Archaeological Desk-Based Assessment of land adjacent to Barrow Park, Cheddar, Somerset

▼▼

on behalf of

Linden Homes Western

DEY Young MA

Avon Archaeological Unit Bristol: July 2009

Limited

Land adjacent to Barrow Park, Cheddar, Somerset Archaeological Desk-Based Assessment

Figure 1

Site Location Plans and maps based on the Ordnance Survey sheets are reproduced with the permission of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office

N CHEDDAR



ST 53

ST 45

Scale 1:25,000

Ordnance Survey ‚ Crown copyright 2004 All rights reserved. Licence Number AL 100005802

Avon Archaeological Unit Limited July 2009

Land adjacent to Barrow Park, Cheddar, Somerset Archaeological Desk-Based Assessment

Figure 2

Location of the Study Area Approximate boundary of the study area outlined in red Plans and maps based on the Ordnance Survey sheets are reproduced with the permission of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office

N

NGR ST 453538

Scale 1:1250

Ordnance Survey ‚ Crown copyright 2009 All rights reserved. Licence Number AL 100005802

Avon Archaeological Unit Limited July 2009

Archaeological Desk-Based Assessment of land adjacent to Barrow Park, Cheddar, Somerset NGR ST45365384

on behalf of Linden Homes Western

Donna E.Y. Young MA July 2009

Avon Archaeological Unit Limited Avondale Business centre Woodland Way Kingswood Bristol BS15 1AW

Land adjacent to Barrow Park, Cheddar, Somerset Archaeological Desk-Based Assessment

Avon Archaeological Unit Limited July 2009 2

Land adjacent to Barrow Park, Cheddar, Somerset Archaeological Desk-Based Assessment

CONTENTS ABSTRACT ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS NOTE COPYRIGHT ABBREVIATIONS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

INTRODUCTION METHODOLOGY GEOLOGY, TOPOGRAPHY AND CURRENT LAND USE SITE VISIT HISTORICAL BACKGROUND ARCHAEOLOGICAL BACKGROUND AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHIC SURVEY SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES

APPENDIX 1 APPENDIX 2

Extract from the Somerset Historic Environment Record Aerial photographs viewed at the English Heritage National Monuments Record, Swindon

FIGURES Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 5 Figure 6 Figure 7 Figure 8 Figure 9 Figure 10 Figure 11 Figure 12 Figure 13 Figure 14

Site Location, scale 1: 25,000 Location of the Study Area, scale 1: 1250 Extract from the 1801 Plan of Cheddar Inclosure in the County of Somerset, not to scale Extract from the 1837 Map of the Parish of Cheddar, not to scale Extract from the 1839 Tithe Map of Cheddar and an undated plan of the same, not to scale Extract from the 1884-87 County Series 1st Edition Ordnance Survey Plan of Cheddar Sheet XXVII.1, not to scale Extract from the 1903 2nd Edition Ordnance Survey Plan – Sheet XXVII.1, not to scale Extract from the 1932 Ordnance Survey Plan - Sheet XXVII NW, not to scale Extract from the 1951 Ordnance Survey Plan – Sheet ST45, not to scale Extract from the 1977 Ordnance Survey Plan - Sheet ST4553, not to scale Annotated Extract from June 1st 1950 Aerial Photograph RAF/541/540 Frame 4088, not to scale Annotated Extract from April 17th 1971 Aerial Photograph OS/71082 Frame 250, not to scale th Annotated Extract from April 26 1976 Aerial Photograph OS/76040 Frame 75, not to scale th Annotated Extract from April 8 1989 Aerial Photograph OS/89071 Frame 100, not to scale

PLATES Cover

Oblique aerial view from the southwest of Cheddar taken on September 7th, 2006, with the location of the study area indicated – Sortie NMR 24323, Frame 26, reproduced with the permission of the English Heritage National Monuments Record, Swindon

Plate 1

The site access via Barrow Park, formerly part of the front garden of the adjacent property, Easdale, at the end of the cul-de-sac, viewed from the southwest Plot A, recently felled timber lying on the rough grass at the northwest end, viewed from the southeast Plot A, one of the surviving mature fruit trees in the central zone, possibly part of a former orchard, viewed from the north Plot A, the recently infilled former pond in the central zone, viewed from the northwest Plot A, northeast to southwest orientated slightly curving bank in the central zone, viewed from the southwest Plot A, the open southern zone laid to grass and bordered with shrubbery alongside Barrow Park and by the mature dividing hedge, viewed from the northwest

Plate 2 Plate 3 Plate 4 Plate 5 Plate 6

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Land adjacent to Barrow Park, Cheddar, Somerset Archaeological Desk-Based Assessment

Plate 7 Plate 8 Plate 9 Plate 10 Plate 11

Plot A, the greenhouse, shed and one of the chicken coops constructed alongside the mature dividing hedge in the southern zone, viewed from the southwest Access between the two plots via a recently cleared gap in the mature dividing hedge, viewed from the east Plot B, the thickly planted trees and shrubs in the north alongside the boundary with Barrows Croft, viewed from the southeast Plot B, the rectangular concrete slab located adjacent to Greyholme in the extreme south, viewed from the northwest Plot B, general view over the plot from the southeast

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Land adjacent to Barrow Park, Cheddar, Somerset Archaeological Desk-Based Assessment

