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~ NEWS ~

Here are some interesting things that have happened in GADARG's area, are happening now, or will be in the not too distant future.

CIVIL WAR DAY SCHOOL AT GLOUCESTER FOLK MUSEUM. - This looks like a very good day - organised by the Stroud Branch of WEA.

Saturday 19th May 2012, starting at 10.30am.

  • 10.45 to 11.30: Speaker 1. Alan Turton: The Social Daily Life of The Seventeeth Century Soldier. Alan is a military historian, who specialises in the English Civil War and the period up to the mid-18th century. From 1987-2011 he was the curator of the English Civil War site of Basing House, Hampshire. Basing House is the ruin of a largely Tudor House which underwent the longest siege of the English Civil War, and was once the largest private house in Tudor England and comparable to Hampton Court Palace.
  • 11.45 to 12.30: Speaker 2. Roger Emmerson: Dorset in the English Civil War 1642-1646
  • 1 Hour lunch break food at extra cost is available from Folk Museum Cafe.
  • 1.30 to 2.15: Speaker 3. Pat Poppy: Dressing the part "300 years of womens clothing". A talk about the clothing worn by women, illustrated by dressing as a woman of about 1750, and discussing the clothes and how they changed over the period from about 1600 to 1900. There will be both reproductions and some Victorian originals to handle.
  • 2.30 to 3.00: Speaker 4. Roger Emmerson: Artillery at the Siege of Gloucester. With actual cannon balls from the museum collection on display to handle.
  • 3.15 to 4.00: Session 5. Siege of Gloucester Artifacts from the Museum collection and Arms and armour from the Stow on the Wold Collection, with the Actual mens shoe from Southgate Street.
Cost for the day is £15 per person payable on the day. Food extra. For further details please email Christopher King at c.c.p.k@btinternet.com

EXCAVATIONS AT DEERHURST CHURCH - GADARG members have taken part in an excavation in the south west corner of St Mary's church, Deerhurst. The excavation was directed by Carolyn Heighway, Richard Bryant and Michael Hare. For a fuller account please click.

REVIEW OF GCCAS - As a result of a review of Gloucestershire's Archaeology Service, the core team of 6, funded by the County and District Councils, will be reduced to 5 towards the end of the financial year 2012-13. Fieldwork undertaken in connection with development will cease early in 2013-13, and other archaeological projects that are externally funded will be completed over a two year period. No new projects will be undertaken.

The implications of this are radical and disturbing. The current team of 20 will be reduced to 5, which will result in a massive reduction of archaeological surveying and educational projects. The County will also no longer benefit from funding available from English Heritage and Heritage Lottery Fund etc. GADARG members are being urged to contact their County Coucellors.

GLEVENSIS - Issue 43 of GADARG's annual journal is available. This issue contains the usual wide selection of reports and articles on local history and archaeology.

Click GLEVENSIS on the left for background information on the journal and for a the full Contents List of this issue - and of past copies.

ANGLO-SAXON HALL FOUND IN THE CHELTENHAM AREA - A previously unknown Anglo-Saxon settlment has been discovered in the Hester's Way district of Cheltenham. Cotswold Archaeology has been involved in monitoring the construction of the All Saints' Academy. Further work has revealed ditches, burials and a spectacular timber hall measuring 11m by 6m, which included a cellar. A pit containing large pieces of Anglo-Saxon pottery dating to a period between the 5th and 8th centuries AD, was discovered.

"GADARG'S "SEEING THROUGH THE TREES" PROJECT - A report has now been put togother describing the eight site investigations carried out since May last year, based on the LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging), data produced by Cranham Local History Society's survey in 2008. The project was made possible by a generous grant awarded to GADARG under the National Lottery "Awards for All" scheme, enabling us to meet all the costs of producing the LiDAR images, printing the report and purchasing a range of surveying and other supporting equipment. The report was presented to 'Awards for All' at the end of August. Copies of the report covering the first year's works has been distributed to GADARG members as a Glevensis-style monograph publication.

[Seeing through the Trees]

Over the first year of the project, 69 people were variously involved in its activities. Of this number, 36 were GADARG members, 9 were new to the Group, 9 were from several different local history societies and there were representives from the National Trust and Gloucestershire County Council Archaeology Service.

LIDAR is an air-borne laser technology that uses laser beams to detect and measure accurately physical features on the ground, even those obscured by trees and undergrowth. Ancient earthworks, burial mounds and habitation sites, roadways and even Civil War emplacements are just some of the features than can potentially be revealed in this way.

The grant will pay for the raw LIDAR data to be processed (by the County Archaeological Service), for the equipment needed to assess the evidence on the ground and to provide training for volunteers. The project will provide opportunities for hands-on experience in interpreting the LIDAR images and recognising and recording potentially interesting sites on the ground through a range of activities such as field-walking, geophysics and earthwork surveying and, for those less keen on the outdoor aspects, through documentary research. Training and supervision will be provided in all the techniques required.

