Chedworth Woods.

Coates

(1) Trewsbury hill-fort.

Coberley

(1) Hill-fort on Crickley Hill, shown by modern excavation to be of the early Iron Age, with important evidence of earlier occupation.

Colesbourne

(1) Norbury hill-fort.

(2) Roman Villa at Stockwood, of unusual form and with adjacent terraces.

Coln St. Aldwyns

(1) Dean Camp hill-fort.

Daglingworth see Bagendon

Dowdeswell

(1) The Castles hill-fort.

Doynton

(1) Linear Dyke, unusually sited; formerly called 'Royal Camp'.

Duntisbourne Rouse

(4) Romano-British Settlement, Stancombe, with rare earthworks and terraces.

Dyrham and Hinton

(1) Hill-fort on Hinton Hill.

Eastleach

(1) 'Celtic' fields, covering some 10 acres adjacent to a Roman road; a rare survival, albeit disturbed.

(2) Roman Road, Akeman Street, a terraceway (with adjacent 'Celtic' fields) leading to a crossing of the R. Leach.

Edgeworth

(1) Cross-ridge Dyke on Juniper Hill.

Fairford

(4–6) Settlements, Enclosures and Tracks, (fn. 1) indicated by crop-marks extending over some 50 acres.

Gotherington

(1) Nottingham Hill Camp, a very large promontory hill-fort.

Great Rissington

(2) Probable Iron Age and Romano-British Settlement. (fn. 1)

(3) Pit-alignment. (fn. 1)

Great Witcombe

(1) Roman Villa, excavated and maintained by the Department of the Environment.

Haresfield

(2) The Bulwarks, hill-fort.

Horton

(1) The Castles, hill-fort.

Kempsford

(7) Enclosures, Tracks and Linear Ditches, (fn. 1) indicated by crop-marks over some 70 acres.

King's Stanley

(1) Cross-ridge Dyke.

Kingscote

(1) Romano-British Settlement, (fn. 1) The Chessalls, especially notable for its size.

Lechlade

(2) Enclosures and Tracks, (fn. 1) revealed by cropmarks covering some 50 acres.

Leckhampton

(1) Hill-fort, Leckhampton Hill.

Minchinhampton

(1–8) 'The Bulwarks' and other remarkably well-preserved dykes, banks and scarps.

North Cerney see Bagendon

North Nibley

(1) Brackenbury Ditches, hill-fort.

Northleach with Eastington

(1) Norbury Camp, a very large Iron Age hill-fort, subsequently occupied in the Roman period.

Painswick

(1) Kimsbury, a multivallate Iron Age hill-fort of a type very uncommon in the Cotswold area.

Randwick

(1) Cross-ridge Dyke in Randwick Wood.

Sapperton (extending into Coates)

(1) Roman Settlement, 'Tunnel Mouth Camp', and associated buildings, a complex possibly centred on a temple.

Sodbury

(1) Sodbury Camp, hill-fort.

Southam

(1) Cleeve Cloud, hill-fort.

(4) The Ring, an undated earthwork, possibly of the Iron Age.

(5) Platformed Ringwork, undated, possibly an Iron Age hut platform.

(6) Dyke, undated, but probably of the Iron Age.

Stanton

(1) Hill-fort on Shenberrow Hill, a very small bivallate hill-fort.

Sudeley

(1) Hill-fort (?) W. of Roel Gate, probably of the Iron Age.

(2) Roman Villa at Wadfield.

(4) Roman Villa at Spoonley Wood.

Swell

(2) Roman Villa and other Buildings at Abbotswood.

Temple Guiting

(1) Beckbury Camp, hill-fort.

(4) Pit-alignment. (fn. 1)

(5) Enclosures and Ditches, (fn. 1) probably Iron Age and Romano-British.

Uley

(1) Uley Bury hill-fort, on a prominent spur of the Cotswold escarpment.

Whittington

(2) Romano-British Settlement, (fn. 1) Wycomb, with temple and paved streets.

(3) Roman Villa, dating from the second century, with 4th-century mosaic pavements; also adjacent mediaeval earthworks partly overlying the villa, and other earthworks which may be contemporary.

Willersey

(1) Hill-fort on Willersey Hill.

Windrush

(1) Windrush Camp, hill-fort.

Woodchester

(1) Roman Villa, (fn. 1) of exceptional size and magnificence including the largest Roman mosaic pavement known in Britain.

9 The foregoing list has a purely scholarly basis. In compiling it we have considered the archaeological importance of each Monument, its rarity in the national as well as in the local field and the degree of cultural loss that would result from its destruction, always bearing in mind the extent to which the Monument is connected with or is illustrative of the contemporary culture etc. of the inhabitants of this land, as required in Your Majesty's Warrant. We have taken no account of attendant circumstances such as cost of maintenance or difficulty of preservation.

10 We desire to acknowledge the good work done by our executive staff in the production and preparation of the Inventory; especially by our Investigators, Mr. H. C. Bowen, O.B.E., M.A., F.S.A., Mr. B. N. Eagles, B.A. and Dr. I. F. Smith, B.A., F.S.A.; also Mr. J. N. Hampton, F.S.A. and Mrs. V. G. Swan, B.A. We commend the skilful work of our illustrator, Mr. A. L. Pope, A.R.C.A., A.R.E., and that of our photographers, Messrs. W. C. Light, R. E. W. Parsons, R. F. Braybrook and J. Parkinson. The index was compiled by Mrs. H. Green. The editor was Mr. G. U. S. Corbett, PH.D., F.S.A.

11 In conclusion we desire to commend our Secretary and General Editor, Mr. R. W. McDowall, O.B.E., M.A., F.S.A., who continues to afford unremitting assistance to us in the discharge of Your Majesty's Commission.

All of which we submit to Your Majesty with our humble duty.

Signed:

ADEANE (Chairman)

BEAUFORT

H. C. DARBY

C. A. RALEGH RADFORD

H. M. COLVIN

A. J. TAYLOR

W. F. GRIMES

M. W. BARLEY

S. S. FRERE

R. J. C. ATKINSON

JOHN BETJEMAN

H. M. TAYLOR

G. ZARNECKI

J. K. S. ST. JOSEPH

PAUL ASHBEE

A. R. DUFTY

R. W. McDOWALL (Secretary)