An Investigation into the Archaeological History of Tidgrove Warren Farm

	HOME THE STONEAGE THE ROMANS THE MEDIEVAL PERIOD NEXT STEP

In 1172 the sheriff of Hampshire accounted for an expenditure of £31 9s 7d on the domus regis [the King’s Houses] at Tidgrove. In 1177 he accounted for an expenditure of £7 16s on the king’s chapel. In 1178 there was further expenditure of £24 18s on the buildings, possibly in preparation for the king’s visit the following year. 1179 may have been the King’s last stay at Tidgrove for he now gave orders for the building of a new house, a mile and a half north on what is now known as Cottingtons Hill. The work was completed between 1180-1183, and in the pipe rolls is recorded as Freemantle. It is not known why the King abandoned Tidgrove, but the name given to the new location may reflect the death of the Fair Rosamund about 1176. According to Dugdale one of her bowers was here, and the name Freemantle may reflect the King’s hope that there he would find a cloak for the coldness of his heart [Frigidum Mantellum]* on the loss of his beloved mistress. The site of the king’s house at Tidgrove is indicated by evidence of a ditched enclosure some 80 yards by 50, visible both on the ground and more clearly on aerial photographs. Pottery dating from the twelfth century has been found on the site, together with a fine 13th century belt buckle and an iron arrowhead. Immediately to the east of the enclosure where there was once a stream, long since dried up, which may have fed a fishpond.

* A paper by Dr Keith Briggs about the origins of the name Freemantle is being published in the Journal of the English Place-Name Society issue 40 (2008) and will be available as a pdf file on http://keithbriggs.info/freemantle.html.

In Geddington in Northamptonshire there is the site of another Henry II hunting lodge. The following is extracted from their village web site, www.geddington.net/history.htm

Royal Hunting Lodge - The building of the Royal Hunting Lodge situated on the rise to the north of the church in 1129 put Geddington on the map, being used for hunting parties for the next 160 years. The original building was no doubt of timber construction costiong some £17.

The first Plantagenet King Henry II (1154 - 1189) used the Lodge frequently and organised improvements for, in 1177 and again in 1188, the Grand Council of the King was summond to meet in Geddington, on the second occasion to discuss the organisation of the Crusade to the Holy Land. In 1194 King Richard I entertained King William of Scotland in the village and there are several records of visitis by King John.

It was during Henry III's reign that most was made to the Lodge, many with the Queen in mind and leading to the building becoming known as a "Palace" or "Castle".

A possible plan, based upon excavation and documentary evidence, of the Geddington Hunting Lodge is below. The Tidgrove Lodge is not likely to be as extensive as the one at Geddington as it was only in use for about 10 years before the King abandoned it in favour of a site at Freemantle 2 kilomtres to the north.

TIDGROVE
the 2005 Excavation

A trench was opened across the features found on the geophysical survey carried out in 2003 which also showed up on the aerial photographs.

The primary clearance showed up the area of an unknown feature through which the boundary ditch of the medieval site cuts together with an area containing dressed flint and sandstone and medieval mortar. There was also a feature running up the slope of the field showing dark burnt material.

During the second week of the excavation part of the outer ditch of the enclosure was excavated. It was about 1.5 metres deep and contained small amounts of pottery and bone. For most of the week we found little evidence of any building apart from some flint rubble and medieval mortar. However late on the Friday (with the aid of a rabbit's burrow) we discovered the base of a substantial wall.

The rest of the trench produced nothing but mysteries. The enclosure behind the wall seems to be full of rubble, possibly from an medieval building. Upon starting to clear the area it was found that the edge was sloping inwards. Was it a cellar? Would it reveal a level area on which the medieval building was built?

Other questions remain. Why did they dig out a large ditch around the area when it would be easier and quicker to build a stockade? Why was there a smaller ditch inside the larger one that is filled with burnt material? The large dark area produced no finds at all. This being the case we used a machine to remove the soil to try and solve the mystery of what it is.

We continued investigating the "cellar" area behind the wall. As we progressed some animal bone and medieval pottery was uncovered.

