Books in the British Archaeological Reports British Series series

Ceramic building material, particularly roofing material, is one of the most common finds on Romano-British sites, yet despite its abundance, it has been relatively little studied. Whole books have been devoted to relatively minor pottery types, but it is extremely rare for a book to devote as much as a single chapter to ceramic roofing material. This book is devoted to the study of ceramic roofing material, primarily tegulae. It considers how they were made and develops and dates a typology. It looks at the role of stamps and signatures and how these can inform the study of when and by whom the tegulae were made. It analyses how the tiles were fitted onto pitched roofs, how these roofs were constructed and proposes four stages in their evolution. It suggests that tegulae might also have been used on some vaulted roofs. Finally the logistics, costs and economics of tile manufacture and distribution are addressed. The book follows a logical sequence considering first how tegulae were manufactured, next their typology and then their dating in order to prepare the ground for the subsequent chapters on stamps and roof construction. The final chapter brings all the evidence together to examine the economic and social data that can be derived from a study of tegulae, grouped together as a single site. In contrast, where a useful assemblage of tiles has come from an individual site within a town, this has been identified separately from other assemblages within the same town. If these separate assemblages within the same towns are aggregated together then the number of individual sites falls from 104 to 85.

The main aims of this study are: to examine the development of Iron Age and Roman landscape of the Foulness Valley, East Yorkshire (northern England), from around 800 BC to the end of the Roman period; to test the validity of the results arising from earlier work undertaken concerning the location and character of Iron Age and Roman settlement and industry in a context of the whole catchment of the Foulness Valley; and to place the Iron Age and Roman archaeology and environment of the Foulness Valley in the wider context of Britain and beyond.

Birmingham Archaeology Monograph Series 12An area excavation was undertaken in December 2004-May 2005 within the western part of the interior and defences of Metchley Roman fort, Birmingham (central England) in advance of proposals for a new hospital development. This was the largest single excavation of the fort interior undertaken at Metchley, comprising an area of approximately 0.4ha, equivalent to approximately 9% of the total internal area of the Phase 1 and Phase 3 fort. This volume, the fourth in the reports, concentrates on the researches into the western fort interior, defences, and post-Roman activity.With contributions from Erica Macey-Bracken, Hilary Cool, James Greig, Rob Ixer, Rosalind McKenna, Anthony Swiss, Jane Timby, Roger White, Felicity Wild and David WilliamsIllustrations by Nigel Dodds and Jemma Elliott

This research focuses on the Early Bronze Age round barrows of the central and northern Anglo-Welsh borderlands. Contextualisation of the barrows is provided by a discussion of the archaeology of the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age in the study area. Existing classificatory schemes for barrows and cairns are critically analysed and the variety of taphonomic factors that are likely to have influenced the distribution of these monuments today is reviewed. The topographical context of a series of barrow clusters is examined in detail to demonstrate subtle but important differences in how these monuments were placed in the landscape. The study provides theoretical insights into the role of barrows and cairns. These are seen not solely as mortuary monuments, but as 'interventions' in the landscape that gave material form to particular social concerns through the manipulation of significant materials in special places.

Towards the end of the 20th century, sand and gravel extraction in the Middle Trent moved from the higher terrace gravels down onto the wide floodplain zone. The lower Hemington terrace gravels presented waterlogged conditions with excellent preservation of riverine structures, organic artefacts and ecofacts. One of the first discoveries occurred at Hemington Quarry in 1985: a 12th century mill dam and vertical water mill. An ongoing watching brief recorded many riverine structures and culminated in the discovery of three medieval bridges. The present book describes the discoveries from 1998 to 2000 of numerous medieval riverine structures. Three fish weir complexes of the late 7th-12th centuries produced rare evidence for the capture of migrating silver eels. A 12th-century mill dam was later reused as a basket fishery. A series of stone and timber bank-side structures of the 14th century reflect a change in fishing technology: the cribs were used to manage the river and provide river conditions suitable for net fishing.With contributions by Matt Beamish, Jennifer Browning, Nicholas J. Cooper, Robert Howard, Patrick Marsden, Angela Monckton, Anita Radini and Deborah Sawday

Papers presented at a conference organised by the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England and the Garden History SocietyCollection of ten papers given at a conference organised by Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England and the Garden History Society in London in November 1996. The subject is an archaeological one, concentrating on the contribution made by non-intrusive fieldwork studies to the archaeology of parks and gardens.

