ULAS
University of Leicester Archaeological Services

Church Lane, South Witham, Lincolnshire

A Medieval Productive Site

ULAS undertook excavations at 8 Church Lane, South Witham, Lincolnshire, in April 2002 following the discovery of archaeological evidence for Romano-British and medieval domestic and industrial activity during preliminary evaluation work in December 2000. The subsequent excavation sought both to expand on this earlier work and to address two research aims; namely, the investigation of the supposed third-century Romano-British occupational gap in the area, and secondly, the possibly Anglo-Saxon origins of the medieval village.

Located in the southern part of the county and close to the Romano-British Ermine Street, South Witham and its environs have produced significant archaeological material from the prehistoric through to medieval periods. Excavations by English Heritage on the northern edge of the village in the 1960s revealed a medieval farm and preceptory linked to the Knights Templar, one of two religious orders known to have had a presence in South Witham during the medieval period.

The earliest significant occupational evidence at Church Lane dated to the first and second centuries AD and comprised a series of Romano-British shallow ditches or gullies, probably representing some form of land subdivision, whilst querns and pottery recovered from a single pit suggest domestic occupation. The recovery of a number of fourth-century pottery sherds supports the theory of the area having been reoccupied after a third-century gap.

Activity during the subsequent Anglo-Saxon period appears to have been minimal, but with the eleventh century the site entered a significant period of industrial and food production in the form of iron working and, possibly, bread production, both activities seemingly continuing into the fifteenth century. The principal evidence for food production took the form of a probable bread oven or malting kiln, which survived as a keyhole-shaped structure.

The eastern section consisted of an oval cut into the natural limestone, the tapering sides of which were lined with unmortared, coursed limestone masonry, the heat-reddened mouth of which opened onto a possible flue, extending c.5m to the west. Although finds from the feature itself provided no clues as to its possible function, its distinctive form is paralleled in features identified elsewhere as malting kilns. Supporting evidence came from a nearby shallow hearth, oven base or pit, environmental analysis of fills of which produced residues generally associated with the cultivation and production of bread wheat, possibly in the parching of grain.

The western sector of the site was dominated by a series of early medieval rubbish pits, a number of which contained substantial quantities of iron working tap slag, indicative of the site having been associated with the smelting and, possibly, smithing of iron during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. The absence of clear associated structural features suggests that production was being undertaken offsite, although in the near vicinity, and tallies with evidence from findings from previous archaeological investigations in the village.

Historical sources state that two religious houses were situated in medieval South Witham, and it is a strong possibility that the large-scale production of bread and iron being carried out in the village was for the purpose of provisioning one or both of these elite institutions. Suggestions of the production of parched grain and, by implication, of fine white bread would strengthen such claims.

The recent excavations at Church Street have proved doubly significant. Firstly, they have provided evidence to support suggestions of a third-century gap in occupation in the South Witham area. Secondly, and more significantly, the project has supplied a valuable insight into medieval productive processes and, by implication, shed light on the provisioning requirements of an elite religious group.