Towns in the dark? : urban transformations from late Roman Britain to Anglo-Saxon England

What became of towns following the official end of ‘Roman Britain’ at the beginning of the 5th century AD? Did towns fail? Were these ruinous sites really neglected by early Anglo-Saxon settlers and leaders? Developed new archaeologies are starting to offer alternative pictures to the traditional images of urban decay and loss revealing diverse modes of material expression, of usage of space, and of structural change. The focus of this book is to draw together still scattered data to chart and interpret the changing nature of life in towns from the late Roman period through to the mid-Anglo-Saxon period. The research centres on towns that have received sufficient archaeological intervention so that meaningful patterns can be traced. The case studies are arranged into three regional areas: the South-East, South-West, and Midlands. Individually each town contains varying levels of archaeological data, but analysed together these illustrate more clearly patterns of evolution. Much of the data exists as accessible but largely unpublished reports, or isolated within regional discussions. Detailed analysis, review and comparisons generate significant scope for modelling ‘urban’ change in England from AD 300-600. ‘Towns in the Dark’ dispels the simplistic myth of outright urban decline and failure after Rome, and demonstrates that life in towns often did continue with variable degrees of continuity and discontinuity. Cover 1 Title Page 3 Copyright Page 4 Contents 5 List of Figures and Tables 9 Acknowledgements 12 Preface 13 Figure 1: Case study towns and regions. The South-East (London, Canterbury, Colchester); the South-West (Cirencester, Silchester, Winchester); the Midlands (Leicester, Lincoln, Wroxeter). Other major towns shaded. 22 Figure 2: Roman towns in South-East Britain (drawn by author) 32 Figure 3: Location of the key excavations in London (drawn by author, updated from Watson 1998a: fig.3) 34 Figure 4: Archaeological evidence from 4th-century London (drawn by author, updated from Perring 1991; Wacher 1995; Watson 1998a: 3) 35 Figure 5: View of a large fragment of upstanding Roman town wall in London (photo by author) 36 Figure 6: A large aisled building at Colchester House, London. Note the actual archaeological remains (shaded) compared to the substantial conjecture (redrawn by author, after Sankey 1998: 79) 37 Figure 7: A thick deposit of dark earth, overlying London amphitheatre’s arena wall 38 Figure 8: 5th- to 6th-century sites in the region of London (drawn by author, updated from Clark and Sheldon 2008: 52, fig.1.7.1) 40 Figure 9: Roman London in relation to Mid-Saxon Lundenwic. Major Roman roads indicated (drawn by author, updated from Rowsome 2000: 48) 41 Figure 10: Key excavations in Colchester (drawn by author, updated from Crummy 1992: 2) 42 Figure 11: 4th-century Colchester (drawn by author, updated from Crummy 1997: 114) 43 Figure 12: Plan showing change from a 3rd-century townhouse to a 4th-century barn, Colchester Insula 35 (drawn by author, modified from Crummy 1992: fig.3.7 and 3.8) 45 Figure 13: Longevity of 4th-century private housing in Colchester (27 buildings), see Table 15 for full details 46 Figure 14: 5th- to 7th-century settlement evidence within Colchester (drawn by author, based on data from Colchester UAD and Crummy 1981: fig.2) 48 Figure 15: Early Anglo-Saxon activity in the region of Colchester in relation to former Roman towns (drawn by author, data from Essex HER; Rodwell 1988; and Baker 2001) 49 Figure 16: Key excavations in Canterbury (drawn by author) 51 Figure 17: 4th-century Canterbury (drawn by author, updated from Blockley et al. 1995: fig.2) 52 Figure 18: Plan showing structural sequence at Marlowe Car Park, Canterbury. The grey shaded features are Sunken-Featured Buildings (redrawn by author, after Blockley