This volume, the product of a weekend conference hosted by the Department of Archaeology at the University of Newcastle in 1998, represents an attempt to further the debate about the present state of later prehistoric research across northern England and southern Scotland.

This work is the first comprehensive historical and archaeological investigation into the maritime organization of the port of Faversham, Kent, SE England. The period examined is 1580-1780. Faversham, a multi-functional town, was well placed to take advantage of its maritime position in the Swale, its closeness to Canterbury, and the need to ship grain to London from this fertile crescent of North Kent. An examination of the original and early development of the port is complemented by an analysis of the ships and port administration. Unique methods of ship operation and manning are investigated, and a comprehensive survey of the shipping fleets of Kent during their formative years undertaken. This study is also concerned with analyzing the variety of mercantile responses to marketing opportunities. Apart from providing London with ever-increasing agricultural cargoes (and return cargoes of manufactured goods), Faversham developed a very healthy trade in wool, oysters, fishing, and the manufacture of gunpowder. This movement of commodities is investigated, and the inter-play between changes in production patterns assessed, while the significance of the maritime development of the port provides ample scope for pioneering a study of port logistics and organization. An examination of the origins and early developments of Faversham's maritime industry is long overdue, and the uncovering of new evidence makes it possible to unravel the complexities of this mercantile activity during Faversham 's formative years.

This work examines the values that people hold for the landscapes of the Scottish Highlands. The central premise of the study is that to make decisions about the best way to curate landscapes it is necessary to understand the values that people have for landscape, and what are the main influences on these values. It is argued that the values the general public have for landscape should be fully incorporated within landscape planning and policy. For this, two key research questions formed the basis of the study: How can qualitative preferences and values for landscape best be captured and measured in a repeatable and reliable manner, and to what extent and in what ways does an increased knowledge of landscape history affect people's landscape preferences and values. This study answers these questions with reference to the landscape of the Scottish Highlands.

The concept of Sacred Space is among the most prominent and enduring aspects of religious expression. The main aim of this work is to examine the development of constructed cult loci from the late Iron Age to the late Roman period in southern Britain, focusing on the differential use of internal space. At the core of the study is an analysis of the use of space within certain constructed sacred sites. Contains 98 site 'databases', giving significant information and plans.

This research investigates the social technology of Roman iron production in the East Midlands, England. The research area covers the counties of Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Leicestershire, and Rutland, as well as parts of Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire. The aim is provide a detailed assessment of archaeometallurgical sites in the area, against a socio-economic background of settlement patterns and landscape development. An interdisciplinary archaeological and scientific approach is taken to appreciate the role of the East Midlands as a third region of significant iron production in Roman Britain. The term 'iron production' is used as an umbrella term for all stages necessary to make an iron implement ready for use, andis not confined to iron smelting alone. Hence, iron production covers the entire process from the mining of iron ore, ore processing, smelting, refining and the smithing processes involved up to the manufacture of an implement.

This volume attempts to establish or infer movement of people, objects and/or technology from archaeological evidence of similarity in form, decoration and use, the nature of the ceramic assemblages from the Isle of Man (UK) and those from other contemporary communities living around the Irish Sea. Evidence for contact was sought primarily with those areas most clearly visible from the Island itself, from the north and east of Ireland, from southwest Scotland and from northwest England. Ceramic evidence from Anglesey and the north Wales coast with its immediate hinterland, and from parts of northwest England, including Merseyside and Cheshire to within 25 miles of the coast was also taken into consideration. In addition, on the basis of a limited number of radiocarbon dates, an attempt is also made to address the problems of establishing a possible sequential relationship within the northern Irish Sea area and a Bronze Age chronology for the Isle of Man. Also included is a comprehensively illustrated and descriptive catalogue of the Manx Bronze Age pottery for the benefit of future researchers.Illustrations by Brian Williams.

