Paul Spoerry

Oxford Archaeology, OA East, Regional Manager

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I have been a professional archaeologist all of my working life and I have been head of an archaeological business for 15 years (OA East). before that i was a Project Manager and site director for many excavations. My research focus has been medieval landscapes, particularly of towns in the East of England, but also rural settlements generally and of the fenland region in particular.I was awarded my PhD in 1990 and since then I have maintained status as researcher in medieval ceramics and medieval landscapes and continue to publish. I have been both a tutor and external examination moderator for University departments.
Address: United Kingdom

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Papers by Paul Spoerry

Throckenholt Farm, Parson Drove: A Roman Landscape on The Silt Fen

Past and Present Soil Erosion. Archaeological and Geographical Perspectives

Journal of Field Archaeology, 1994

Ramsey Abbey, Cambridgeshire: Excavations at the Site of a Fenland Monastery

Medieval Archaeology, Nov 1, 2008

We know remarkably little about the archaeology of the great fenland abbeys. Ramsey stands with P... more

The origins of settlements at Kelso and Peebles, Scottish Borders archaeological excavations in Wester and Easter Kelso and Cuddyside/Bridgegate, Peebles by the Border Burghs Archaeology Project and the Scottish Urban Archaeological Trust, 1983--1994

Scottish archaeological internet reports, 2003

drew the phase plans for 13-19 Roxburgh Street, Chalkheugh Terrace, Wester Kelso/Floors Castle an... more drew the phase plans for 13-19 Roxburgh Street, Chalkheugh Terrace, Wester Kelso/Floors Castle and Bridgegate, based on illustrations by Rupert Kavanagh. The artefact illustrations are by Frank Moran (Kelso and Bridgegate) and David Munro (Cuddyside). Pottery illustrations are by Eric Cadow (Kelso), David Munro (Bridgegate) and Frank Moran (Cuddyside). Adrian Cox would like to thank Mandy Clydesdale and Debbie Forkes for selective conservation of Bridgegate and Kelso artefacts. Derek Hall would like to thank George Haggarty for his help in reassessing the pottery assemblages from the Kelso excavations and for his invaluable comments on the Post Medieval and Industrial pottery groups. The Cuddyside, Peebles excavations were funded by Eildon Housing Association, Borders Regional Council and Historic Scotland. James Mackenzie would like to thank the excavation team of Charlie Falconer, Niall Robertson, Carrie Sermon and Derek Shepherd for working so assiduously through the frequent downpours typical of February winter weather; and Dr Piers Dixon for his comments on the findings of the excavations, and John Dent, then Regional Archaeologist for Borders Regional Council, now Scottish Borders Council, for assistance in organising the excavations. Adrian Cox would like to thank Paul Harrison for undertaking selective conservation and producing X-ray images of the iron objects from Cuddyside. The illustrations for Cuddyside are by David Munro. Preparation of this report, including completion of some aspects of post-excavation analysis on the MSC-funded projects, was managed by Olwyn Owen and funded by Historic Scotland.

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Earthwork Platforms at Manor Farm, Stow Longa

In January 1995 the Archaeological Field Unit of Cambridgeshire County Council carried out an arc... more In January 1995 the Archaeological Field Unit of Cambridgeshire County Council carried out an archaeological evaluation by means of limited linear trenching in a plot of land off Spaldwick Road, Stow Longa, Huntingdonshire (TL 511/271). Earthworks visible on the site were demonstrated to be mainly the result of 19th and 20th century dumping and make-up, with the exception of a probable house platform by the road frontage which was associated with finds of a late medieval and early modern pottery.

The Production and Distribution of Medieval Pottery in Cambridgeshire

A Late Saxon Village and Medieval Manor: Excavations at Botolph Bridge, Orton Longueville, Peterborough

Freelance thin section analyst Twigs Way Freelance documentary researcher Plate I Aerial photogra... more

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Throckenholt Farm, Parson Drove: A Roman Landscape on The Silt Fen