ABSTRACT This report details the results of an archaeological desk-based assessment for approximately 3700 square metres of land adjacent to Barrow Park, Cheddar, Somerset (figures 1 and 2). The study area (NGR ST45365384) was until recently in use as gardens to the rear of properties on Barrows Road to the immediate southeast. The study area is located in the historic parish and settlement of Cheddar, an important royal site during the Saxon and medieval periods that is mentioned in several early documents and charters, including the AngloSaxon Chronicle, which records three meetings of the Witan at Cheddar in the middle years of the 10th century. The early origins of settlement at Cheddar is indicated by the Roman villa that predates the palace complex in the heart of the town and by several prehistoric hut sites on the eastern fringes. At Domesday, much of the land was held by the King as part of the Royal Forest of Mendip, subsequently being divided into several smaller manors and passing in ownership to the church and various noble families, including to the Longleat estate of the Marquis of Bath, a descendant of the Thynne family at Cheddar. Historically, the economy of Cheddar was based on agricultural production; principally wool and dairy, and milling, exploiting the rich resources of the local landscape. By the late 19th century, market gardening had begun to replace agriculture, particularly the production of strawberries shipped to Bristol and beyond via the ‘Strawberry Line’, the Cheddar Valley stretch of the Great Western Railway completed in 1869 and closed in th the 1960s. Tourism, now the major source of income for the town, was also well established by the late 19 th century, the Gorge and Caves having been known as ‘one of the wonders of Britain’ since at least the 12 century (Russett 2005). The earliest cartographic source viewed depicting the study area is an 1801 plan detailing the enclosure of common land at Cheddar (figure 3),which shows the study area as part of a large modern field, one of a group of four known collectively as The Barrows. The name is derived from Barrows Wood, an area of former historic woodland, which also gives its name to an early farmstead, Barrows Wood Farm. This farm and its post-medieval assart field system (figure 4) were partly bounded by the Cheddar and Axbridge Path, a historic route over the common closely adjacent to the west of the study area and subsequently destroyed during the construction of Cheddar Reservoir. No changes to the study area were recorded on the 1837 plan of the parish (figure 4), but by the time the Cheddar tithe plan and apportionment were published in 1839 (figure 5), the 1801 single field had been divided up and sold off to various parties as a series of newly-created narrow linear strips of land under arable cultivation. The 1st edition Ordnance Survey plan (figure 6) shows that by the 1880s a number of these strips of land had been amalgamated into wider plots and some properties on Barrows Road, including Greyholme and Holly Cottage, which border the study area, had been constructed. Otherwise, the study area remained largely open ground, save for a probable orchard extending into the area from the southeast. By 1903 (figure 7), the orchard encompassed the western half of the study area and the eastern portion remained open ground, whilst further construction had occurred on Barrows Road. The study area is unchanged on the 1932 and 1951 Ordnance Survey plans (figures 8 and 9), although piecemeal development continued in the surrounding area (figure 11). The orchard had gone by 1971 (figure 12), by which time Barrow Park had been established and by 1976 construction of the adjacent housing was well underway (figures 10 and 13). The study area was in use as gardens attached to properties on Barrows Road and Barrow Park (figure 14) , a situation which remained unchanged until the recent acquisition of the site for proposed development. A trawl of the online Somerset HER database revealed no recorded archaeology within the study area, and only some fifteen records listed for the immediate environs, nine of which refer to listed buildings located in this part of the town. The remaining records mainly reflect evidence for medieval and post-medieval occupation to the east and south of the study area and towards the historic core of the town. The absence of th any record of archaeological finds during the construction of the surrounding 20 century residential properties, particularly during development in the 1960s and 1970s, is considered significant. In conclusion, the recent historical use of the study area for agriculture and as gardens and its use prior to enclosure in 1801 as common grazing suggest there has been no significant development at this location for several centuries. Accordingly, on the basis of the evidence gathered during the desk-based assessment, it is concluded that there is some low potential for the survival of undisturbed buried archaeological deposits of medieval and/or earlier date at this location, as the presence of archaeological remains of prehistoric or Romano-British date usually cannot be elucidated from documentary sources and is untested.

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Land adjacent to Barrow Park, Cheddar, Somerset Archaeological Desk-Based Assessment

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Avon Archaeological Unit Limited wishes to acknowledge the assistance given by the following in the production of this report: Andrew Godden, Regional Design and Planning Manager at Linden Homes Western, Steven Membery, Development Control Officer for Somerset County Council, Vince Russett, Archaeological Officer for North Somerset Council, and the staff of the English Heritage National Monuments Record, Swindon and of the Somerset Record Office and Somerset Studies Library in Taunton. The author would also like to thank colleague Sarah Newns for her help in compiling the history of Cheddar.

NOTE Whereas Avon Archaeological Unit Limited have taken all care to produce a comprehensive summary of the known and recorded archaeological evidence, no responsibility can be accepted for any omissions of fact or opinion, however caused.

COPYRIGHT The copyright to the following text, drawings and photographs is, unless otherwise credited, the property of the author and Avon Archaeological Unit Limited. Full joint copyright passes to the commissioners of the project upon the full settlement of the project account. All enquiries should be addressed to: Avon Archaeological Unit Limited Avondale Business Centre, Woodland Way, Kingswood, Bristol BS15 1AW Telephone and Facsimile 0117 960 8487 Email: [email protected] Visit our website at: www.avonarch.freeserve.co.uk Plans and maps based on the Ordnance Survey Sheets are reproduced by permission of the Controller of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office. ‚ Crown Copyright Reserved. License number AL 100005802

ABBREVIATIONS SHER SRO SSL NGR OS aOD

Somerset Historic Environment Record Somerset Record Office Somerset Studies Library National Grid Reference Ordnance Survey above Ordnance Datum

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Land adjacent to Barrow Park, Cheddar, Somerset Archaeological Desk-Based Assessment

1

INTRODUCTION

Avon Archaeological Unit Limited was commissioned by Linden Homes Western to undertake an archaeological desk-based assessment on an area of land of some 3700 square metres centred at NGR ST45365384 adjacent to Barrow Park in Cheddar, Somerset (figures 1 and 2). The study area encompasses a roughly linear strip of land orientated northwest to southeast that lies parallel with Barrow Park and is accessed from the latter over a narrow strip of land on the northwest side, formerly part of the front garden of Easdale, one of the properties located at the end of the cul-de-sac. The study area is sited to the rear of properties on Barrows Road to the southeast, Greyholme, Barnstaple House and the Health Centre, and was formerly part of associated gardens. The site is bounded by residential properties and gardens on Barrow Park and Barrows Croft to the southwest and northwest, whilst to the northeast, it is bounded by a narrow linear area of open ground, part of the rear garden of Holly Cottage, the adjacent property on Barrows Road. This research was requested in order to elucidate the historic development of the study area so far as documentary sources will allow and to assess the potential for the preservation of significant archaeological structures and deposits on the site. All information gathered during the project was collated, summarised and presented in the report below. All photocopies, manuscript copies and notes, including photographs, are preserved in the project archive to be stored at Avon Archaeological Unit Limited. A full list of documents and sources consulted can be found in the Bibliography and References section below.

2

METHODOLOGY

Searches were made of the indices of the collections of the Somerset Record Office (SRO) and appropriate material consulted. A trawl was made of the online Somerset Historic Environment Record and searches were made of material held in the Somerset Studies Library. A trawl of the aerial photographic archive held at the English Heritage National Monuments Record, Swindon was also undertaken. A digital photographic record of the site, as is, was compiled during a visit to the study area on Friday, June 5th, 2009 (plates and cover).

3

GEOLOGY, TOPOGRAPHY AND CURRENT LAND USE

The underlying solid geology of the site consists of locally occurring Pleistocene Glacial Head overlying Dolomitic Conglomerate. The topography of the study area inclines from southeast to northwest between c. 21.6m and 22.7m aOD and is also rises very slightly from east to west. The site had until very recently been in use as gardens.