There remains a wide variety of evidence for the production and consumption of tin and lead alloy tableware in Roman Britain. In this book it is the categorisation of Romano-British tin and lead alloy tableware, as well as vessel production moulds, manufacturing debris and compositional data for pewter vessels that forms the study's foundation. Yet it is the main purpose of this book to place this data in a wider social, economic and chronological context. In particular two powerful theoretical perspectives - that social identities could be constructed through the consumption of 'objects', and that such identities can be recorded in an object's depositional context - have informed this research. The main result of this study is that pewter tableware, although a 'Romanized' material, could create and maintain a range of different social identities. Functionally different vessels, for example, can be taken as indicators of different 'lifestyle' choices, the comparative values of which shifted over time. However, these identities could also be re-negotiated over time to suit a number of 'atypical' personal choices, such as the reuse of high status vessels in ritual or low status roles. Another key result is that pewter consumption was also constrained by a comparative absence of tin in Britain before the 3rd century. Limited pre-3rd century pewter production can be suggested as occurring predominantly where there was easy access to imported tin. However, post 3rd century production, although most prolific in regions that had direct access to Cornish tin, could also exist in central and eastern England where they were fuelled by recycled tin, the extent of which is starting to be addressed through compositional analysis of Romano-British pewter. These findings, and the data they are built on, should both contribute to research on Romano-British pewter, and more generally provide new approaches to understand Roman material culture in Britain.

This work examines aspects in the representations of femininities and masculinities in Roman art with particular reference to that of Roman Britain. The body of the study focuses on the visual demonstration of gender for specific deities, personifications and figural images in funerary art.

Northamptonshire Archaeology Monograph 2A programme of archaeological excavation was undertaken by Northamptonshire Archaeology in 1999-2000 on land to the north of West Fen Road, Ely, in response to conditions upon planning permission for housing development. The excavation, conducted in several stages, examined substantial parts of later Iron Age and Middle Saxon settlements. Both settlements formed part of wider complexes lying to the south of West Fen Road (The Ashwell Site) which have been published elsewhere. The Iron Age and Middle Saxon sites are described and discussed in detail. Both sites consisted mainly of ditched enclosures with sparser numbers of pits and other features. They yielded significant artefactual assemblages and palaeo-environmental and economic material, including some waterlogged and mineralised plant remains for the Middle Saxon period. Comparisons between the periods show a greater emphasis on sheep rearing in the Middle Saxon period than in the Iron Age, and a more varied diet for the inhabitants, including fish and hedgerow fruits. Both periods of occupation are in many respects typical of broader trends. The Iron Age enclosures formed part of an extensive permanent occupation of the Isle of Ely from 400-300 BC, with reorganisation in the 1st century AD. The beginning of Middle Saxon settlement around AD 700 and its contraction around AD 850 can be attributed to the wider fortunes of the monastic centre on the island.With contributions from Michael J Allen, Philip L Armitage, Paul Blinkhorn, Wendy J Carruthers, Sharon Clough, Mark Curteis, Val Fryer, Lorrain Higbee, Tora Hylton, Ivan Mack, Gerry McDonnell, Gwladys Monteil, Sarah Percival, Phil Piper and Alex ThompsonIllustrations by Jacqueline Harding

Despite theoretical advances in some areas of Field Evaluation practice, little research has been undertaken on the application of theory to actual Decision-making processes in the operation of Field Evaluation within the planning system. Through her professional capacity as a Curatorial Archaeologist employed by three separate English local authorities over the last 17 years, the author has recognized the necessity for further analysis and improvement of current pre-determination Field Evaluation approaches. This book investigates the effectiveness of Field Evaluation through an assessment of its Decision-making processes. The author aims to provide tools for Curatorial Archaeologists to better structure their approaches and to make better use of the information resources available. In order to achieve this aim, the following objectives were identified: 1) To use process modelling of current Archaeological Assessment practice to identify the Decision-making points at which improvements could be made; 2) To use an application of Decision Analysis to identify the actual processes performed by the Curatorial Archaeologist when selecting Field Evaluation techniques for specific sites; 3) To develop quantitative techniques to measure the effectiveness of current Field Evaluation techniques; 4) To measure the effectiveness of archaeological techniques from a case study sample of PPG16-required Field Evaluations carried out in England between 1990 and 2004; 5) To identify potential tools and approaches which might provide the profession with improvements at the selected Decision-making Points.

The type of personal ornamentation an individual wears is a matter of choice. Preferences in objects worn reflect local culture as well as the available materials. Thus, when the Roman army conquered the local indigenous population, there was potential for the personal ornamentation artifact assemblage of both groups to adopt and incorporate items and iconography from one another. Evidence of mutual influences in personal ornamentation from across the Roman Empire and local Britons were indicators of cultural change in the north of England. This blending of cultural traditions, in turn, leads to the formation of a unique northern Romano-British cultural assemblage. Furthermore, different types of personal ornaments and their iconography relate to several causal factors, including chronology, socio-economic factors (i.e. gender, ethnicity, and wealth) and geography. The northern Romano-British assemblage of personal ornamentation also provides an opportunity for further insight into these factors. This present research uses the distribution of personal ornamentation to explore not only themes of commonality in the assemblage across different social strata but also the possible emergence of a unique northern Romano-British cultural assemblage. In addition,the research evaluates some of the factors which result in the formation of 'discrepant identities', seen as variations in the assemblage across the cultural and geographical landscape.