During November 1993 The Archaeology Field Unit (AFU) of Cambridgeshire County Council carried ou... more During November 1993 The Archaeology Field Unit (AFU) of Cambridgeshire County Council carried out an evaluation excavation of detailed cropmarks in the parish of Parson Drove. The work was completed as a continuation of a survey of the archaeology on the Cambridgeshire County Farms Estate. This project had previously identified sites and made recommendations for their future management (Malim, 1990). The new phase of fieldwork evaluation was funded by English Heritage and had two main research objectives: 1) determine the extent and state of preservation of archaeological deposits and their depth below the ground surface; and 2) identify the function, period and morphology of the site. The site is located on siltland, reclaimed during the first century AD by the Romans, and from cropmark and fieldwork evidence it seems to represent and extensive agricultural and settlement landscape. It appears from the aerial photographs as groups of rectangular enclosures approached by long north-west/south-east and east/west aligned droveways. The excavation, limited through time, was concentrated on a small portion of the cropmarks in the area for which a new lease was being negotiated. The area available for investigation was further restricted due to some fields being waterlogged. A total of five trenches were opened by a wheeled JCB excavator across the main area defined by the cropmarks. The work has demonstrated evidence of activity dating from the 2nd to 3rd centuries AD. This in the form of rectangular, ditched enclosures facing north-west/south-east aligned droveways leading out to associated field systems, possibly suggesting animal husbandry was being practised. Evidence of occupation was limited: The remains of high quality locally made pottery vessels, domestic tools and two rubbish pits were identified and although the precise site of the settlement was not located, it was recognised as being in the vicinity. By the late second to early third century the site appears to have fallen out of use, with abandonment possibly attributed to at least two phases of flooding. Limited later use of the site was identified in the form of two post-medieval ditches, which functioned as part of a later drainage network. The work has also shown that the site has suffered considerably from some recent agricultural practices. Damage in the areas examined, appears to have stabilised, however, if future ploughing is restricted to the topsoil then the surviving archaeological remains should not suffer further destruction. However, given that the precise location of the settlement has not been located, and considering the lack of work on Fenland settlement sites and their importance in our understanding of the Fenland settlement sites and their importance in our understanding of the Fenland rural economy, further work would seem appropriate, to determine the degree of preservation of any surface. A regular, biennial, system of monitoring should be established, evolving a combination of site visits with ad hoc field walking and possibly reinforced by limited trenching which also could be designed to evaluate unexplored areas of the site.

Evaluation of Iron Age, Roman and Sxon Archaeology at the Proposed Wellcome Trust Genome Campus Extension, Hinxton, Cambridgeshire. TL 500433. Environmental Statement Technical Annex C

Evaluation trenching was carried out in January and February 1998 on the site of the proposed Wel... more Evaluation trenching was carried out in January and February 1998 on the site of the proposed Wellcome Trust Genome Centre Campus Extension, Hinxton Hall, Hinxton, Cambridgeshire. Archaeological field evaluation confirmed the survival of archaeological features, many of which had previously been identified from cropmarks and geophysical survey data. The evaluation showed that these remains mostly date from the late Iron Age through to the late Saxon periods. The earliest archaeology present within the development area consists of a general background scatter of Neolithic, Bronze Age and Iron Age flint work which lies within the topsoil or later archaeological features. The earliest identified cut features are of late Iron Age date, representing a small farmstead comprising post built structures, pits, boundaries, midden deposits infilling ditches and enclosures. Early Romano-British archaeology continues the Iron Age land use pattern, although at a later date in the period pitting a...

Medieval and Post Medieval Features at Chapel Orchard, Town Green Road, Orwell

Review: Between Broad Street and the Great Ouse: Waterfront Archaeology in Ely. Craig Cessford, Mary Alexander and Alison Dickens, 2006

Early Saxon and medieval remains adjacent to the round moat, Fowlmere

An Early Saxon building containing an assemblage of pottery was found next to a horse burial. The... more

Excavations at Orchard Lane, Huntingdon, 1994

Excavations at Orchard Lane, Huntingdon, in 1994 revealed rubbish and cess pits dating from AD 90... more Excavations at Orchard Lane, Huntingdon, in 1994 revealed rubbish and cess pits dating from AD 900--1150, and information was obtained on the diet of the Saxo-Norman population. Probably in the eleventh century, the site became a cemetery and remains of over twenty individuals were excavated. Burials had ceased by the fifteenth century and, apart from a quarrying episode in the sixteenth or seventeenth century, thereafter the property remained open or was used as a builders' yard. A group of Saxo-Norman pottery is published as part of the article, and future research priorities for archaeology in Huntingdon are proposed. Includes separately authored reports on