4

SITE VISIT

The author visited the study area on Friday, June 5th, 2009, at which time digital photographs were taken (plates 1-11). The study area (figures 1 and 2) consists of two adjoining narrow linear plots of land (Plots A and B), formerly part of gardens to the rear (northwest) of properties on Barrows Road, the Health Centre, Barnstaple House and Greyholme, divided by a mature hedge. The plots are orientated northwest to southeast and are bounded by properties on Barrow Park, Barrows Croft and Barrows Road. The study area is accessed via Barrows Park, over an adjoining small area of land, formerly part of the front garden of Easdale (plate 1), the property to the immediate north of the hammerhead at the end of the cul-de-sac. The curving tarmac drive over the property remains in-situ, as does a short length of garden path paved with squared concrete slabs, otherwise all vegetation has been cleared to ground level over the former garden. A gap, temporarily sealed with Heras fencing, has been opened in the mortar bonded sandstone wall that bounds the northeast edge of the garden in order to provide access to the study area (Plot A). Plot A consists of the garden area to the rear of the Health Centre and Barnstaple House in the west of the study area. Some recently felled timber, possibly derived from the mature hedge separating Plots A and B, is currently lying on the rough grass at northern end of the plot (plate 2). Some ornamental trees have been planted alongside mature fruit trees, possibly remnants from a former orchard (plate 3), in the central zone of Plot A, where a recently infilled pond was also sited (plate 4). No evidence of a former fence or wall was observed in an adjacent shallow, slightly curving, soil bank that extended northeastwards up to the mature dividing hedge between the plots (plate 5). Mature shrubs and trees have been planted intermittently over the length of the plot adjacent to the boundary with the properties on Barrow Park, more particularly towards the southern end. Here, the land was largely laid to grass (plate 6) and was partly occupied by a greenhouse and disused cold frame, timber shed with bituminous felt roof and various timber chicken coops with attached wired runs, the latter still in use (plate 7). Avon Archaeological Unit Limited July 2009 7

Land adjacent to Barrow Park, Cheddar, Somerset Archaeological Desk-Based Assessment

The eastern portion of the study area, Plot B, was accessed via a recently cleared gap at the northern end of the mature hedge dividing the two plots (plate 8). The northern end of this plot, adjacent to the properties on Barrows Croft is thickly planted with trees and shrubs (plate 9), whilst the concrete floor slab of a former building (plate 10), probably a garden structure associated with Greyholme on Barrow Road, survives in the extreme south just inside the limits of the plot. Elsewhere, the majority of the plot is unoccupied and consists of an open area of rough grasses and wild flowers (plate 11). Recent maps and aerial photography of the area suggested there had been no in-situ physical boundary between the strips of land attached to the rear of Greyholme (Plot B) and Holly Cottage, the neighbouring property on Barrows Road, for several years and indeed this was found to be the case during the site visit, although a series of surveyor’s marker posts indicated the boundary had recently been defined (plate 11). No features of significant archaeological potential were identified during the site visit, the modern plastic incorporated in the makeup of the curving earthen bank in Plot A indicating its probable recent date.

5

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

The historical background of an estate can usually only be traced from the Saxon period at the earliest for the majority of south-west England, mainly through Crown documents such as the Domesday Survey. In the case of Cheddar, the area is particularly rich in early historical documentation, due to the location of both a preConquest monastery and an Anglo-Saxon royal palace at the south end of the town. Post-Domesday, the land ownership and associated pedigree of most estates can usually be traced in some detail, although the emphasis is generally on historical fact rather than on archaeological data. The following is based on information taken from sources consulted in the SRO and SSL, Morris (1980), Collinson (1791) and the Somerset Extensive Urban Survey: Cheddar Archaeological Assessment (Richardson 2003), the full references for which are given in the bibliography at the end of this report.

Nomenclature Cheddar occurs variously as “Ceodre”, “Ceod”, “Ceder” and “Cedre” in the historical documents. The earliest extant document (the will of King Alfred, dated 880-888 A.D.) names Cheddar as “Ceodre”, which may be derived from Old English, “ceod”, meaning a “pouch” or “bag”, referring to the Gorge. In the Domesday Survey of 1086 AD, the name “Cedre” or “Ceder” has been variously derived as “sheerwater” from Old English, “scear”, and Celtic, “dwr”, meaning “water”, or by Collinson, 1791, from Old English, “ced”, meaning “brow”, or “height” and Celtic, “dwr”.

Anglo-Saxon documentation Although it is possible that King Alfred signed the Treaty of Wedmore with the Danish leaders at his Cheddar palace in 878 AD, the first extant document which refers specifically to “Ceodre” is Alfred’s will of 880-888 AD, in which he asks the Benedictines to recognise his son, Edward, as his successor. A pre-Conquest monastery has been suggested for Cheddar, possibly on the same site as the Roman villa evidenced by parchmarks at St Andrew’s church. The importance of the royal palace at Cheddar is attested by the fact that meetings of the Witan, the group of elders who advised the king, were held here three times between 941 and 968 A.D. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle refers to the palace variously as “villa caelebris”, “palatium (-o) regis” and “sedes regales”. A 10th century document records the grant of a charter to the palace of Cheddar, from King Edgar (WI ms., 1977), although it is possible that this is the document, dated 968-978 AD, whose authenticity is questioned in the Urban Survey (Richardson 2003). th

Cheddar is also mentioned in the 11 century “Life of St Dunstan”, which records how Dunstan was recalled to King Edmund’s court there after the king’s miraculous escape from death while hunting in Cheddar Gorge. The Cheddar/Mendip area was one of the royal forests over which the king held exclusive hunting rights.

The Domesday Survey At the time of the Domesday Survey of 1086, the majority of the land at Cheddar was still held by the king, with a note to the effect that it had never paid, or been assessed for tax. A smaller amount of land belonged to Roger of Courseulles and was held by one Robert de Auberville. The text of these two Domesday entries is given below:

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Land adjacent to Barrow Park, Cheddar, Somerset Archaeological Desk-Based Assessment

“Land of the King (Domesday 1, 2 Morris ed.1980): Cheddar. King Edward held it. It has never paid tax, nor is it known how many hides there are. Land for 20 ploughs. In lordship 3 ploughs; 2 slaves; 1 freedman; 17 villagers and 20 smallholders with 17 ploughs. 7 people who pay 17s in tribute. In Axbridge 32 burgesses who pay 20s. 2 mills which pay 12s 6d; 3 fisheries which pay 10s; meadow , 15 acres; pasture 1 league long and as wide. 6 cattle; 15 pigs; 100 sheep. It pays €21 2 • d a year at 20 (pence) to the “ora”. Woodland 2 leagues long and • league wide. Of this manor Bishop Giso holds 1 member, Wedmore, which he held himself from King Edward. William the Sheriff accounts €12 for it in the King’s revenue every year. From this manor • virgate of land has been taken away which was (part) of the lordship revenue of King Edward. Robert of Auberville holds it. Value 15d.” (This last ‡ virgate is probably part of Robert de Auberville’s holding, below)

“Land of Roger of Courseulles (Domesday 21, 78 Morris ed.1980): Robert holds Cheddar from Roger. Adolf held it before 1066; it paid tax for 4 hides and 1 virgate of land. Land for 4 ploughs. In lordship 2 ploughs, with 5 villagers and 5 smallholders. Meadow, 15 acres. 1 cow; 16 pigs; 20 sheep. The value was 40s; now 30s.” At 1086, Cheddar, as a royal holding, existed as a Hundred in its own right, and had recently lost the manor of Wedmore, held by Bishop Giso, to Bempstone Hundred (see above and Morris 1980, 373-375). Cheddar Hundred, along with the second royal holding of Axbridge, was later incorporated into the Hundred of Winterstoke, which ranged from the Mendip Hills westwards to the coast between present-day Weston-superMare and Highbridge (Morris 1980, 409).