Sculpted stones and carvings in caves and rock faces testify to an unexplored facet of early Christianity across a zone stretching from the Scottish coasts to Iceland. Though recent work paves the way for a more nuanced interpretation of this material, key uncertainties pose significant hurdles for scholarship. This book highlights the ambiguities surrounding Viking-Age Scandinavian and early Christian communities (called papar by later Norse literature), and focuses upon the Pap-place-names of the north Atlantic islands in order to shed new light on our understanding of the relationships between the peoples of this zone in the early medieval period.

To date there has been little systematic study of the appropriation of, or attitudes to, prehistoric monuments in settlements of the period. The objectives of the research presented here are twofold. Firstly, it assesses how widespread the reuse of prehistoric monuments was in early to middle Anglo-Saxon settlements. In so doing, it examines the types of settlements in which the activity occurred and the types of prehistoric features that were reused. This is achieved through a review of the Anglo-Saxon settlement evidence in a regional study area. The settlements discussed in this study date to the period c.AD 450-850, with a regional focus based on central England, defined here to the north by the Humber and to the south by the Thames. In addition to well-known and published sites, this review makes use of data that is less frequently discussed in archaeological discourse, such as partially excavated or unpublished settlements that have not previously attracted a great deal of attention from scholars. The second aim is to assess how, and particularly why, monuments were appropriated in settlements. In order to answer these questions an in-depth, site-by-site approach is taken, in which the layout and use of space in a number of case studies are analysed. These case studies allow greater understanding of the ways in which older monuments could be referenced in settlements, how reuse changed over time, and why monuments may have been significant. Four Gazetteers provide locational and reference data to the selected sites.

Birmingham Archaeology Monograph Series 7This report describes the results of an archaeological programme undertaken by Birmingham Archaeology between 2005 and 2007 at King's Norton, Birmingham, for King's Norton Parochial Church Council. It also incorporates the documentary research conducted independently by George Demidowicz and Stephen Price, concentrating on tenurial history, the history of repairs, historic images and the wider village landscape. The work was largely associated with the restoration of two buildings adjacent to the parish churchyard in the centre of the former village, both of which contain substantial 15th-century timber-framed elements. The Old Grammar School and the Saracen's Head were the winners of the BBC Restoration programme competition in 2004, an event that facilitated the restoration aims of the PCC by precipitating access to Heritage Lottery Fund support. The finds included a large assemblage of pottery from the earlier and later medieval periods, as well as a number of Roman sherds. Several medieval clay roof tiles were represented, and there was a small collection of glazed floor tiles apparently contemporary with the Saracen's Head, some of which appear to have been in situ when recovered. Such an array of evidence for medieval occupation was not replicated during the excavation at No. 86 on the opposite side of The Green, where nothing that was definitely earlier than the 16th century was recorded or recovered. Although the site was close to or within the important medieval Prior's Court complex, the paucity of the archaeology may be related to the limited size of the excavation combined with the severe truncation of the site. It was fortunate that documentary evidence was able to provide an historical context to interpret the slim findings.Written by Malcolm Hislop, George Demidowicz and Stephen Price.With contributions by Robert Burrows, Mark Charles, Kevin Colls, Mary Duncan, Christopher Hewitson, David Higgins, Matilda Holmes, Rob Ixer, Phil Mills, Nicholas Molyneux, Natasha Powers, Stephanie Rátkai, Jennie Stopford, Ric Tyler and Meg Watters. Illustrations by Nigel Dodds, Helen Moulden, Bryony Ryder and Ric Tyler.

The basis of this book are excavations undertaken by Ernest Greenfield at the site of a Roman villa at Great Witcombe. The excavations and the finds are presented in detail. It is suggested that the villa belonged to the descendants of a veteran, settled on an estate established here at the foundation of the colonia at Gloucester. This book is published in association with English Heritage.With contributions by J. Bayley, L. Bevan, S. Butcher, S. Cottam, J. Davies, B. Dickinson, J. G. Evans, T. Finney, J. Henderson, M. Henig, R. Jones, J. Price, J. Timby and D. Williams.Illustrations by M. Breedon, N. Dodds and T. Pearson.