et al. 1995: 171) 54 Figure 19: Archaeological evidence of 5th- to 6th-century Canterbury (drawn by author, updated from Blockley et al. 1995: fig.2) 55 Figure 20: ‘Family’ burial in Stour Street, Canterbury (copyright Canterbury Archaeological Trust) 56 Figure 21: Early Anglo-Saxon activity compared to former Roman urban sites in Kent (drawn by author, data from Kent HER; and Welsh 2007: 197) 57 Figure 22: Case studies and settlement types in South-West Britain (drawn by author) 59 Figure 23: Key excavations in Cirencester (drawn by author) 61 Figure 24: 4th-century Cirencester (drawn by author, updated from Holbrook 2008: 30) 62 Figure 25: Reused stone blocks within the foundations of an external bastion in the south-east corner of the defences at Cirencester (reproduced with permission from Neil Holbrook, from Wacher and Salvatore 1998: 58, fig.31) 63 Figure 26: A rubble building platform within the ruinous Insula VI public building at Cirencester (reproduced with permission from Neil Holbrook, from Timby et al. 1998:136) 63 Figure 28: A row of 4th-century shops at Cirencester, near to the macellum 64 Figure 29: Longevity of 4th-century private housing in Cirencester (19 buildings, see Table 13 for full details) 64 Figure 30: Possible farm buildings in Insulae X and XII at Cirencester 65 Figure 31: 5th- to 7th-century settlement evidence in Cirencester (drawn by author) 67 Figure 32: Plan showing location of major excavations in Winchester 69 Figure 33: 4th-century Winchester (drawn by author, after Biddle and Kjølbye-Biddle 2007: fig.1) 70 Figure 34: Longevity of 4th-century private housing in Winchester (23 buildings – see Table 25 for full details) 71 Figure 35: 4th-century townhouses at The Brooks, Winchester (drawn by author, modified from Zant 1993: 84, fig.66) 71 Figure 36: Plan showing changes to the Roman South Gate, Winchester 73 Figure 37: 5th- and 6th-century settlement evidence in Winchester. 74 Figure 38: Key excavations in Silchester (drawn by author) 76 Figure 39: View of the large open-area excavations in Insula IX in 2008 (photo by author) 76 Figure 40: 4th-century Silchester (drawn by author, updated from Fulford 2002: 2-3) 77 Figure 41: View of Silchester’s well-preserved town walls (photo by author) 78 Figure 42: 4th- and 5th-century reuse of the basilica at Silchester 79 Figure 43: Reconstruction view of Insula IX buildings, Silchester (illustration by Margaret Mathews, courtesy of Michael Fulford, reproduced with permission from The Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies) 80 Figure 44: 4th-century buildings within Insula IX at Silchester 80 Figure 45: Possible Late Roman church at Silchester (drawn by author, adapted from Boon 1974: 174, fig.28) 81 Figure 46: 5th- to 6th-century evidence from Silchester (drawn by author, after Fulford 2012b: 334) 83 Figure 47: Case study towns in the Midlands (drawn by author) 85 Figure 48: Location of major excavations in Leicester (drawn by author) 86 Figure 49: 4th-century Leicester (drawn by author, data from ULAS) 87 Figure 50: Longevity of 4th-century private housing in Leicester (23 buildings). 89 Figure 51: Hearths cutting into the edge of a Roman street. From excavations in 2006 at Freeschool Lane, Leicester (Coward and Speed 2009: 31) 90 Figure 52: Transition from townhouse to workshops at Vine Street, Leicester (adapted from Higgins et al. 2009) 91 Figure 53: Late Roman and early Anglo-Saxon sequence at Freeschool Lane, Leicester (drawn by author) 92 Figure 54: An Anglo-Saxon building constructed within a collapsed Roman wall, Freeschool Lane, Leicester (Coward and Speed 2009: 43) 94 Figure 55: 5th- to7th-century settlement evidence within Leicester (drawn by author, data from Leicester UAD and ULAS unpublished sources) 95 Figure 56: Quantities of Anglo-Saxon pottery found compared to locations of Anglo-Saxon buildings in Leicester (drawn by author) 96 Figure 