Post-Domesday Post-Domesday, the larger of the two estates (referred to by Collinson as “Cheddar Episcopi”) remained in royal hands and was visited by both Henry I and II. Two documents are known to have been written here in AD 1121 and 1130. Further documents exist, which record the rebuilding of the royal residence under King John (1209-1211) and his gift of the estate to Hugh, Bishop of Lincoln, in 1213. In 1229, it was sold by Hugh of Lincoln to Joceline, Bishop of Wells and it remained in episcopal control until 1548 (Collinson 1791, 574-575). During this time the East Hall and chapel were rebuilt, but excavation suggests that the area of the royal residence had been abandoned to pasture and cultivation by c.1400 A.D. The Axbridge Chronicle, of 14th-15th century date, retells the story of King Edmund’s hunting accident, but locates the hunting lodge at Axbridge, rather than Cheddar, possibly suggesting that the Cheddar lodge was no longer in existence (Richardson 2003). Under Bishop Joceline, a royal charter granted the people of Cheddar a weekly market, an annual fair and rights of free warren and wreck of the sea, amongst “divers other privileges” (Collinson 1791, 575). Subsequently, the manor was granted by Edward VI to Sir Edward Seymour in 1552, who sold it to Sir John Thynne, from whom it had descended, by Collinson’s time, to the Marquis of Bath. By the later medieval period, the above manor was only one of six small manors or estates in the Cheddar area, variously held by the bishops of Bath and Wells, the Berkelys, the de Chedders and other local families. Collinson records the subsequent history of four of these manors as follows: The first, held of the bishopric of Bath and Wells by the de Hannam family, was given by Roger de Hannam to Robert de Chedder in 1353, along with other lands in Draycot, Clewer and Axbridge. The manor stayed in the de Chedder family until 1442, when the death of the surviving male heir left the estate to be divided between the two daughters, who had married into the de Lisle family and the Newton family. By the 18th century, part of the manor had been sold to various tenants, including the Ford family, who retained their holding until the 1950s (anon, n.d). The remainder, the manor of Cheddar Hanham, was owned in 1791 by Walter Long, esq. (Collinson 1791, 576). A second manor, known as Cheddar Fitzwalter, had been owned by the Fitzwalter family since the Conquest (Collinson 1791, 576). By 1302, the family owned c. 200 acres of land in the Cheddar area (anon, n.d). In 1360, John Fitzwalter granted all his property to the vicar of Cheddar. By 1448 (Locke, n.d, states 1446), the manor was in the possession of the Roo or Roe family from Bristol, who held it until the reign of Elizabeth I. The manor then passed respectively to the Lancaster family, the Tilham family and the Birch

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Land adjacent to Barrow Park, Cheddar, Somerset Archaeological Desk-Based Assessment

family, who retained it until 1883 (anon n.d). Collinson records that the estate was in the possession of a Mrs Stagg in 1791. The remaining two manors recorded by Collinson comprise one that was part of the endowment of the vicars-choral of the cathedral church of Wells and lastly the rectorial manor, which in 1188 belonged to the priory and convent of Bradenstoke, Wilts, who exchanged it with Joceline, Bishop of Wells (Locke nd,117-8). In Collinson’s time (1791), the latter manor was the property of Samuel Doddington, esq. Collinson also records that the church living consisted of a vicarage and peculiar in the deanery of Axbridge, in the gift of the Dean and Chapter of Wells, to whom it was given by Bishop Joceline in 1239, and that certain lands in Cheddar, valued in 1239 at 7s 6d, belonged to the priory of Wonnesly in Herefordshire. A further small manor in the Hythe Bow area was held by the Berkely family (anon n.d). In 1338 the Earl of Berkely was given a royal order to suppress violence against the Bishop in his Cheddar holdings. The lands th were divided and sold to the tenants in the late 18 century (ibid).

Later medieval and early post medieval development and economy Outside the area of the royal palace(s), there were three further areas of development: industrial activity alongside the River Yeo; commercial activity around the marketplace and cross and a further planned area along Bulmire Street and the Hayes (Richardson 2003). By 1791, Collinson records that the village had grown to a settlement of 200 houses, with a population of some 1100 inhabitants. Cheddar’s economy from the medieval period onwards was largely based on its two main topographical advantages; a fast-flowing river and access to a very varied agricultural hinterland. Thus, Speed’s map of 1610 shows the River Yeo, which, “rises so abundantly that it drives 12 mills within ˆ mile of its head.” By 1791, Collinson writes that the number of mills had been reduced to seven – three for paper and four grist (corn) mills, and notes that the manufacture of paper was “considerable”. Access to both the dry limestone uplands of the Mendips and the low-lying wetter clays of the Cheddar valley favoured an agricultural economy based around both dairy and wool production. Collinson records biannual cattle and sheep fairs and lists cheese production amongst the local industries. (Locals claim that cheese has been made in Cheddar for the last 1000 years (Russett 2005). The wool was also processed locally, as Collinson records that, “many of the poor are employed in spinning and knitting hose”. Locke (n.d) records that a large area of moorland surrounding the village was enclosed by Act of Parliament in 1797. By 1801, an area of 4,400 acres (18 km2) of common land had been enclosed, including land at The Barrows (Havinden 1982, 133). Interestingly, Collinson does not record quarrying amongst the local industries, at the local Battscombe, Chelmscombe and Callow Rocks quarries. These may have become more active at a later date. In 1789, the local philanthropist, Hannah More, opened a charity school in the village, which was replaced th in 1837 by the National School. The school building itself is of 17 century date and survives as a grade II listed building, “Hannah More’s Cottage”. 19th century and later history th

The local industries listed above were supplemented in the 19 century by quarrying (which may have been in existence for some time, but is not recorded by Collinson), a tannery and a small brewery. Dairy production and corn-milling also continued, but the agricultural economy was largely supplanted by market gardening, as large-scale strawberry farming was introduced on the lower slopes of the Mendips in the late 19th/early 20th centuries. The Cheddar Valley Railway was opened in 1869, linking Cheddar with Bristol, and later became known as “The Strawberry Line”, with the introduction of market gardening. th

The Caves and Gorge, which had been known since the 12 century as “one of the wonders of Britain” (Russett 2005) became increasingly popular as a tourist destination and by the mid-twentieth century tourism had supplanted all other local industries. In the 1930s, the Bristol Water Company constructed the Cheddar Reservoir, submerging a large area of land to the west of the village, including Barrows Wood Farm. Two of the quarries, formerly used for limestone extraction, are now used as “The National Tower Testing Station” for testing the quality of electricity pylons. Since the 1920s, some light industry has developed on the trading estate surrounding the village, whose population has increased to c. 5,000, three-fifths of whom now work outside Cheddar itself (Cheddar Parish Plan, 2005). Remaining historical industries which still continue to function on a small scale include market gardening, brewing and quarrying. Avon Archaeological Unit Limited July 2009 10

Land adjacent to Barrow Park, Cheddar, Somerset Archaeological Desk-Based Assessment