Nautical Archaeology Society (NAS) Monograph Series No. 1The Sound of Mull Archaeological Project (SOMAP) was carried out between 1994 and 2005 to map and assess the condition of a wide range of underwater and intertidal wrecks and coastal structures in the Sound of Mull, on Scotland's north-west coast. The study was undertaken by many volunteers under the auspices of the Nautical Archaeology Society and demonstrates the value of projects carried out by trained volunteers. This account of the project combines the results of documentary research into archives and old photographs, high resolution marine geophysics, and measured surveys both on land and underwater. A total of 16 wrecks and four sites were examined and are summarised, with detailed accounts of three sites of wrecks or shipping-related debris of particular interest. A wide range of remote-sensing images are available as a download.

This book examines the material culture of middling tradesmen living in Newcastle upon Tyne between 1545 and 1642. The analysis is based on wills and inventories selected from the Durham Probate Records pertaining to Newcastle residents. The book has three major themes; people, property and objects, and covers five subject areas: firstly, a background discussion of the limitations inherent in working with probate records in material culture studies, and an explanation of the methodology employed; secondly, an analysis of inheritance practices and patterns concerning selected types of bequests, exploring issues such as primogeniture, gender and life-cycle factors; thirdly, a study of the built environment and social demography of the town, including occupational zones, based on descriptions of properties along streets and in specific locations recorded in the documents; fourthly, an extensive analysis of patterns of consumption, production and investment among tradesmen by way of categories of objects associated with the household, household production and objects relating to the practice of a trade; the final chapter explores the size of houses, the function of rooms and the nature of social relations within the home.

In 2002 the fullest evidence so far recovered for the Roman settlement at Nantwich, a historic salt-producing centre in Cheshire (north-western England), was revealed by an excavation carried out at Kingsley Fields, on the west side of the town, ahead of a housing development. This uncovered a previously unknown Roman road, linking the settlement at Nantwich to the main road network, and, positioned along this, evidence for the collection and storage of brine and the production of salt, together with buildings, enclosures, a well and a small number of cremation burials. Waterlogged conditions meant that organic remains, including structural timbers, were well preserved on the site. These included the two finest examples of timber-built brine tanks excavated from Roman Britain. This volume presents the wide-ranging finds of these investigations.

Megalithic tombs in Orkney have yielded some of the largest volumes of human remains in Neolithic Britain. However, discrete skeletons are lacking; the researcher is often presented with formidable volumes of disarticulated and comingled remains. Themes of transformation, fragmentation and manipulation of the body permeate the literature, conferring on the megalithic structures significance as places of transition. Previously, the inherent complexity of the remains has made them an unattractive proposition for detailed study. However, advances in taphonomic analysis mean that techniques now exist for approaching such complex assemblages. A study has now been successfully carried out on the Orcadian remains, uncovering the wealth of new data presented in this volume. This data draws attention to subtle variations in funerary ritual between and within the tombs, and pushes for a dramatic reconsideration of our current understanding of the practices and cosmologies associated with these enigmatic structures.

This book deals with the post-glacial Stone-Age human inhabitants who were populating the Milfield basin in today's Northumberland, and the evolution of land-use, settlement, ideology and the changing nature of people's relationship with the natural world. A wide range of methodologies and fieldwork projects have been employed. The result is a contribution to archaeological knowledge by way of new fieldwork practices, the development of an interpretative scheme for fieldwalking lithic data and the construction of a detailed synthesis for the Milfield area.

The adaptive re-use of English monastic buildings in the second half of the 16th century has been relatively little studied. With a few notable exceptions, it has been generally assumed that most former monastic sites were simply plundered for their building materials. Two new approaches suggest that frequently this was not so. First, by examining in detail all the monastic houses of a single county - in this case Hertfordshire - which survived until the Dissolution, and, secondly, by treating the surviving architectural evidence as a primary source, it can be shown that much medieval fabric is, in fact, incorporated in later houses on monastic sites, even when this is not readily apparent. Coupled with contemporary documentary records and later antiquarian accounts, this structural analysis allows a reconstruction to be made of the processes of re-use in the half-century after the Dissolution. The author features 13 detailed case studies of important properties.

