Can we tempt you?

Transactions vol 126: from burnt mounds to Boulton, and a lot in between.

The 126^th volume of the Society’s Transactions was published in early 2025. As usual, it contains articles on a variety of sites, in Warwickshire, Solihull, Coventry and Birmingham, ranging in date from prehistoric times to the 19^th century.

Jo Barker and Grace Griffith of Cotswold Archaeology describe excavations at Brownsover in Rugby, which took place before construction of a large distribution centre and revealed Bronze Age and Iron Age features. A “burnt mound” (mound of heat-shattered  stones and charcoal, the debris from cooking or steam bathing) middle Bronze Age date overlay an oval ditched area and pits. Various types of wood had been used to heat the stones, but predominantly oak and alder. The burnt mound was dated by radiocarbon to around 1350 BC, like other burnt mounds the west midlands. In another part of the site, late Bronze Age and early Iron Age by pottery was found in the ditch of an enclosure and gullies around two circular houses.

A farmstead of Iron Age and Roman date found in excavations before a housing development in Stratford-upon-Avon, described by Deborah Moretti, Alex Smith and Ailsa Westgarth of Headland Archaeology consisted of successive enclosures dating from the 4^th century BC to the 4^th century AD. In the Roman period there were some possible corn drying kilns which contained charred grain, mainly spelt. A pit whose base was lined with stone slabs may have been used for malting. Cattle and sheep bones indicated the types of animals kept on the site. Roman pottery from the site was mainly utilitarian, but there was some imported samian ware. Metalwork included brooches and some probable military equipment.

Excavations at Kidpile moated site in Earlswood by the Solihull Archaeological Group are described by Gillan Carmichael and Malcolm Cook. Soil dug out to create the moat had been piled up in the area inside it, forming a platform and burying the earlier ground surface and a few features. Small quantities of prehistoric worked flint and Roman pottery indicate earlier occupation of the site and medieval pottery under and within the platform shows that it was constructed in the 13^th or 14^th centuries. As in excavations of other moated sites in the area, pebble surfaces and many fragments of roof tile were found but it was difficult to pick out the outlines of buildings. The site may have been abandoned as a dwelling in the 15^th century. Furrows and a possible garden building show that the site was cultivated in the 19^th and early 20th centuries. A large quantity of pottery of this date was found, which was probably contained in “night soil” brought along canals from Birmingham and used as fertiliser.

Nat Alcock’s study of the former monastic refectory, the only surviving medieval building at Coventry Charterhouse (a Carthusian monastery) consisted of building recording, tree-ring dating and documentary research. This showed that the building had been converted into a country house by Henry Over, a Coventry mercer, in the 1550s. Part of a 15^th century wall painting of the Crucifixion survived, along with 16^th and 17^th century wall paintings. The medieval roof was strengthened in the 1550s, reusing 15^th century timbers.

A hoard of 17^th century gold coins of Charles II that was found in 1783 at Meriden is described by Murray Andrews. It is the largest coin hoard from Restoration England, and it was buried behind a house or an inn for security, possibly by a traveller.

Ben Russell of the Science Museum, London, reviews a book by George Demidowicz on Mathew Boulton and colleagues’ Soho Manufactory, mint and foundry in Birmingham and Sandwell.
The book includes documentary evidence, excavated remains and surviving objects now in museum collections including steam engines and a medal press.