Although recent extensive house building has tripled the size of the population, Cheddar still retains some of its earlier buildings. Medieval buildings include the ruins of the 14th century chapel of St Columbanus (the th th latest of three rebuildings, associated with the Saxon palace), St Andrew’s Church (late 14 -late 15 century) th th and Church Farm, with its tithe barn. Buildings of 15 -17 century date include “Hannah More’s Cottage” th (above), Hannam Manor House, Cheddar Hall and Oak House. Buildings of 18 century or earlier date include Beechcroft and Brock Farm House. Early cottages also survive on The Lippeatt, Venn’s Gate, Batt’s Lane and Kent Street. Hobbswell House, a 19th century building, constructed on the site of the earlier “Hobb’s Tenements”, retains a well in the front garden. The area now boasts several Sites of Special Scientific Interest, comprising the reservoir, the Gorge complex and Cheddar Wood, the latter retaining areas of ancient woodland, including the 13th century, “Wood th of the Bishops of Bath and Wells” and the 10 century, “Woods of King Edmund the Magnificent”. The twentieth century has also seen important archaeological investigations at Cheddar, most notably with the discovery of “Cheddar Man” in 1903 and the excavation of the Anglo-Saxon palace in the 1960s.

A History of the Study Area The study area is located in west Cheddar, in an area known as The Barrows. This name is derived from a former farm, Barrows Wood Farm, which in turn took its name from an area of historic woodland, long since cleared. The location of the farm was depicted on a 1939 plan of lands for sale by auction in the Longleat estate (SRO/DD/S/GLY/98), not reproduced in the current report, as it shows only part of the study area. The farm lay to the west of the study area and was destroyed during the construction of Cheddar Reservoir. For reference, the approximate location of the farm is indicated on figure 4. The earliest cartographic source viewed that depicts the study area is an 1801 Inclosure Plan for Cheddar (SRO Q/Rde/38, figure 3) that shows the study area as part of a single large field. The field was one of an arrangement of four regular fields designated as The Barrows, bounded by Hollwell Lane (now Round Oak Road) in the north and by Barrows Lane (now Barrows Road) to the south. The study area forms part of Field 558 owned by one Samuel Gillings and described in the accompanying document as former common land used as pasture, hence the field name ‘part of The Barrows’. A footpath marked as the ‘Cheddar and Axbridge Path’ sited to the west of the study area probably denotes a historic route over the common, respecting the boundary of an earlier, post-medieval field system (figure 4, B) attached to the former Barrows Wood Farm located on its edge. The study area remains unchanged on a parish plan of Cheddar surveyed in 1837 (SRO/DD/WY/C306/SOM/18, figure 4), although a dog-leg in the route of Hollwell Lane (figure 3), where it borders field 557 to the immediate northwest, appears to have been straightened out by this time. Overall, the parish plan (figure 4) clearly illustrates the growth and development of settlement at Cheddar through the distinctive field patterns resulting from successive episodes of historic enclosure in the area. It also raises some questions regarding the apparent late enclosure of land at The Barrows. At least three distinct episodes of enclosure (figure 4, A/D, B and C) can be discerned from the field patterns in the vicinity of and including the study area. The earliest field pattern (A) consists of enclosures derived from a medieval system of open fields that extend up to the network of roads and green lanes that encircle the area occupied by the later field systems (B and C). That this area was not exploited as open fields during the medieval period suggests that it was less viable agricultural land, such as woodland or marsh, at that time. This is supported by the relative heights of the land in the area, as reference to modern Ordnance Survey plans illustrate. In general, Barrows Lane and Hollwell Lane appear to define the outer edge of an east-west zone of low-lying ground (B) at less than 10m aOD, the surrounding medieval field system occupying land above this height. This is contradicted by zones C and D however, which suggests other (unknown) factors also may have had an influence. The Barrows and study area are located in zone C, which consists of large regular fields characteristic of industrial th era enclosure dating to the turn of the 19 century in this case. The fields lie at over 20m aOD, so it is unclear why this land was not exploited during the medieval period as part of the open field system. Conversely, the field pattern clearly indicates that the enclosures at D were based on the medieval open field system, despite lying at only c. 6m aOD and comparable in height with the less viable land (B) immediately adjacent. The subsequent enclosure of this less viable land (B) probably represents early post-medieval colonisation, the assart field pattern suggesting piecemeal enclosure of an area of former woodland. The low-lying nature of the ground in this area may also have influenced the siting of the Cheddar Reservoir (figure 1) constructed during th the 20 century at this location, destroying field system B. Significant change to the study area was evident from the Tithe Map and Apportionment for Cheddar (SRO DD/Rt/M/245, figure 5) published in 1839, only two years after the parish plan. Unfortunately, the poor condition of the map meant that it was difficult to discern the necessary tithe field parcel numbers for reference to the accompanying apportionment. Luckily, the tithe field numbers were ascribed to fields on an undated plan of the parish (SRO DD/CTN/30, figure 5), which survived in a more complete, if somewhat crumpled, state.

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Details from the 1839 Tithe Apportionment (SRO DD/Rt/A/245) Tithe field parcel

Landowner

Occupier

Field name

Landuse

711

Joan Hawkins

Part of the Barrows

arable

712

Sarah Hill (Barrows)

James Evans, William Hill and Jesse Hudson Sarah Hill (Barrows)

Part of the Barrows

713 714 715 716 717

Martha Masters George Spencer Snr Obed Marshall Mary Jefferies Robert Clark

Martha Masters George Spencer Snr Obed Marshall Mary Jefferies Robert Clark

Part of the Barrows Part of the Barrows Part of the Barrows Part of the Barrows Part of the Barrows

arable and homestead arable arable arable arable arable

The tithe map clearly illustrates that by 1839, Samuel Gillings or his successors had disposed of the original single field, dividing it for sale into a series of narrow linear strips, each purchased by different individuals and most occupied by the new owner. The lack of distinctive features on the plans and differences in scale meant it was not easy to exactly locate the study area, but an approximation suggests it would have occupied parts of tithe field parcels 714, 715 and 716, possibly also encroaching northeastwards into parcel 713, all of which were under arable cultivation at the time. The ‘Barrows’ homestead established alongside the study area to the northeast, in the adjacent field parcel 712, may possibly represent the present day Holly Cottage, or a precursor. st

