Information for record number MWA1832:
Early Anglo-Saxon settlement site and cemetery at Stretton on Fosse Site 1

Summary A settlement and complete cemetery of early Saxon date was discovered during excavation. 45 skeletons were revealed, a further 6 were thought to have been destroyed by sand extraction. The cemetery was situated to the west of Stretton on Fosse.
What Is It?  
Type: Inhumation Cemetery, Inhumation, Settlement, Grubenhaus
Period: Unknown
Where Is It?  
Parish: Stretton on Fosse
District: Stratford on Avon, Warwickshire
Grid Reference: SP 21 38
(Data represented on this map shows the current selected record as a single point, this is for illustrative purposes only and does not represent an accurate or complete representation of archaeological sites or features)
Level of Protection National - Old SMR PrefRef (Grade: )
Sites & Monuments Record
Description

 
Source Number  

1 Excavation 1968-70 produced 53 inhumations with grave goods of late Roman/early Saxon date.
2 1968: A Saxon cemetery and settlement found in sand digging. 22 skeletons have been excavated including males, females and children. Finds included small square-headed brooches, disc brooches, amber and glass beads, shield-bosses and spears. Some burials are secondary to sunken features, possibly hut sites. Bone, Roman and Saxon pottery show that settlement existed nearby.
3 1969: An area of over 1.2 ha was stripped to reveal the complete extent of the cemetery. A total of 53 inhumations were discovered, six having been virtually destroyed by Medieval quarrying. The linear cemetery measuring over 61m long by 14m in breadth contained six rows of graves, with nine graves tailing away towards the W. 21 adult males, eleven adult females and fifteen children were identifiable, each containing grave goods. The males were buried with spears, shields and knives, a more important grave contained a bronze bowl. The female graves produced fifteen brooches including saucer, disc, cross potent, square-headed and trefoil types. Charcoal amongst graves to the E of the cemetery may indicate ceremonial fires placed at intervals among the first four rows.
6 settlement consisted of a rectangular surface structure and two grubenhauser which had been deliberately dismanteled and backfilled. The settlement predated the cemetery being cut by graves. The burials were dated to between AD 495 - 600 so the settlement must have predated this.
7 Scheduling record form.
8 Transcript of a lecture.
9 Early scheduling record.
10 Material relating to a planning application.
11 Costing of a proposed evaluation in response to
10.
12 Material relating to proposed landscape work.
13 Material relating to proposed building extensions.
14 Note about the valuable grave goods.
 
Sources

Source No: 6
Source Type: Article in serial
Title: The Romano-British and Anglo-Saxon settlement and cemeteries at Stretton-on-Fosse, Warwickshire
Author/originator: Ford, W J, TBAS vol 106
Date: 2003
Page Number: 1-116
Volume/Sheet: 106
   
Source No: 5
Source Type: Article in serial
Title: Medieval Archaeology: Medieval Britain in 1970
Author/originator: D M Wilson and S Moorhouse
Date: 1971
Page Number: 124-179
Volume/Sheet: 15
   
Source No: 4
Source Type: Article in serial
Title: Medieval Archaeology: Medieval Britain in 1969
Author/originator: D M Wilson and D G Hurst
Date: 1970
Page Number: 155-208
Volume/Sheet: 14
   
Source No: 1
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: TBAS vol 90
Author/originator: PJG
Date: 1980
Page Number: 30
Volume/Sheet: 90
   
Source No: 10
Source Type: Correspondence
Title: Romano British Cemetery and Settlement site, Stretton on Fosse
Author/originator: EH
Date: 1987/8
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 12
Source Type: Correspondence
Title: Romano British Cemetery, Stretton on Fosse
Author/originator: EH
Date: 1993/4
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 13
Source Type: Correspondence
Title: Romano British Cemetery, Stretton on Fosse
Author/originator: John Bradley Associates and EH
Date: 1996
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 2
Source Type: Excavation Report
Title: WMANS
Author/originator: WJF
Date: 1968
Page Number: 20
Volume/Sheet: 11
   
Source No: 14
Source Type: Note
Title: Anglo Saxon cemetery, Stretton on Fosse
Author/originator:
Date:
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 3
Source Type: Serial
Title: WMANS no 12 (1969)
Author/originator: Rahtz, P (ed)
Date: 1969
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: 12
   
Source No: 7
Source Type: Scheduling record
Title: Romano-British cemetery and settlement site, Stretton on Fosse
Author/originator: DoE
Date:
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 9
Source Type: Scheduling record
Title: Romano British Cemetery and Settlement site
Author/originator: DoE
Date: 1974
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 8
Source Type: Unpublished document
Title: Stretton on Fosse and Alveston - Romano British and Anglo Saxon cemeteries
Author/originator: Ford, W J
Date: 1987
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 11
Source Type: Unpublished document
Title: Cherry Orchard Farm and Town Farm, Stretton on Fosse
Author/originator: WM
Date: 1988
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Images:  
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Glossary

