An Early Anglo-Saxon Cemetery and Archaeological Survey at Breamore, Hampshire, 1999–2006

Abstract

A Byzantine pail, datable to the sixth century AD, was discovered in 1999, in a field near the River Avon in Breamore, Hampshire. Subsequent fieldwork confirmed the presence there of an early Anglo-Saxon cemetery. In 2001, limited excavation located graves that were unusual, both for their accompanying goods and for the number of double and triple burials. This evidence suggests that Breamore was the location of a well-supplied ‘frontier’ community which may have had a relatively brief existence during the sixth century. It seems likely to have had strong connections with the Isle of Wight and Kent to the south and south-east, rather than with communities up-river to the north and north-east.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The land-owners and tenants of Shallows Farm, Mrs E. Fletcher and Mr Peter Martin, are thanked for allowing access to the cemetery site. The initial geophysics and test-pitting in 2000 were funded by Hampshire County Council through the good offices of the County Planning Archaeologist, Mr David Hopkins. We are grateful to Dr Helen Geake (Portable Antiquities Scheme) and the late Mick Aston for encouraging us to prepare this report for publication, and to the contributors for allowing us to use and reproduce their work.

Subsequent fieldwork in the Breamore area was supported by the British Academy, the Universities of Southampton and Nottingham, and the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique as part of a collaborative project with the Université de Tours, and the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, to all of which gratitude is expressed (for a summary, Loveluck and Strutt 2014). It would not have been possible to institute the programme but for the cooperation of the Hulse estate, and particularly the interest taken by Sir Edward Hulse and Mr Michael Hulse.

The continued interest and support of Mr Tony Light, of the Avon Valley Archaeological Society, were very welcome. Also very helpful was Mr Chris Gifford, who put at our disposal reports and finds plots of metal-detecting surveys undertaken in various Breamore fields. Mr Steve Bolger not only located and reported the site in the first instance, but made the brooches and other metal-detected finds available for recording, and has now generously presented them to the Hampshire Cultural Trust, where the other artefacts from The Shallows are housed, as is the Time Team archive; Mr David Allen, Curator of Hampshire Archaeology, is particularly thanked for making material available at various times during this report’s preparation.

We are grateful to the other contributors: Kate Edwards, formerly Trust for Wessex Archaeology; Professor Alice Roberts, University of Birmingham; Dr John Pearce and Professor Charlotte Roueché, both King’s College London; Dr Sonja Marzinzik, Archäologische Staatsammlung München, formerly British Museum; Barry Ager, British Museum; Susan Youngs, formerly British Museum; Dr Jane Kershaw, University College London; Duncan Brown, Historic England; and Phil Harding, Trust for Wessex Archaeology. We should also like to thank the four referees, who went to great trouble to read the draft and to make some very useful and pertinent comments.

Drawings of the pail and other metal-detected objects were originally made by Mr Alan Cracknell, whose illustration of Mount Br 6 has been used in this report. All the other illustrations have been prepared for publication by Penny Copeland, University of Southampton, whose help throughout has been invaluable.

SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL

The online supplemental files can be accessed at http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00665983.2017.1235151 (Hinton and Worrell 2016, S01– S08): S01, trench and context table; S02, discussion and examples by James Miles of photogrammetric scans of the pail, Br 1, and of the glass bowl, Sf 1008ii, with a link to the former; S03, a commentary on the fieldwork undertaken in Breamore in 2001–6; S04, reports on geophysical work undertaken at various sites, including The Shallows, by Kristian Strutt; S05, reports on geophysical work undertaken in the North Street area, by Kristian Strutt; S06, a report on geophysical work at Breamore Priory, by Kristian Strutt; S07, analysis of the pottery, flint and other material found in test-pitting and fieldwalking, by Linda Mitchell; S08, report by Tony Light on earlier fieldwork at the Priory.