The archaeology of Wigford and the Brayford pool (Book)

Antiquity, 2002

... The archaeology of Wigford and the Brayford pool (Book). Autores: Paul Spoerry; Localización:... more

Evaluation of Iron Age, Roman and Saxon Archaeology at the Proposed Wellcome Trust Genome Centre Campus Extension, Hinxton Hall, Hinxton, Cambridgeshire. TL500433

Evaluation trenching was carried out in January and February 1998 on the site of the proposed Wel... more Evaluation trenching was carried out in January and February 1998 on the site of the proposed Wellcome Trust Genome Centre Campus Extension, Hinxton Hall, Hinxton, Cambridgeshire. Archaeological field evaluation confirmed the survival of archaeological features, many of which had previously been identified from cropmarks and geophysical survey data. The evaluation showed that these remains mostly date from the late Iron Age through to the late Saxon periods. The earliest archaeology present within the development area consists of a general background scatter of Neolithic, Bronze Age and Iron Age flint work which lies within the topsoil or later archaeological features. The earliest farmstead comprising post built structures, pits, boundaries, midden deposits infilling ditches and enclosures. Early Romano-British archaeology continues the Iron Age land use pattern, although at a later date in the period pitting and quarrying for the extraction of sands and gravels occurs along the ri...

Roman and Medieval Remains at Watersmeet, Mill Common, Huntingdon. 2000

Between November 25th and December 2nd 1999 the Archaeology Field Unit of Cambridgeshire County C... more Between November 25th and December 2nd 1999 the Archaeology Field Unit of Cambridgeshire County Council carried out an archaeological evaluation at Watersmeet, Mill Common, Huntingdon (TL2398 7136). The results from the evaluation revealed significant late Iron Age/Roman and Medieval remains within the development area. The 1st century Iron Age or Roman remains may represent roadside activity alongside Ermine Street or represent riverside occupation which eventually culminated in the nearby villa site. The medieval remains consist of several occupation features, plus a re-working of the post-Conquest period, rather than being part of the Danish or Saxon burh. It may therefore represent a 'lost' western bailey of the Norman Castle.

Evaluations on the site of the lost medieval settlement of Densett, Bourn, Cambridgeshire

As part of a research project into a previously unknown rural medieval iron industry based in Wes... more As part of a research project into a previously unknown rural medieval iron industry based in West Cambridgeshire, a programme of fieldwalking, geophysical survey and trial trenching was carried out on the lost settlement of Densett in Bourn parish. Fieldwalking and documentary research by David Baxter had identified abandoned medieval properties and concentrations of surface finds including domestic material and industrial waste from both smithing and smelting. During August 2004 a magnetometer survey was carried out across the whole settlement landscape supplemented by smaller amounts of resistivity. From these results and other landscape data, a trenching strategy was designed to investigate domestic remains and putative industrial features including possible smelting or smithing hearths and areas of features associated with characteristic bloomery slags. Either linear evaluation trenches were excavated during late September and early October 2004. A putative concentration of dom...

Late Saxon and Medieval Activity at Barwells Engineering Site, Blackhorse Lane Swavesey

Evaluation trenching in early 1997 produced evidence of late Saxon and Saxo-Norman occupation in ... more Evaluation trenching in early 1997 produced evidence of late Saxon and Saxo-Norman occupation in two of eight trenches. These remains included postholes, beamslots and pits which probably represent property boundaries and a timber structure. All archaeological features were located on the terrace gravels. In contrast the remaining six trenches, which produced alluvial deposits, lie within the extent of the 1947 flood waters which suggest that the edge of this recent inundation may also limit the historic edge of permanently dry land. This new evidence suggests that we have to consider a late Saxon/Saxo-Norman component when discussing the origins and the early history of Swavesey.

