Library

Excavations were undertaken to the south of St. Edward's Passage, Cambridge, in the area formerly occupied by numbers seven and eight, now demolished. The excavation revealed a series of intercutting pits related to gravel extraction, of uncertain date, but with early medieval pottery in the backfills. The pitting did not extend to the north, suggesting that St. Edward's Passage was established by the thirteenth century, perhaps being contemporary with the early S.t Edward's Church. There was no sign of the churchyard extending to the south. Investigation of a long section inside the Art's Theatre indicated that the gravel extraction continued across the area. This complements the findings of the excavations in 1993 to the west side of the Art's Theatre, which also revealed intensive early medieval gravel extraction.

This study was commissioned by Eagle Homes in advance of the residential development of an area between High Street, Church Street and Long Lane Willingham (TL403 702). The project consists of a desktop study of the known and potential archaeology of the area, a total of 2.8ha.

In recent months a programme of archaeological fieldwork has been undertaken by the CAU to evaluate the landscape around ARC's working gravel quarry at Barleycroft Farm, Bluntisham. For the most part, the programme's aim has been to gauge the character and extent of discovered site areas and to determine the nature of any subsequent fieldwork that may be required ahead of extraction in an area covering approximately 90 hectares. So far, 36 hectares have been the subject of both systematic evaluation conducted in trial trenches, test stations and included one open area excavation. This investigation concerns eight hectares of land immediately east of the existing quarry plant site and mineral store, the intention being to extend the plant site into this eastern area for use during future quarry expansion. In summary, elements of a probably Bronze Age field system were seen, principally at both north and south ends of the investigation area and, more importantly, a sub-square enclosure ditch containing ring gullies and pits of a Middle-Late Iron Age settlement right on the margin of the floodplain.

Fieldwork conducted by the C.A.U. between July and November 1994 at an 8.5ha quarry site to the south-east of St. Ives, Cambridgeshire, revealed boundary and settlement-related features of later prehistoric and Roman date sealed by deep alluvial deposits. The site was bisected by former courses or side channels of the River Great Ouse, and had probably been subject to seasonal flooding throughout much of its history. This had a determining influence on the spatial and economic character of land use. The earliest sustained evidence for human activity is provided by a low-level scatter of Neolithic worked flint across the dry margins of the site, and seemingly associated deposits of burnt material in the alluvial fills of the main palaeo-channel. Evidence for large scale land organization, dating to the 1st millennium BC, is provided by two pit alignments running parallel with the western edge of the palaeo-channel for distances of over 110m. The eastern-most alignment was waterlogged for much of its course, and upon excavation produced a rich assemblage of wood (including quantities of hedge trimming debris) and environmental remains. Redefinition of this north-south boundary during the later prehistoric and Roman periods is seen in the repeated digging of ditches upon the same line; providing evidence for considerable landscape continuity. Features belonging to the margins of a Roman settlement, previously investigated in the 1950s, were also excavated.

Locally renowned for the promise of its prehistoric and Roman remains, this is the first systematic investigation within the Barleycroft quarry that had previously only been subject to watching brief cover. The importance of the current programme was, moreover, enhanced by the fact that the extensive traces of prehistoric settlement in the area could provide some element of domestic context for the major prehistoric monuments within the vicinity (e.g. the Willingham/Over barrow field and Haddenham causewayed enclosure). The potential of this fieldwork is all the greater given that the Barleycroft terraces are alluviated and this deep soil cover has ensured a high degree of archaeological survival. This assessment programme, commissioned by ARC Ltd, should not be viewed in isolation. This strip of land conjoins, in the south, the final block of the Barleycroft quarry that runs for 1km east down to the River Ouse (c. 66ha). The c.28 ha. investigated was only broken out from the southern block so as to get �our eye in' and establish appropriate landscape evaluation methodologies before tackling the final portion of the quarry. On the opposite bank of the river, ARC Quarries will shortly start extraction from the Willingham/Over quarry and the aim is to employ the same basic sampling techniques there as at Barleycroft. This will permit us to address, amongst other things, the issue of to what extent the river was a social/territorial divide. In short, to look at both banks and their hinterland using comparable methodologies. Conceived as one very large landscape project, the same variables must be measurable from its beginning to end. In short, these investigations were an attempt to set parameters for later stages of fieldwork - what evaluation techniques work given these buried landscape conditions? Yet, although methodological rigour will be necessary, it is anticipated and hoped that some degree of experimental ethos will continue in subsequent fieldwork in this area.