The study area is next represented on the 1 edition Ordnance Survey plan for the area (figure 6), which depicts the land in the west (Plot A) as unoccupied, whilst in Plot B to the east, an orchard had been planted in the extreme south, extending up to Greyholme, constructed to the southeast alongside Holly Cottage. As occurs in the present day, no boundary is depicted as extant dividing the land to the rear of these properties. To the southwest, adjacent properties accessed via a lane leading from Barrows Road had also been constructed; this lane (modified) ultimately becoming the entrance to Barrow Park. The New Road and Great Western Railway had also been constructed to the west by this time, cutting across the adjoining 1801 enclosure fields and destroying the former footpath between Cheddar and Axbridge. Further construction had taken place in the vicinity by the time the 2nd edition Ordnance Survey plan was produced in 1903 (figure 7). Barnstaple House and Northcroft, the latter subsequently becoming the Health Centre, had been constructed to the southeast of Plot A, which had been entirely planted as an orchard. The neighbouring strip of land to the west, over part of which the study area is accessed, was also an orchard, whilst the trees previously planted in Plot B to the east had been removed. The study area had not altered when next recorded in 1932 (figure 8), although further development had taken place in the vicinity. Housing had been erected along Barrows Road to the southeast and on The Barrows to the northeast. A small number of properties lined either side of a short lane leading off from The Barrows on what would later become Barrows Croft and to the north, that section of Hollwell Lane to the east of the New Road had been renamed Barrow Drove. The general area changed little between 1932 and 1951 (figure 9) save for the construction of the nearby reservoir by Bristol Water on land to the immediate west of the New Road (B3151) and Great Western Railway, destroying many of the pre-1801 enclosed fields (figures 3 and 4). The study area still comprised part orchard (Plot A), part open ground (Plot B). Significant changes in the vicinity were revealed on the Ordnance Survey plan published in 1977 (figure 10), at which time Barrow Park and Barrows Croft were established and the construction of housing on the neighbouring Round Oak Grove and Copper Close was underway. In the study area, Plot A was no longer in use as an orchard, both plots being designated as unoccupied land used as gardens to the rear (northwest) of properties on Barrows Road. This situation remains unchanged to the present day (figure 2).

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ARCHAEOLOGICAL BACKGROUND Appendix 1

A 500 m radius trawl of the online Somerset Historic Environment Record database (somerset.gov.uk/her, appendix 1) centred on the study area revealed no records located within the area and only some fifteen records in the immediate environs, nine of which refer to listed buildings. The listed buildings include examples of 16th century farmhouses, such as Brock Farmhouse on Hannay Road (HER 13131) to the north, 17th century cottages such as Hannah More’s Cottage on Lower North Street to the southeast (HER 13138) and early 19th century buildings such as the Baptist Chapel (HER 13134) also on Lower North Street. The remaining six records refer to archaeological sites in the vicinity of the study area, including on Lower North Street, where the demolition of the 17th century Wellington House (HER 12812) revealed an in-situ late medieval jointed cruck truss in the fabric of the building and subsequent excavation recorded late medieval pits and residual prehistoric and Roman artefacts. A series of medieval and/or post-medieval field boundaries

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were revealed on aerial photographs, as cropmarks in the grounds of the Cheddar Valley Rugby Club (HER 19286) to the west of the study area. Sherds of medieval pottery ranging in date from the 10th to 14th centuries was found alongside several undated features during evaluation at Norton Croft, Lower North Street (HER 28126), whilst structural features of medieval and post-medieval date were recorded at the Old Showground (HER 57180). This apparent paucity of records belies the archaeological riches of all periods surviving within the town and wider parish. The cave sites of the Gorge dominate the evidence for prehistoric occupation from the Palaeolithic period onwards, including the famous discovery in Gough’s Cave in 1903 of the ‘Cheddar Man’ skeleton, however some evidence of prehistoric activity has also been found on the lowlands within and around the town. This includes a handaxe recovered during building work on Lower New Road in 1984 (HER 12492) to the southwest of the study area, as well as possible hut sites (HER 10413) and nearby flint scatters (HER 11421) on the eastern fringes of the town. Evidence for activity during the Romano-British period has been found at numerous locations in and around the town. Several possible farmstead sites have been located from artefact scatters, such as that at Steart Farm (HER 11418) to the southwest of the study area and at Mascalls Wood (HER 11416) in the east. In the south of the town, significant quantities of Romano-British finds including tesserae, metalwork, technological residues and large quantities of ceramics have been found in the vicinity of a villa site identified from a series of parchmarks in the vicarage garden (SAM 344). Cheddar is one of four historic towns in Somerset where there is evidence for a Roman villa at the core of the later town, possibly with an associated religious site, as each was later reused as a religious precinct, in this case part of the Saxon minster and royal palace complex. The palace complex and part of the minster precinct at Cheddar were excavated in 1960-62 in advance of the construction of the Kings of Wessex School (Rahtz 1979). The palace complex consisted of successive timber halls and ancillary buildings sited on level ground and raised above the likely flood level, the earliest of which was founded in the mid-9th century with activity on the site extending into the 12th century. After c. 930 AD, a chapel was included in the complex of buildings and there is some suggestion from historic documents that a Christian community, possibly a double house, monastery and convent, was already established on the site prior to the founding of the palace complex (Richardson 2003). Certainly, a minster at Cheddar (Cheddarmynster) is recorded at Domesday. A massive new hall was built at the palace complex during the medieval period, probably in the 12th century. The complex passed into episcopal hands for a few years early in the 13th century before King John regained control and began rebuilding, changing the complex into a hunting lodge. The complex had returned to church ownership by the end of that century however, at which time the hall and chapel, dedicated to St. Columbanus by 1321, were rebuilt. The complex appears to have been abandoned by the end of the 14th century, the modified chapel being used as a barn after the Reformation and until the early 19th century when it was converted into two cottages and chimneys inserted. The ruin stands in the grounds of the Kings of Wessex School. Medieval development elsewhere in the town included the layout of a planned area to the immediate north of the palace complex, recent evaluation on the Old Showground site dating buildings alongside these roads to the 12th and 13th centuries (Hollinrake and Hollinrake 1997). The modern street name ‘Tweentown’, which adjoins Barrows Road to the east, is believed to derive from the fact that the medieval town developed at two foci linked by this roadway, the aforementioned planned area and the industrial zone to the east on the banks of the Cheddar Yeo (Broomhead 1985). It is likely that the town grew thereafter with the infilling of areas between dispersed rural settlements and farmsteads. Several mills are documented at Cheddar in the 16th century, a note in Saxton’s late 16th century Atlas of England and Wales suggesting as many as twelve mills sited on a quarter mile stretch from the head of the Cheddar Yeo (Richardson 2003). The gradual infill of the town continued during the post-medieval period, but Cheddar did not undergo any major urban expansion despite the opening of the Cheddar Valley stretch of the Great Western Railway in 1869, rather it retained its status as a market town. Some new building of hotels, tearooms and guesthouses was required to service the many visitors to the Gorge and Caves, an established tourist attraction since the late 19th century and the main source of income for the town to the present day.

