The Archaeology of Britain: An introduction from ... - waughfamily.ca
The Archaeology of Britain: An introduction from ... - waughfamily.ca
The Archaeology of Britain: An introduction from ... - waughfamily.ca
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Middle Ages: towns<br />
• 213 •<br />
rural places, or than towns in previous centuries. <strong>Archaeology</strong> gives more depth on individual<br />
sites, while documentary study is wider and is effective at the level <strong>of</strong> larger units such as street or<br />
town. Engravings (for example, Figure 12.1) and other drawings by antiquaries <strong>of</strong> the eighteenth<br />
and nineteenth centuries are <strong>of</strong>ten useful for reconstructing lost or destroyed medieval buildings<br />
in many towns.<br />
CHANGING PERCEPTIONS SINCE THE SECOND WORLD WAR<br />
In the first half <strong>of</strong> the twentieth century in <strong>Britain</strong>, urban history studies were dominated by a<br />
concern exclusively with constitutions and institutions; there was no attempt to think <strong>of</strong> towns as<br />
actual places. Urban archaeology in <strong>Britain</strong> began immediately after the last war in the bombdamaged<br />
cellars <strong>of</strong> London, Canterbury and a small number <strong>of</strong> other towns, where medieval<br />
buildings and monuments had suffered destruction along with those <strong>of</strong> more recent centuries<br />
(Grimes 1968).<br />
By the end <strong>of</strong> the 1960s, many archaeologists were concerned about the destruction <strong>of</strong> physi<strong>ca</strong>l<br />
evidence for <strong>Britain</strong>’s history in towns. This resulted in the survey <strong>The</strong> Erosion <strong>of</strong> History (Heighway<br />
1972), which drew attention to the ‘crisis in urban archaeology’. It argued that the most important<br />
English towns <strong>of</strong> all histori<strong>ca</strong>l periods would be lost to archaeology in 20 years, if not before;<br />
half <strong>of</strong> the 906 historic towns remaining in mainland <strong>Britain</strong> were threatened with some sort <strong>of</strong><br />
development, 159 <strong>of</strong> them seriously.<br />
During the 1970s and early 1980s, archaeologists widened the debate and scope <strong>of</strong> their activities<br />
<strong>from</strong> being purely reactive to formulating strategic plans for individual towns (e.g. Carver 1980<br />
on Worcester). In the 1970s, the practice <strong>of</strong> asking every developer to pay for dealing with the<br />
archaeology <strong>of</strong> his site in an appropriate way spread <strong>from</strong> London and the larger cities to a more<br />
general use everywhere (Sch<strong>of</strong>ield and Vince 1994). Since 1990, government policy has been to<br />
insist on preservation <strong>of</strong> historic strata wherever possible, and rescue archaeology has diminished.<br />
At the same time, the urban archaeologists have been digesting the vast haul <strong>of</strong> information <strong>from</strong><br />
the last 30 years <strong>of</strong> rescue work, and new perceptions <strong>of</strong> the medieval town and what went on in<br />
it are being formed.<br />
KEY DATA: SITES AND ASSEMBLAGES<br />
This chapter will briefly outline some <strong>of</strong> the recent thinking and discoveries concerning planned<br />
towns and planned parts <strong>of</strong> towns; urban defences; streets, markets and public buildings; suburbs<br />
and the waterfront areas <strong>of</strong> towns; houses and buildings on the domestic s<strong>ca</strong>le; evidence <strong>of</strong><br />
manufacture and crafts; and the medieval urban environment. Castles, monasteries, and churches<br />
in towns are dealt with in the following chapter.<br />
Planned towns and planned parts <strong>of</strong> towns<br />
From the modern street-plan <strong>of</strong> towns, or <strong>from</strong> maps showing their former state, we <strong>ca</strong>n identify<br />
certain layouts that were shared by new towns and by planned extensions to existing (pre-medieval)<br />
settlements. Three main variants have been identified. Firstly, in a small number <strong>of</strong> towns there is<br />
clear evidence <strong>of</strong> planning. A chequerboard pattern formed by at least four streets and nine<br />
squares is found rarely (Salisbury or Winchelsea) and must always have been exceptional. Ludlow,<br />
which now comprises a grid <strong>of</strong> streets, probably grew in a series <strong>of</strong> stages (Platt 1976, 38–44). A<br />
second grid-plan produced a ladder-like effect with two main streets in parallel (e.g. New Shoreham,<br />
Melcombe Regis). Thirdly, particularly in the years up to 1200, an urban <strong>ca</strong>stle might dominate<br />
the town plan to the extent <strong>of</strong> making it circular or D-shaped, following the <strong>ca</strong>stle’s outer defences<br />
(Barnstaple, Pleshey).