As we continued to clean the site at the we found the base of a wall that went around three sides of the area being investigated. We now think that this was in fact a cellar beneath a building. The building was probably built of wood upon rafters placed across the cellar. Access to the cellar would have been from an entrance further down the slope of the hillside.

We also continued investigating the large anomoly outside the perimeter ditch. A trench was excavated by hand down to the maximum permitted depth without any success. We then used a machine to dig down to the base of the trench which was at 10ft below ground level. We don't know what this feature is at this stage but in the spoil we found a clay pipe and some pottery dating from about 1600.

TIDGROVE
the 2006 Excavation

Air view showing approximate positions of the trenches in 2006

In 2006 we decided to open up the 2005 trench again but further to the north (trench 1 above) to investigate the possible building undercroft that we found at the end of the 2005 dig.

During spring 2006 Southampton University carried out ground penetrating radar surveys and found other substantial buildings. We thus opened up a second trench (trench 2 above) and found evidence of walls and circular features . These may have been the bases of pillars supporting a roof of an aisle hall. But we did not find firm evidence of the outer walls. We now suspect that this building could have been the gatehouse to the enclosure. The geophysical survey carried out in 2004 showed a gap in the surrounding ditch at this point. The circular areas mentioned above are post holes and not bases of pillars as first thought.

The outer ditch after excavation was found to be about 2 metres deep which seems to suggest that the site was more important than was at first thought. After much discussion the academics decided that the site was the equivalent of a castle (see Geddington above) and was surrounded by two ditches. These two ditches were excavated adjacent to the site of the gatehouse. We also completely cleaned out the post holes which were over 1 metre in diameter and would have held massive posts. Also due to the rain (it was a typical English summer) a jawbone of an animal was uncovered, possibly a pig.

In trench 1 we continued with the investigation of the large cellar discovered that it was a building about 25 feet square. From the pipe rolls we have reason to believe that this cellar was situated under the King's chapel and used to store wine and perishable foodstuffs. The walls so far uncovered are substantial and there are dressed stone steps leading down from the upper level into the cellar. On one of the walls the original plaster is still in place. In the end we reached the floor of the cellar, about 1.5 metres below current ground level, where the base of the northern wall again showed evidence of plaster. We were also able to get an idea of the extent of this building.

FIRST THOUGHTS ON THE 2006 EXCAVATION

By Kriss Strutt and David Hinton - University of Southampton.

With the support of the Kingsclere Heritage Association and of Mr Raleigh Place, the University of Southampton has now completed the fourth year of fieldwork at Tidgrove Warren Farm. This year, work concentrated on the ditched enclosure that had been shown in 2005 to be the site of the royal house there on which King Henry II spent money in the 1170s. Its wide and deep ditch showed that a lot of time and effort went into its construction, and a cellar was identified. This year’s work has shown that the cellar was a grand structure; it had plastered flint lining walls, up to 8 feet deep, and a side entrance with stone-lined stairs. It probably had a stone barrel-vaulted roof with buildings above it. Elsewhere on the site, very large post-holes and a rammed chalk deposit were found, the latter confirming the results of an experimental ground-penetrating radar survey in the spring; another section ditch proved as large as the one excavated in 2005, but with an added complication – the edge of what seems to have been another deep ditch, not quite on the same line.

Tidgrove’s royal residence was much more than the expected few timber buildings for occasional use. The cellar seems as large and substantial as one at Clarendon Palace; the ditch is deeper and wider than at some castles; and the enormous post-holes might have carried an impressive gate-house. It seems unlikely now that all this work was done only in the 11780s and that the site was then abandoned for ‘Freemantle’, on which money was spent in the 1180s. Instead, the residence may have been renamed, and Robert Legg has suggested that it could have been used until the end of King John’s reign. Only in the 1250s, when a park was constructed around what is now Cottington Hill, was a house built up there, either on the summit (where geophysical survey in April indicated buildings, but possibly all parts of Cottington’s late 17th-century mansion) or in the area of Freemantle Park Farm. This would be consistent with most of the pottery excavated at Tidgrove, which does not include much that looks mid or later 13th-century. But we need at least another season of excavation to see what was going on there.

Click for details of the 2007 excavation

More ......