News
Lewes Priory, Lewes, East Sussex
(19th July 2011)
In 2009, Archaeology South-East were commissioned by Cragg Management, on behalf of the Lewes Priory Trust, to provide archaeological support for a programme of restoration works at the Priory. The project was designed to prepare the Priory ruins for public display after many years of relative neglect.
The Priory, a Scheduled Ancient Monument, was founded as the Cluniac Priory of St. Pancras in 1078 by William de Warenne, 1st Earl of Surrey and brother-in-law of William I (the Conqueror). It became one of the largest and wealthiest monastic houses in England, and was notably used as a base by Henry III during the Battle of Lewes in 1264, until driven out by flaming arrows fired by the besieging troops of Simon de Montfort, the rebel Earl of Leicester. The Priory declined in importance through the later Middle Ages, with a reduction in the number of monks from over 100 in 1240 to 29 by 1534. The Priory was dissolved in 1537, carried out with great efficiency by the Italian military engineer Giovanni Portinari on the orders of Thomas Cromwell, save for the domestic buildings in the prior’s lodgings which were retained as a dwelling for Cromwell’s son.
ASE carried out two phases of work. In September 2009 a desk-based assessment was compiled, bringing together all the available information for the site together with details of the proposed restoration works. This allowed a detailed impact assessment to be carried out for a number of different elements, including: marking out buried walls; installing news paths, steps and guard-rails; installing information panels and benches; and removal of encroaching vegetation. Appropriate mitigation measures were identified to ensure these essential works did not damage archaeological deposits.
In the second half of 2010, ASE carried out a monitoring exercise (archaeological watching-brief) during the groundworks phase of the project. This included the excavation, by hand, of six test-pits to accurately locate key parts of the buried complex to facilitate their laying-out on the surface (the Infirmary Hall, Infirmary Chapel and a further length of wall) and to examine the depth of deposits in the Reredorter (the monks’ latrine). Various other tasks requiring ground disturbance were carried out under archaeological supervision by ASE staff. Masonry and tile remains of some of the monastic buildings were encountered and recorded, and a range of finds were recovered including an assemblage of pottery dating from the 13th to the 20th centuries.
http://www.lewespriory.org.uk/home
New Archaeological Survey of Jersey unlocks the island's Ice Age Past
In July 2010 a collaborative team coordinated between UCL's Institute of Archaeology and the Centre for Human origins at Southampton initiated a survey of early prehistoric sites on the island of Jersey. The survey centred on the site of La Cotte De St Brelade, an system of ravines within a granite headland on the island which preserves a unique record of Neanderthal archaeology over at least a quarter of a million years. Work at the site, the first to be allowed for thirty years, demonstrated the presence of in-situ sediments preserving archaeology over a wide area, it also allowed the first the 3D survey of the ravines and modern scientific dating and palaeoenvironmental sampling. In addition the survey team found evidence for modern human hunter gatherers including the first in-situ Mesolithic site on the island. The project will now enter a new phase building on the success of the first season to develop into a large scale research and training project for the Palaeolithic of North West Europe and the British Isles.
The project is led by Matt Pope (UCL), Beccy Scott (AHOB), Andy Shaw (CAHO), Martin Bates (Lampeter) and Chantal Conneller (Manchester). The Project was made possible through the support of the CAA, CAHO, AHOB, the Societe Jersiaise, the Jersey Heritage Trust and the States of Jersey (Planning and Envrionment).
Click here to view the Channel-Online article
Click here to view the BBC website article
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