 
Word or Phrase
Description  
source TBAS Transactions of the Birmingham and Warwickshire Archaeological Society is a journal produced by the society annually. It contains articles about archaeological field work that has taken place in Birmingham and Warwickshire in previous years. Copies of the journal are kept by the Warwickshire Sites and Monuments Record. back
source WMANS West Midlands Archaeological News Sheet, a publication that was produced each year, this later became West Midlands Archaeology. The West Midlands Arcaheological News Sheet contains reports about archaeological work that was carried out in the West Midlands region in the previous year. It includes information about sites dating from the Prehistoric to the Post Medieval periods. It was produced the Department of Extramural Studies at Birmingham University. Copies are held at the Warwickshire Sites and Monuments Record. back
technique excavation Archaeologists excavate sites so that they can find information and recover archaeological materials before they are destroyed by erosion, construction or changes in land-use.

Depending on how complicated and widespread the archaeological deposits are, excavation can be done by hand or with heavy machinery. Archaeologists may excavate a site in a number of ways; either by open area excavation, by digging a test pit or a trial trench.
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period Roman About 43 AD to 409 AD (the 1st century AD to the 5th century AD)

The Roman period comes after the Iron Age and before the Saxon period.

The Roman period in Britain began in 43 AD when a Roman commander called Aulus Plautius invaded the south coast, near Kent. There were a series of skirmishes with the native Britons, who were defeated. In the months that followed, more Roman troops arrived and slowly moved westwards and northwards.
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period Medieval 1066 AD to 1539 AD (the 11th century AD to the 16th century AD)

The medieval period comes after the Saxon period and before the post medieval period.

The Medieval period begins in 1066 AD.
This was the year that the Normans, led by William the Conqueror (1066 – 1087), invaded England and defeated Harold Godwinson at the Battle of Hastings in East Sussex.
The Medieval period includes the first half of the Tudor period (1485 – 1603 AD), when the Tudor family reigned in England and eventually in Scotland too.

The end of the Medieval period is marked by Henry VIII’s (1509 – 1547) order for the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the years running up to 1539 AD. The whole of this period is sometimes called the Middle Ages.
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monument SITE * Unclassifiable site with minimal information. Specify site type wherever possible. back
monument SETTLEMENT * A small concentration of dwellings. back
monument BUILDING * A structure with a roof to provide shelter from the weather for occupants or contents. Use specific type where known. back
monument INHUMATION * An interment of unburnt, articulated human remains. Use specific type where known. back
monument FEATURE * Areas of indeterminate function. back
monument GRAVE * A place of burial. Use more specific type where known. back
monument GRUBENHAUS * A timber building based around a sunken hollow, the floor of which may have been suspended above the hollow to counteract dampness. Grubenhauser are believed to date from the 5th to 8th centuries AD but may be earlier. Use Grubenhauser as plural. back
monument HUT * A building of basic construction, usually smaller in size than a house and constructed from a variety of materials such as mud, turf, branches, wood, brick, concrete or metal. Use more specific type where known. back
monument INHUMATION CEMETERY * An area used for the deposition of human remains where the principal funeral rite is the burial of the corpse complete. Generally indicated by the discovery of articulated human skeletal remains, occasionally with evidence of coffins and/or grave goods. back
monument CEMETERY * An area of ground, set apart for the burial of the dead. back
monument SQUARE * An open space or area, usually square in plan, in a town or city, enclosed by residential and/or commercial buildings, frequently containing a garden or laid out with trees. back
monument BURIAL * An interment of human or animal remains. Use specific type where known. If component use with wider site type. Use FUNERARY SITE for optimum retrieval in searches. back
monument STRUCTURE * A construction of unknown function, either extant or implied by archaeological evidence. If known, use more specific type. back
monument ORCHARD * An enclosure used for the cultivation of fruit trees. back
monument ROW * A row of buildings built during different periods, as opposed to a TERRACE. back
monument CROSS * A free-standing structure, in the form of a cross (+), symbolizing the structure on which Jesus Christ was crucified and sacred to the Christian faith. Use specific type where known. back
monument FARM * A tract of land, often including a farmhouse and ancillary buildings, used for the purpose of cultivation and the rearing of livestock, etc. Use more specific type where known. back
monument TOWN * An assemblage of public and private buildings, larger than a village and having more complete and independent local government. back

* Copyright of English Heritage (1999)

English Heritage National Monuments Record