Aberglasney comprises a substantial house, outbuildings walled gardens, wooded areas, and a Yew tunnel. It is situated in the Tywi valley in the Parish of Llangathen in Carmarthenshire. The Aberglasney Restoration Trust was established in 1994 to save these remains, which were in an advanced state of decay, and eventually open the gardens to the public. Archaeological involvement was required since the house and gardens were about to undergo a major scheme of restoration. The excavations aimed to remove later landscaping levels to reveal the layout of the 17th and 18th century gardens and findings confirmed that occupation started in the late 15th century, and that an extensive formal garden was laid out during the first half of the 17th century. Kevin Blockley's report provides a fascinating account of the work undertaken under the control of John Trefor, BBC Wales produced a four-part programme in 1999 entitled Aberglasney: A Garden Lost in Time. This present volume makes a valuable companion to the series.Written by Kevin Blockley and Ian Halfpenney.With contributions from John Carrott, Edward Besly, Martin Bridge, Paul Courtney, Phil Evans, Allan Hall, Michael Ibbotson, Su Johnson, Frances Large, Daniel Miles, Nigel Nayling, Mark Redknap, William Wilkins and Darren Worthy.Illustrations by Attila Csaba.

Recent research suggests that the earliest human occupation of the British Isles stretches back to before 500,000 years ago, whilst anatomically modern humans do not appear to have arrived in Europe before approximately 50-40,000 years ago. During the intervening period, of perhaps half a million years, referred to as the Lower and Middle Palaeolithic, archaic species of human were at least sporadically present in southern England. Few actual hominid fossils have survived, but there are plenty of other enduring traces of human presence.This book presents the results of an investigation of stone artefacts from southern England, which date to the Lower and Middle Palaeolithic, with particular reference to assemblages from 2 sites at high levels in the landscape. This book aims to show that aspects of cultural adaptation in European archaic humans can be investigated using the evidence of Lower and Middle Palaeolithic stone artefacts.In addition, the book is devoted to the specific question of how best to understand Palaeolithic artefacts preserved within deposits mapped as Clay-with-flints. The contents of the volume includes a review of approaches to the study of stone artefacts produced as a result of handaxe-making, and then presents a study of an experimentally produced handaxe and associated waste products from its manufacture. This, in turn, forms the basis for the methodology of artefact recording which was applied to the Wood Hill Palaeolithic assemblage from Kent. Analyses of the Wood Hill assemblage are presented in Chapter Three and Chapter Four. In Chapter Five, the themes of handaxe functional efficiency and knapping skill development, which developed from the study of the Wood Hill assemblage, are investigated with interesting results regarding handaxe morphological variability. Chapter Six presents the results of investigations (including field-survey) at the site of Dickett's Field in Hampshire. In Chapter Seven, observations and experiments to investigate the ways in which flint artefacts weather are discussed, The discussion and conclusions chapter (Chapter Eight) comprises a final synthesis of the evidence presented. This work represents the first dedicated modern study of Palaeolithic assemblages from sites on deposits mapped as Clay-with-flints and provides plenty of food for thought. Excitingly, many of the themes touched upon now require further investigation and development. In the accompanying downloadable video, the author provides the commentary for a demonstration of butchery techniques using flint tools, showing the effectiveness of various shapes and sizes of cutting implements.

Two of Sir Cyril's notebooks describing minor earthworks of the Welsh Marches and visits to four Welsh museums, with two other unpublished papersMost of Sir Cyril Fox's papers are held in the National Museum of Wales, but two notebooks, which form the bulk of this volume, have a curious history. The first, which covers the years October 1927 to July 1930, contains a variety of material, but significantly it included his notes on a number of dykes and other features close to or associated with Offa's Dyke which he was surveying at the time. The second, relating only to the summer of 1932, was limited to his surveys of six groups of short dykes, with an endpiece on Wigmore Castle. After 1932, Fox lost interest in these shorter dykes and passed the two notebooks to Noel Jerman, who retained them until in turn passing them on to the Offa's Dyke project at the Extra-Mural Department of Manchester University in the 1980s: they are eventually to be deposited in the National Museum of Wales. The first notebook contained a few other papers. The most interesting is a part transcript of an impromptu lecture that Fox gave to Miss L. F. Chitty on the way down from the Kerry Ridgeway. To this collection the author has added an unpublished note of Fox's describing an excavation he made at Tallard's Marsh, near Chepstow, which he believed to be the southern extremity of Offa's Dyke. The editors' intention has been to reproduce this material, with an expansion of Fox's sometimes difficult abbreviations, and add comparative reports from a date as near as possible to Fox's own, with illustrative aerial photographs, where they could be obtained.