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AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHIC SURVEY Appendix 2

The author consulted the aerial photographic archives of the English Heritage National Monuments Record in th Swindon, on Friday, June 12 2009. A trawl of the archives provided a listing of thirty-nine vertical aerial photographs from eight sorties and four oblique views from two sorties (appendix 2) taken over or adjacent to the study area, of which forty-one prints from the ten sorties were available for consultation. The earliest aerial photographs examined were taken in May 1947 (RAF/CPE/UK/2061). The study area was only partly represented on each of the prints revealing an orchard partly occupying the western strip (Plot A), whilst Plot B to the east was largely open ground with a few trees and shrubs. Properties on Barrow Road and The Barrows to the southeast and northeast were extant, but Barrow Park, Round Oak Grove and Avon Archaeological Unit Limited July 2009 13

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Barrows Croft had not yet been laid out, two properties on what would become part of Barrows Croft to the immediate north of the study area being accessed by a narrow lane at this time. Little change to the study area and immediate environs was noted on prints taken during a sortie in June 1950 (RAF/541/540, figure 11), although the trees in Plot A had been thinned somewhat. Large greenhouses and planting beds associated with a market garden were sited to the immediate west, accessed via a short length of roadway that would later become Barrow Park. There is a gap of some twenty years before the next available images (OS/71082, figure 12), as the aerial photographs listed in the 1960s sorties did not cover the study area. By 1971, significant changes had occurred both within and outside the study area. Plot A, in the west of the study area, had been largely cleared of trees, particularly in the southern zone, where a path led to a greenhouse and a series of small structures, possibly animal pens, had been erected. This area was fenced off from the northern half of the plot, which had been extensively landscaped with large informal areas of grass and planting, retaining some of the trees. In contrast, the eastern portion of the study area, Plot B, was largely featureless and not unlike its present day appearance with some trees in the north and open grassland elsewhere. No fence or other physical boundary feature divided Plot B from the neighbouring strip of land attached to Holly Cottage, although a linear soil mark, possibly an infilled ditch, clearly demarcated where the boundary between the two properties lay. Changes had also occurred outside the study area, most notably with the construction of Barrow Park to the west on the former market garden site. The study area remained largely unchanged in 1976 (OS/76040, figure 13), save for the removal or relocation of some of the animal pens in Plot A. Further development was underway in the vicinity with Barrows Croft established to the north and housing to the west on Round Oak Grove under construction, the layout of this road and the adjoining cul-de-sac of Copper Close clearly visible, as well as the entrance to Springfield Road, yet to be completed. The final vertical aerial photographs were taken during sorties in May 1985 (OS/85062) and April 1989 (OS/89071, figure 14). The adjacent housing development largely had been completed by 1985 reflecting the present day street plan. Only a few houses on Oaklands had yet to be constructed. Little change was noted in the study area at this time, but for the southern portion of Plot B, which had been fenced off. A large shed or other building had been erected at the southern boundary, on the site of a concrete slab floor located during the site visit, and the adjoining land used for vegetable beds. The shed was still extant and planting beds still visible, if unused, in Plot B in 1989 (figure 14), whilst the wooden shed and other smaller structures had been erected alongside the greenhouse in Plot A. The open ground at the northern end of this plot had been fenced off from the remainder of the garden and a pond had been constructed in the central zone. The oblique aerial coverage did not provide detailed imagery of the study area, rather landscape views of Cheddar as a whole. These were useful in placing the study area in its wider setting, one of the prints (NMR 24323/26) being reproduced on the cover of this report with the site location indicated. Satellite imagery of the study area available via Google Earth was also consulted as part of the project. This revealed no notable changes to the study area. As at the site visit, the fenceline dividing off the northern zone of Plot A had been removed and the various trees and shrubs had matured, particularly in the central zone.

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8

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

A royal site, excavated in 1960-62 (Rahtz 1979), is known to have been in existence at Cheddar during the Saxon and medieval periods, royal palaces having been established since at least the 9th century, when Cheddar was first mentioned in historic documents, in the will of King Alfred c. 880 AD. Archaeological investigations have identified that the settlement origins are somewhat earlier, with prehistoric huts located on the eastern fringes of the town and a Roman villa revealed in the core to the south, part of which was reused in the palace and minster complex. At Domesday, Cheddar existed as a Hundred in its own right and was mainly held by the King with a smaller holding divided off belonging to Roger de Courseulles. The land was subsequently incorporated into the Hundred of Winterstoke and passed into the ownership of the church. By the late medieval period, the land at Cheddar had been subdivided into six smaller manors or estates variously owned by the church and several noble families including the Thynnes, ancestors of the Marquis of Bath at Longleat. Cheddar’s economy during the medieval and post-medieval periods was based on mills (grist, fulling and later also paper) and dairy (cheese) and wool production, exploiting its two main natural resources, the surrounding varied agricultural th land and a fast flowing river. This was supplemented in the 19 century with quarrying, tanning and brewing th and by the early 20 century, the intensive market garden production of strawberries had supplanted the local th agricultural base. Tourism, now the main industry of the town, was already well established by the late 19 century with the construction of hotels, guesthouses and tearooms to service the many visitors to the Caves and Gorge. The earliest cartographic evidence available to view that depicts the site is the 1801 Plan of Cheddar Inclosure (figure 3), which shows the study area as part of a single, large field, one of four known collectively as The Barrows and so named after an area of historic woodland, Barrows Wood, since cleared. Before the 1801 inclosure, the fields were common land situated to the immediate east of a distinctive, early postmedieval assart field system probably associated with the former Barrows Wood Farm and both were surrounded by earlier enclosures based on medieval open fields (figure 4). The 1839 tithe plan and apportionment for Cheddar revealed that the study area then covered part of several newly laid out, adjacent narrow strips of land under arable cultivation, the original single enclosed field having been divided post-1837 and sold off to several new owners (figure 5). By the 1880s, a number of strips had been amalgamated to form larger plots and some housing had been constructed on Barrows Lane, (Barrows Road) to the southeast. The study area was part orchard, part open ground at this time and altered little over the next sixty years or so (figures 6-9 and 11) despite the increasing development in the immediate surroundings, with further housing constructed to the southeast and northeast on Barrows Road and The Barrows. By the 1970s (figures 10, 12 and 13), Barrow Park had been established and the study area was in use as gardens, the orchard having been removed but for the few trees noted during the site visit. The adjacent housing scheme under construction, was completed by 1989 (figure 14), the study area continuing in use as gardens until its recent procurement as a site for proposed development. The absence of any recorded archaeological finds in the vicinity of the study area during this period of gradual urban development in the 1960s and 1970s may be significant. A trawl of the online Somerset HER database revealed no recorded archaeology within the study area and only fifteen records within a 500m radius of the site, nine of which refer to listed buildings in adjacent streets th th ranging in date from the 16 to 19 centuries. The remaining six records refer to archaeological sites in the vicinity, the majority providing evidence of medieval and/or post-medieval occupation to the south and east, towards the core of the town. These include several late medieval pits underlying the now demolished Wellington House on Lower North Street and structural features indicating prolonged medieval and postmedieval occupation on The Old Showground site outside the precinct of the palace and minster complex. There is currently no evidence to suggest that the important Romano-British and Anglo-Saxon activity identified in the historic core of Cheddar had ever extended as far to the northwest as The Barrows. On the basis of the evidence gathered during the assessment, it is concluded that there is low potential for the preservation of buried archaeological deposits in the study area, as the site appears to have been undeveloped historically and at least since the early post-medieval period. The potential for the preservation of pre-medieval archaeological remains cannot be elucidated from documentary sources and remains untested.