Between the 6th and 10th January 1995, a recording exercise was undertaken on the South Choir of Ely cathedral (TL542 803) prior to the erection of scaffolding. The recording was carried out by the Cambridge Archaeological Unit on behalf of the Ely Fabrics Commission. This work was to complement and enhance work carried out by Ann Holton, Krayen Buhl and Kate Fern in January and June 1994, respectively.

An archaeological evaluation was undertaken to define the level and intensity of potential archaeological remains associated with either the Roman town of Snettisham, Norfolk , or, more significantly, the nationally important Iron Age precious metal hoard deposits located in an adjacent field. The combination of geophysical survey, trench- and test station-based investigations enabled a thorough analysis of the field to be made but showed only low status archaeological features remaining in extremely plough-damaged terrain. No Iron Age or Romano-British occupation evidence was present whatsoever.

Machine-excavated foundation trenches were investigated as part of a planning requirement ahead of the construction of two small dwellings in Franklin Gardens, Cottenham, by the Papworth Trust. The site (TL 4501/6756) is located on bright orange sand, probably part of the Lower Greensand belt. It lies approximately 50m west of the northwest-southeast aligned High Street among a relatively new housing estate. Previous archaeological work undertaken in Cottenham has given evidence of the Saxon and early Medieval village between 100-200m north of Franklin Gardens and it was anticipated that similar remains may also be encountered in this location. Site visits were made on 10th and 11th May and the foundation trenches duly recorded. No archaeology relating to the early village layout was seen in the foundation trenches of the west building. It appears that this plot has never formed an integral part of the domestic settlement of the village, but has always been part of the field system that would have served it. While no evidence of Medieval - Post-Medieval ridge and furrow cultivation remains were seen, those of much later date were apparent. These remains were aligned perpendicular to the alignment of the High Street, respecting the enclosure boundaries emplaced in the 18th- 20th centuries. Such respect of alignment corroborates the generally late character of the 'furrow' fills and serves to show their low archaeological status.

During preparations for refurbishment of the Jesus College Hall, several wooden panels were removed from the northeast corner of the room. At the request of the Domestic Bursar the C A U put in a team to record a large fireplace revealed in the north wall. The following note is a largely structural discussion based on that recording.

As a result of evaluation fieldwork undertaken during the summer of 1992, in March of the following year a two week-long excavation was conducted on the New Library Site, Jesus College, Cambridge (TL4525/5802). Whilst the initial fieldwork produced intriguing results and raised important issues, they were not felt to be such as to warrant full excavation. Only a sample of the proposed building site was to be further investigated (c. a third). Knowing what we did of its potential, this was to occur within a specific research framework: 1) To retrieve from both College and Nunnery-associated contexts sufficient artefacts and environmental remains to permit the study of the economy and material culture of the site's successive institutions. 2) To excavate a trench down to the Jesus Lane-side-wall in order to investigate, and hopefully date, the layout of that thoroughfare.

Prior to the laying of a new 775m long sewer across the southern margin of Midsummer Common, Cambridge, archaeological investigation was undertaken in six areas scheduled to be subject to ground disturbance through the construction of vertical connecting shafts (spaced at intervals of 20-180m). Crossing an area of a popular recreational ground, the pipe itself is to be tunnel constructed, minimizing any surface impact. Destruction of any archaeological deposits was only expected to occur within the shaft areas (each 4-5m in diameter), which being 11m deep would obviously totally destroy any underlying remains. The work was undertaken over one day in early July by staff of the Cambridge Archaeological Unit on behalf of Cambridge City Council Engineers.

An archaeological assessment was carried out in the centre of Willingham, in advance of a proposed housing development. A desktop study suggested that, although remains were not specifically evident on the site, the richness of the surrounding area and the slightly raised location might indicate the potential of survival of material from the prehistoric period onwards. The assessment revealed no prehistoric or Roman material. In the central area intensive evidence was revealed of early to middle Saxon settlement, which did not relate to the later street layout. Little medieval material was found in the central area, but there was extensive evidence of small scale medieval and post-medieval gravel extraction in what has remained a marginal area of the village for many centuries.