Selected projects
4.19.23 Salford, Bedfordshire
In 1987, Salford was one of only a limited number of cropmark sites on the Greensand Ridge at the western end of the clay vale west of Bedford. It was threatened by gravel extraction, which had previously destroyed adjacent areas of cropmarks without record. Initially aerial photographs had suggested the presence of two ring ditches and a droveway, together with other smaller cropmarks that suggested pits and other less well-defined features. No previous work had taken place on the site and the excavation strategy was devised to fit in with the programme of quarrying, following on from a watching brief and salvage period in 1988. In the first phase a western quarry access route and the northern part of the site were investigated and these results were used to evaluate the potential for further work in the area.
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The fieldwork was funded by English Heritage and GFX Hartigan plc. The original aim of the project was to carry out full excavation of the site before destruction by quarrying. However, as the extent of the settlement and other features became clearer, this objective was modified by the adoption of a sampling strategy that would enable interpretation with less than total excavation. During excavation it became clear that the site was of national importance because of the surviving evidence for a series of round houses sealed by a deposit containing Iron Age materials. This deposit was protected from cultivation damage by a medieval headland that coincided with the location of part of the main settlement area. In addition, and of considerable interest, were three Bronze Age ring ditches, which predated the Iron Age settlement and which might have provided a focus for it.
Following the completion of excavations in 1991, an assessment, updated in the context of Management of archaeological projects (1991), was written, and analysis began in 1995. Today the final stages of ceramic analysis are progressing, focusing on the chronological sequence of the structures and the spatial distribution of artefacts and ecofacts of all types across the site. This process has been underpinned by the use of G-Sys and Access-based databases, which make the production of distribution plans a relatively straightforward process. The first draft of the final report on Salford was scheduled to be completed by Christmas 1998, and will be published in the Bedfordshire Archaeology Monograph Series.
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