57: Early Anglo-Saxon activity in Leicestershire in relation to former Roman towns and roads (drawn by author, updated from Liddle 2004: fig.1; Knox 2004: fig.1; and ULAS unpublished sources) 97 Figure 58: View (from west) of Jewry wall, an upstanding wall of the Roman baths. Immediately behind is the late Anglo-Saxon church of St. Nicholas (photo by author) 98 Figure 59: Excavations within Lincoln. Sites mentioned in the text numbered 99 Figure 60: 4th-century Lincoln (drawn by author, after Jones et al. 2003: 131) 100 Figure 61: The Lower City West Gate at Lincoln, containing spolia reused in the town wall and towers (photo by author). 101 Figure 62: The large basilican building in the Lower City, Lincoln (drawn by author, modified from Jones 2003: 89) 102 Figure 63: The 4th-century (top) and 7th-century (bottom) churches and associated burials (shaded grey) within the forum piazza at Lincoln (drawn by author, modified from Jones 2003: 128, and Gilmour 2007: 234) 103 Figure 64: 5th- and 6th-century evidence from Lincoln (drawn by author, after Vince 2003: 146) 104 Figure 65: 5th- and 6th-century evidence in Lincolnshire (drawn by author, updated from Vince 2003: 142; Leachy 2007: 11; and data from Lincolnshire HER) 105 Figure 66: A view of the ‘Old Work’, the Roman baths building at Wroxeter (photo by author) 107 Figure 67: Modern Wroxeter and location of key excavations (drawn by author) 108 Figure 68: Late Roman town of Wroxeter, showing key structures, undated masonry structures from geophysical surveys (shaded), and possible activity zones (drawn by author, updated from Barker and White 1998: 77 and Gaffney et al. 2000: 84) 109 Figure 69: Changes to Wroxeter’s town defences – early phase (top) and 4th-century phase (bottom) (drawn by author, after White and Barker 1998: 99) 110 Figure 70: The change from 4th-century baths-basilica to 5th- and 6th-century timber housing at Wroxeter. Grey shaded areas denotes a timber structure (drawn by author, modified from Barker et al. 1997: 124 and Ellis 2000: fig.2.7) 111 Figure 71: The rubble platform of Building 10 in the former baths-basilica, Wroxeter. The plan of the building is marked out by the ranging poles (image courtesy and copyright of Philip Barker and Roger White) 112 Figure 72: 4th-century Britain with new provinces, capitals indicated (after Mann 1998: 340; White 2007: 37). 117 Table 5: Summary of historical events influencing town defence modifications and army movements 118 Figure 73: Towns with modified defences and active 4th-century forts in Roman Britain 121 Figure 74: A blocked town gate at Caerwent 122 Figure 75: An external projecting tower of the late 3rd century at the town of Caistor-by-Norwich, 125 Figure 76: External projecting towers at the Saxon Shore Fort of Burgh Castle, Norfolk, built AD 280-300 (photo by author) 125 Figure 77: Timeline showing when fora-basilicae were remodelled or reused 126 Figure 78: Timeline showing when theatres or amphitheatres were reused 128 Figure 79: Development sequence of a building in Insula XXVII at Verulamium, showing transition from townhouse to barn (drawn by author, updated from Frere 1983: 215, fig.82) 130 Figure 80: The large 4th-century public baths at Arles, France (photo by author) 134 Figure 81: Detailed view of Barcelona’s 4th-century town defences; extensive reused material is clearly visible in both tower (to right) and main wall 135 Figure 82: Possible reduced settlement foci in 5th- to 6th-century Canterbury, Colchester, and Leicester (clockwise from top left) compared to their former Roman urban cores. Black-shaded areas denote areas of principal Roman public buildings; grey-shaded 142 Figure 84: Reconstruction of an ‘Anglo-Saxon’ SFB (left) and a post-hole timber-framed building (right) at West Stow, Suffolk (photos by author) 145 Figure 85: Known kingdoms in south Britain c. AD 600. It is probable that many more smaller sub-kingdoms existed that we know nothing about. Former Roman towns with early bishops are shown as black dots 148 Figure 86: Summarised settlement forms in Roman towns from AD 300 to 600 150 Figure 87: Nature of 5th- and 6th- century settlement within former Roman towns, in AD 450 (left, 28 towns) and AD 600 (right, 23 towns) 151 Figure 88: Overall urban trajectories in the mid-5th century AD 152 Figure 89: Overall urban trajectories by AD 600 153 Figure 90: A cultural and ethnic divide in 5th- and 6th-century Britain? 