Evaluation of Iron Age, Roman and Saxon Archaeology at the proposed Wellcome Trust Genome Campus Extension, Hinxton, Cambridgeshire. TL500433

Late Saxon and Medieval Activity, and Ditch Systems, between School Lane and Blackhorse Lane, Swavensey

In July 1996 the second phase of a three phase archaeological evaluation was carried out in advan... more In July 1996 the second phase of a three phase archaeological evaluation was carried out in advance of residential development by the Archaeological Field Unit (AFU) of Cambridgeshire County Council. The work was funded by McLean Homes (East Anglia) Ltd. A specification was drawn up in consultation with the County Archaeology Office (development control). Dense occupation of late Saxon to medieval date was identified in the north-eastern corner of the field, and included pitting and evidence for timber structures of more than one phase. In part this overlay deliberate dumping which seems to have provided an extension to the gravel terrace. This latter was found to occupy on the north-eastern corner of the field, rather than spreading across it as indicated on the geological survey map. The gravel terrace, and adjacent dumping on which occupation was located, represent a sharp contrast with the lower lying and probably periodically flooded basin across the rest of the field. The ditc...

Throckenholt Farm, Parson Drove: A Roman Landscape on The Silt Fen

Past and Present Soil Erosion. Archaeological and Geographical Perspectives

Journal of Field Archaeology, 1994

Ramsey Abbey, Cambridgeshire: Excavations at the Site of a Fenland Monastery

Medieval Archaeology, Nov 1, 2008

We know remarkably little about the archaeology of the great fenland abbeys. Ramsey stands with P... more

Scottish archaeological internet reports, 2003

Download

Earthwork Platforms at Manor Farm, Stow Longa

The Production and Distribution of Medieval Pottery in Cambridgeshire

A Late Saxon Village and Medieval Manor: Excavations at Botolph Bridge, Orton Longueville, Peterborough

Freelance thin section analyst Twigs Way Freelance documentary researcher Plate I Aerial photogra... more

Download

Throckenholt Farm, Parson Drove: A Roman Landscape on The Silt Fen

Evaluation of Iron Age, Roman and Sxon Archaeology at the Proposed Wellcome Trust Genome Campus Extension, Hinxton, Cambridgeshire. TL 500433. Environmental Statement Technical Annex C

Medieval and Post Medieval Features at Chapel Orchard, Town Green Road, Orwell

Review: Between Broad Street and the Great Ouse: Waterfront Archaeology in Ely. Craig Cessford, Mary Alexander and Alison Dickens, 2006

Early Saxon and medieval remains adjacent to the round moat, Fowlmere

An Early Saxon building containing an assemblage of pottery was found next to a horse burial. The... more

Excavations at Orchard Lane, Huntingdon, 1994

The archaeology of Wigford and the Brayford pool (Book)

Antiquity, 2002

... The archaeology of Wigford and the Brayford pool (Book). Autores: Paul Spoerry; Localización:... more

Evaluation of Iron Age, Roman and Saxon Archaeology at the Proposed Wellcome Trust Genome Centre Campus Extension, Hinxton Hall, Hinxton, Cambridgeshire. TL500433

Evaluation trenching was carried out in January and February 1998 on the site of the proposed Wel... more Evaluation trenching was carried out in January and February 1998 on the site of the proposed Wellcome Trust Genome Centre Campus Extension, Hinxton Hall, Hinxton, Cambridgeshire. Archaeological field evaluation confirmed the survival of archaeological features, many of which had previously been identified from cropmarks and geophysical survey data. The evaluation showed that these remains mostly date from the late Iron Age through to the late Saxon periods. The earliest archaeology present within the development area consists of a general background scatter of Neolithic, Bronze Age and Iron Age flint work which lies within the topsoil or later archaeological features. The earliest farmstead comprising post built structures, pits, boundaries, midden deposits infilling ditches and enclosures. Early Romano-British archaeology continues the Iron Age land use pattern, although at a later date in the period pitting and quarrying for the extraction of sands and gravels occurs along the ri...

Roman and Medieval Remains at Watersmeet, Mill Common, Huntingdon. 2000

Evaluations on the site of the lost medieval settlement of Densett, Bourn, Cambridgeshire

Late Saxon and Medieval Activity at Barwells Engineering Site, Blackhorse Lane Swavesey

Evaluation of Iron Age, Roman and Saxon Archaeology at the proposed Wellcome Trust Genome Campus Extension, Hinxton, Cambridgeshire. TL500433

Late Saxon and Medieval Activity, and Ditch Systems, between School Lane and Blackhorse Lane, Swavensey

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