‘Unique, Traditional and Charming’. The Shapwick Project, Somerset

Abstract

The Shapwick Project, Somerset, began in 1989 as a ten-year, multidisciplinary landscape investigation focused upon the evolution of early and late medieval settlement patterns. This interim paper reviews the work carried out to 1996 and summarizes the results of archaeological fieldwork, standing building recording and documentary study. It is argued that the site of the present village and the medieval field system were planned in the late Saxon period and replaced a scatter of dispersed farmsteads, many of which show continuity from the prehistoric and Roman periods. The role of the medieval and post-medieval landscape is emphasized in reflecting and reinforcing social structure.

The Fields of Britannia: Continuity and Discontinuity in thePaysand Regions of Roman Britain

“…map. Some Romano-British features can be seen to share the same alignment as the earthworks of later ridge and furrow, as well as the orientation of the presentday fields derived from the enclosure by agreement of medieval open field strips, suggesting that elements of the Roman landscape remained into the tenth century when open fields in this region were probably established (Aston and Gerrard 1999;Rippon 2008;2012). Although most elements of the Romano-British landscape were thereafter lost (replaced by strips within an open field that itself was then enclosed), a small number of features, such as parts of the trackway, survive into the historic landscape of today (e.g.…”

A Persistence of Place: A Study of Continuity and Regionality in the Roman and Early Medieval Rural Settlement Patterns of Norfolk, Kent and Somerset

“…Our understanding of developing settlement processes in eastern Somerset between the 5 th to 11 th centuries has, however, been greatly aided by recent multidisciplinary research projects, such as those at Shapwick (Aston and Gerrard 1999;Gerrard with Aston 2007) and South Cadbury (Tabor 2002;, for example. The evidence at Shapwick indicates a contraction of settlement at some point from the end of the Roman period, although radiocarbon dating at sites, such as Sladwick, above, for example, suggests reduced levels of occupation at some sites into at least the 6 th century (Gerrard with Aston 2007, 964).…”

“…Building on the work of interdisciplinary research projects, such as Shapwick (Somerset) (Aston and Gerrard 1999;Gerrard with Aston 2007), for example, which targets both medieval settlement cores and related areas of infield and outfield, would increasingly inform our understanding of the parameters of early medieval settlement shift and how far the late Roman settlement pattern determined the location of early medieval settlement cores and the siting of Domesday vills, parish churches and manors. It would be useful, however, to extend this method of research to dispersed settlement areas, such as western Somerset, for example, to explore how far the smaller Domesday vills and 11 th century farming settlements relate to patterns of late Roman settlement.…”

Establishing the dates of farm sites (a.d. 800–present) in Salland (the Netherlands): An interdisciplinary approach

“…Well known early examples are the studies of Shapwick (Aston and Gerrard 1999) and the villages of the Whittlewood area (Jones and Page 2003;Page and Jones 2007;Lewis 2005).…”