154 Figure 91: Contemporary settlements, yet worlds apart? Reconstruction views of 5th- to 6th-century Canterbury (top) showing small timber housing scattered amongst ruinous Roman structures (copyright Canterbury Archaeological Trust), contrast greatly with 155 Table 11: Canterbury: 4th-century settlement evidence 158 Table 12: Canterbury: 5th- to 6th-century settlement evidence 160 Table 13: Cirencester: 4th-century settlement evidence 162 Table 14: Cirencester: 5th- to 6th-century settlement evidence 164 Table 15: Colchester: 4th-century settlement evidence 165 Table 16: Colchester: 5th- to 6th-century settlement evidence 168 Table 17: Leicester: 4th-century settlement evidence 169 Towns in the Dark? 3 Urban transformations 3 from Late Roman Britain to Anglo-Saxon England 3 Contents 5 List of Figures and Tables 9 Acknowledgements 12 Preface 13 1.1 Research Background 15 Chapter 1: 15 Introduction and Methodology 15 1.2 Research Aims and Questions 17 1.3 Structure of the Book 18 1.4 Data Sources 19 Written Sources 19 Archaeological Evidence 20 Dating Activity: Closing the Material Culture Gap 21 1.5 Methodology 23 Study Period: Definitions and Labels 23 Study Zones 23 Modelling and Plotting Life in Towns using GIS 23 2.1 Introduction 25 2.2 Early Pioneers: Haverfield, Wheeler, and Collingwood 25 Chapter 2: 25 A Review of Debate on Romano-British Towns, AD 300 – 600 25 2.3 The Urban Archaeology of Frere, Wacher, and Biddle 26 2.4 Divergent Views and Romanisation 27 2.5 Polarised Visions: Dark and Faulkner 28 2.6 New Century: New Viewpoints? 30 Sadly, there is quite often a failing by established scholars to fully utilise newer excavation results from grey-literature sources (e.g. Wacher, Mattingly, Esmonde Cleary, Faulkner). There are exceptions (notably White, Jones, Dark, and Ottaway), howeve 31 2.7 The Future 31 3.1 Introduction 32 Chapter 3: Urban Sequences in the South-East 32 3.2 London 33 The Archaeological Resource 33 Origins and Development 33 The 4th Century 34 Town Defences 35 Public Structures 36 Housing 36 Soils and Space 37 Religious Structures and Burials 38 The Urban Hinterland 39 The 5th and 6th Centuries 39 The Early 7th Century 40 Altering Settlement Forms: London AD 300-600 41 3.3 Colchester 41 The Archaeological Resource 41 Origins and Development 42 The 4th Century 43 Town Defences 43 Public Structures 44 Housing 44 Soils and Space 46 Religious Structures and Burials 46 The Urban Hinterland 47 The 5th and 6th Centuries 47 The Early 7th Century 50 Altering Settlement Forms: Colchester AD 300-600 50 3.4 Canterbury 50 The Archaeological Resource 50 Origins and Development 51 The 4th Century 52 Town Defences 52 Public Structures 53 Housing 53 Soils and Space 53 Religious Structures and Burials 53 The 5th and 6th Centuries 54 Altering Settlement Forms: Canterbury AD 300-600 57 3.5 Summary 57 4.1 Introduction 59 Chapter 4: Urban Sequences in the South-West 59 4.2 Cirencester 60 The Archaeological Resource 60 Origins and Development 60 The 4th Century 60 Town Defences 60 Public Buildings 61 Housing 63 Soils and Space 65 Religious Structures and Burials 65 The 5th and 6th Centuries 66 The Early 7th Century 66 Altering Settlement Forms: Cirencester AD 300-600 66 4.3 Winchester 68 The Archaeological Resource 68 Origins and Development 68 The 4th Century 68 Town Defences 68 Public Buildings 68 Housing 69 Soils and