Monument Type(s):

• BURH (Late Saxon - 800 AD to 1066 AD)

Summary

The name and plan of the village suggest that Pontesbury was a settlement of some importance in the Anglo-Saxon period. Pontesbury means the burh in the valley. An oval ring road, surrounds most of the older houses in the village. Excavation has suggested the survival of a defensive ditch.

Related records: None recorded

Associated Finds: None recorded

Associated Events

• ESA2980 - 1994 Evaluation on land adjacent to Berwyn, Pontesbury by Earthworks Archaeological Services
• ESA5833 - 2004 Inspection of groundworks at 9-10 Main Road, Pontesbury by SCCAS

Description

The name and plan of the village suggest that Pontesbury was a settlement of some importance in the Anglo-Saxon period. Pontesbury means the burh in the valley. An oval ring road, now known as Hall Bank to the N, Chapel St to the E, and Brookside to the SW, surrounds most of the older houses in the village. As no significant changes have been made in the alignment of the roads here since at least 1769, this ring road may follow the line of a defensive earthwork <1a>

An evaluation was carried out in May 1994 on land adjacent to Berwyn, Main Road, Pontesbury by Earthworks Archaeology Services prior to planned residential development of the site. A single trench was excavated back from the line of The Hall Bank, the road running directly north of the site. Beneath the remains of a 19th century features, possibly extraction pits, shown on cartographic sources, were the much truncated remains of at least two phases of earthwork defences. The earlier of two ditches was estimated to be over 2m wide, and may have been associated with the possible remains of a clay rampart on its south side. There was no dating evidence. The line of ditches is approximately 8 to 9m back from the line of the Hall Bank. The evaluation demonstrated that there were significant archaeological deposits underlying the site of the proposed development, and these remains may be associated with an Anglo Saxon defensive circuit running parallel to and perpetuated in the modern road. This report also contains a comprehensive explanatory section on the history of Pontesbury. <2>

The evaluation (<2>) showed that there were significant remains but that they were unlikely to survive within 0.60m of the current ground surface. The HEG recommended to SABC that arrangements be made in the planning consent for a programme of archaeological supervision of the ground disturbance to be drawn up, and that any disturbance below 0.60m be agreed beforehand. [This site was not further developed <3a>]. <3>

Photographed during aerial survey in 2007 (general views). <4><5>

Contra <1a>, Rowley draws attention to the fact that the oval shape may be associated with a post-Norman re-alignment of the settlement following the construction of the castle. <6>

Sources

Search results generated by the HBSMR Gateway from exeGesIS SDM Ltd.