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9

BILBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES

Bibliography Anon, n.d, (c.1950s). The Story of our Village. unpublished typescript in Somerset Studies Library Broomhead, R., 1985. Cheddar, Study of Origins and Continuity, University of Bristol unpublished BA dissertation Cheddar Parish Council, 1967. Cheddar, Somerset: the Official Guide, Cheddar Cheddar Parish Council, 2005. Cheddar Parish Plan. cheddarparishcouncil.org.uk Collinson, J., 1791. The History and Antiquities of the County of Somerset, reprinted with a new introduction by Robert Dunning in 1983, Gloucester Costen, M., 1992. The Origins of Somerset, Manchester University Press Ellis, P., 1992. Mendip Hills: an Archaeological Survey of the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Somerset County Council Archaeological Projects (www.somerset.gov.uk/media/896B4/mendipAONB.pdf) Etheridge, D.J., 2008. Archaeological Appraisal of a Proposed Residential development at Barrow Park, Cheddar, Avon Archaeological Unit Limited unpublished client report Havinden, M, 1982. The Somerset Landscape, London Hollinrake, C. and Hollinrake, N., 1997.Old Show Ground Evaluation, unpublished client report th Locke, R., n.d, (late 18 century). Survey of Somerset in J. Collinson 1791 Morris, J. (trans), 1980. Domesday Book: a survey of the counties of England, Somerset, Chichester Rahtz, P., 1979. The Saxon and Medieval Palaces at Cheddar, BAR 65 Richardson, M., 2003. An Archaeological Assessment of Cheddar, English Heritage Extensive Urban Survey Russett, V.J., 2005. South West Archaeological Services, Archaeological and historical information in Cheddar Parish Council 2005 Rutter, J., 1829. Rutter’s Banwell and Cheddar Guide, London, Shaftesbury Speed, J., 1610. ‘Map of Somersetshire’ in The Theatre of the Empire of Great Britaine Ordnance Survey st

Ordnance Survey (1884-87) 1: 10560 1 edition Somerset Sheet XXVII.1 Ordnance Survey (1903) 1: 2500 2nd edition Somerset Sheet XXVII.1 Ordnance Survey (1932) 1: 10560 Somerset Sheet XXVII NW Ordnance Survey (1951) 1: 25,000 Sheet ST 45 Ordnance Survey (1977) 1: 2500 Sheet ST4553 Ordnance Survey (2004) 1: 25, 000 Ordnance Survey (Promap 2009) 1: 1250 site-centred plan for Barrow Park, Cheddar Somerset Record Office SRO Q/Rde/38 – 1801 Plan of Cheddar Inclosure in the County of Somerset SRO DD/WY/C306/SOM/18 – 1837 Map of the Parish of Cheddar SRO DD/Rt/M/245 and DD/Rt/A/245 – 1839 Tithe Plan and Apportionment for the Parish of Cheddar in the County of Somerset SRO DD/CTN/30 – undated Plan of the Parish of Cheddar SRO DD/S/GLY/98 – Longleat estate lands for sale 1939 SRO DO/WI/169/1/1 – Cheddar. An Impression of a Somerset Village in 1977, the year of the Silver Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II. Cheddar and Hannah More Women’s Institutes unpublished text

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Appendix 1

Extract from the Somerset Historic Environment Record online database (somerset.gov.uk/heritage)

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Appendix 2

Aerial photographs viewed at the English Heritage National Monuments Record, Swindon

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Figure 3

Extract from the 1801 Plan of Cheddar Inclosure in the County of Somerset SRO Q/Rde/38 Approximate boundary of the study area outlined in red

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N

Reproduced with the permission of the Somerset Record Office

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Figure 4 Annotated Extract from the 1837 Map of the Parish of Cheddar SRO DD/WY/C306/SOM/18 Approximate boundary of the study area outlined in red

N

A BARROWS WOOD FARM

● A B

C

D A

A C

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Figure 5

Extract from the 1839 Tithe Map of Cheddar and an undated plan of the same SRO DD/Rt/M/245 and SRO DD/CTN/30 Approximate boundary of the study area outlined in red

SRO DD/Rt/M/245

N

SRO DD/CTN/30

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Figure 6

Extract from the 1884-87 County Series 1st Edition Ordnance Survey Plan of Cheddar - Sheet XXVII.1 SRO online copy download Approximate boundary of the study area outlined in red N N

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Figure 7

Extract from the 1903 2nd Edition Ordnance Survey Plan – Sheet XXVII.1 Approximate boundary of the study area outlined in red N

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Figure 8

Extract from the 1932 Ordnance Survey Plan – Sheet XXVII NW Approximate boundary of the study area outlined in red N

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Figure 9

Extract from the 1951 Ordnance Survey Plan – Sheet ST45 SRO DD/X/HKR/4/25 Approximate boundary of the study area outlined in red N

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Figure 10

Extract from the 1977 Ordnance Survey Plan - Sheet ST4553 Approximate boundary of the study area outlined in red N

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Figure 11

Annotated Extract from June 1st 1950 Aerial Photograph RAF/541/540 Frame 4088 Approximate boundary of the study area outlined in red N

GREENHOUSES

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Reproduced with the permission of the English Heritage National Monuments Record

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Figure 12

Annotated Extract from April 17th 1971 Aerial Photograph OS/71082 Frame 250 Approximate boundary of the study area outlined in red N

LANDSCAPING STRUCTURES

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Reproduced with the permission of the English Heritage National Monuments Record

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Figure 13

Annotated Extract from April 26th 1976 Aerial Photograph OS/76040 Frame 75 Approximate boundary of the study area outlined in red N

ROUND OAK GROVE AND ADJOINING STREETS UNDER CONSTRUCTION

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Reproduced with the permission of the English Heritage National Monuments Record

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Figure 14

Annotated Extract from April 8th 1989 Aerial Photograph OS/89071 Frame 100 Approximate boundary of the study area outlined in red N

FENCELINE BANK POND

Not to scale

GREENHOUSE

Reproduced with the permission of the English Heritage National Monuments Record

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Plates

The Site Visit

Plate 1: the site access via Barrow Park, formerly part of the front garden of the adjacent property, Easdale, at the end of the cul-de-sac, viewed from the southwest

Plate 2: Plot A, recently felled timber lying on the rough grass at the northwest end, viewed from the southeast

Plate 3: Plot A, one of the surviving mature fruit trees in the central zone, possibly part of a former orchard, viewed from the north

Plate 4: Plot A, the recently infilled former pond in the central zone, viewed from the northwest

Plate 5: Plot A, northeast to southwest orientated slightly curving bank in the central zone, viewed from the southwest

Plate 9: Plot B, the thickly planted trees and shrubs in the north alongside the boundary with Barrows Croft, viewed from the southeast Plate 6: Plot A, the open southern zone laid to grass and bordered with shrubbery alongside Barrow Park and by the mature dividing hedge, viewed from the northwest

Plate 7: Plot A, the greenhouse, shed and one of the chicken coops constructed alongside the mature dividing hedge in the southern zone, viewed from the southwest

Plate 8: access between the two plots via a recently cleared gap in the mature dividing hedge, viewed from the east

Plate 10: Plot B, the rectangular concrete slab located adjacent to Greyholme in the extreme south, viewed from the northwest

Avon Archaeological Unit Limited July 2009

Plate 11: Plot B, general view over the plot from the southeast