Space 72 Religious Structures and Burials 72 The 5th and 6th Centuries 72 The Early 7th Century 75 Altering Settlement Forms: Winchester AD 300-600 75 4.4 Silchester 75 The Archaeological Resource 75 Origins and Development 77 The 4th Century 77 Town Defences 77 Public Buildings 77 Private Buildings 79 Soils and Space 81 Religious Structures and Burials 81 The 5th and 6th Centuries 82 The Early 7th Century 82 Altering Settlement Forms: Silchester AD 300 - 600 82 4.5 Summary 83 5.1 Introduction 85 Chapter 5: Urban Sequences in the Midlands 85 5.2 Leicester 86 The Archaeological Resource 86 Origins and Development 87 The 4th Century 87 Town Defences 87 Public Structures 88 Housing 88 Soils and Space 89 Religious Structures and Burials 90 The 5th and 6th Centuries 93 The Early 7th Century 94 Altering Settlement Forms: Leicester AD 300 - 600 98 5.3 Lincoln 98 The Archaeological Resource 98 Origins and Development 101 The 4th Century 101 Town Defences 101 Public Structures 101 Housing 102 Soils and Space 102 Religious Structures and Burials 103 The 5th and 6th Centuries 103 The Early 7th Century 106 Altering Settlement Forms: Lincoln AD 300-600 106 5.4 Wroxeter 106 The Archaeological Resource 106 Origins and Development 107 The 4th Century 108 Town Defences 108 Public Structures 109 Housing 109 Religious Structures and Burials 110 The 5th and 6th Centuries 110 The Early 7th Century 112 Altering Settlement Forms: Wroxeter AD 300 - 600 112 5.5 Summary 112 6.1 Introduction 114 6.2 Defining Late Romano-British Urbanism 114 Roman Urbanism 114 Chapter 6: Questioning Towns in Late Roman Britain: Forms, Functions, and FailingsForms, Functions, and Failings 114 Late Romano-British Urbanism 115 6.3 Urban Roles and Authorities: Controls and Taxation 116 The State 116 The Military 117 Army Reforms, Conspiracies, and Usurpers 117 Defending Britannia: Towns and Forts 118 Late Roman Buckles, Belts and Darts: An Urban Militarisation? 118 The Church 119 Historical Background 119 Urban Christians 119 Rural and Military Christians 120 Summary: Who Controls the Town? 120 6.4 Monumental or Ruinous? Changing Public Services 121 Renewed Defences: Spolia and Bastions 122 Repairs, Additions, and Closures 122 External Bastions: When, Where, Why? 124 Remodelled Civic Cores 124 Reduced Leisure Services 127 Pagan Practices Persisting? 128 Summary: Reduction and Reuse 129 6.5 Population Profiles: Town and Country 129 Townhouse Reuse: Technology, Industry and Agriculture? 129 A Rural Revival? 131 6.6 Provincial Urbanisms: Beyond Britannia 133 Gaul and Germany 133 Spain 133 A North-Western 4th-Century Urbanism? 135 6.7 Summary: Town Life at the End of Roman Britain 135 Chapter 7: Towns as Settlements, or as Symbols of the Past? 136 7.1 Introduction 136 7.2 Models of Change I: Sub-Roman ‘Urbanism’ 136 Chapter 8: Stepping out from the Dark: Conclusions and Directions 150 8.1 Introduction 150 8.2 Defining Urban Transformations: AD 300 - 600 150 8.3 Debating Urban Transformations: East and West, Worlds Together or Worlds Apart? 151 8.4 Research Achievements 156 8.5 Remaining Issues 156 8.6 New Routes, Research, and Directions 156 8.7 Concluding Remarks: What is New? 157 Appendix 1: Case Studies Data 158 Appendices 158 Appendix 2: Additional Data 184 Bibliography 187 ;,Late,Roman,Britain;,towns;,Anglo-Saxon,England Late Roman Britain,towns,Anglo-Saxon England Ch. 1 Introduction And Methodology -- Ch. 2 A Review Of Debate On Romano-british Towns, Ad 300 -- 600 -- Ch. 3 Urban Sequences In The South-east -- Ch. 4 Urban Sequences In The South-west -- Ch. 5 Urban Sequences In The Midlands -- Ch. 6 Questioning Towns In Late Roman Britain: Forms, Functions, And Failings -- Ch. 7 Towns As Settlements, Or As Symbols Of The Past? 5th- And 6th- Century England -- Ch. 8 Stepping Out From The Dark: Conclusions And Directions. Gavin Speed. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 173-192).