[Lidar logo]

Anyone interested in being part of this new and exciting initiative and wishing more information is invited to contact either Tony Roberts at the County Archaeological Service (on 01452 425705) or Ann Maxwell (on 01386 751662).

[Image Llanthony Secunda]
LLANTHONY SECUNDA - A trust has been set up to safeguard the Llanthony Priory site and in order to further this the City will in effect pay for the first three years of its operation while the Trust sets up a security and essential maintenance regime. The site has now been securely fenced and security is being provided by the Gloucestershire College, who's students now can use the land. Last year was the second year of operation of the trust and was essentially a of consolidation, putting in place fundamental elements that will ultimately inform the long term plans for the site.

Key highlights include:-

  • Completion of a full condition survey.
  • Completion of a bio-diversity study.
  • Provision of seating around the Tithe Barn and clearance of grounds.
  • Completion of Conservation Management Plan.
  • Delivery of heritage skills training.
  • Visit by the Queen and Prince Philip.
  • Securing of funds from Gloucestershire Environmental Trust.
The Trustees currently are, Julian Baxter, Estates Dir. Glos. College; Dr. Bob. Bewley, Heritage Lottery Fund; Gill Drummond, English Heritage; Sir Henry Elwes, KCVO, Lord Lieutenant of Gloucestershire; John Rhodes (President of GADARG); Philip Staddon, Dir. of Regeneration, Gloucester City Council; Martyn White, Councillor, Gloucester City Council; Jeremy Williamson, Vice Principal, Glos. College.

UNPUBLISHED EXCAVATIONS -The Committee for Archaeology in Gloucestershire first compiled a list of unpublished excavations in 1987. Since then many of these sites have been reported on, however many still remain unpublished and the backlog is increasing. The Committee is deeply concerned by this, as is its parent body the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society. None of the seventeen post-1974 Gloucester excavations, acknowledged as needing publication, have yet been published. Gloucester Historic Environment officers have acknowledged the problem and, having reviewed the need with representatives from GADARG and BGAS, found funds to employ an officer to join the team to look into the documentation of these past museum excavations. CAG is now compiling an even more comprehensive list for the county as a whole, and is exploring what can be done.

[Engraving of Tanner's Hall]

TANNERS' HALL - Gloucestershire County Council has sold the remains of the Tanners' Guildhall. Gloucester's oldest secular building, the ancient hall, which dates from the 13th century, was used as a meeting place by the guild of leather tanners, one of the city's earliest craft guilds.

Originally thought to be on the site of Sainsbury's food store in Hare Lane, the hall was discovered in 1976 during a search through the city's records. It is clear that the building went through many structural phases in the last couple of centuries, now the slight remains are in urgent need of TLC. This ancient monument is of prime concern to Gloucester Historic Buildings Ltd, the joint City and Gloucester Civic Trust's charitable building preservation company. It is to be hoped that the new owners will be able to produce a suitable scheme to secure a future for this important structure.

GLOUCESTER HERITAGE URBAN REGENERATION COMPANY (GHURC) - In October 2006, the Company unveiled its plans for the regeneration of seven central areas of the city. Foremost amongst these areas are the Brunswick Road GlosCat sites and the adjacent Greyfriars area, King's Square (including the site of the Whitefriars - under the bus station) and the south-west quadrant of the city centred on Blackfrairs.

[Illustration of Blackfrairs Priory]

Blackfriars - construction of a Language Centre - Gloucester has waited many years to see a planning application that addresses the question of what to do with the most complete Dominican Friary in England. It is second only to the Cathedral in terms of the list of ancient ecclesiastical buildings in the city. It is a monument of national and international importance and vital to the promotion of Gloucester as one of the ten most historic cities in England. There is general support of an overall aim of providing a new educational facility which will compliment the unique setting of Black Friars. The Gloucestershire County Council has now approved its plans for the Language Centre and for the considerate re-use of the medieval structures.

Greyfriars - is already causing archaeological concern because of the importance of this key area within the fortress and Colonia. The City Planning Department have completed consultations on the design brief for the whole of the area, and the developers' proposals for the site are expected later in the year. On the opposite side of Brunswick Road, the plans being developed will impinge on the site of first century pottery kilns and a Roman cemetery.

Both the city and county archaeologists are officially involved in GHURC's deliberations of the archaeological implications of redevelopment. One of their principal aims is to ensure that the development planning process pays enough attention to archaeological concerns and to convince the company that this is in the public interest. Local independent bodies generally agree that it is important to formally involve external specialist expertise, as well as local knowledgeable individuals, in any archaeological discussions.