West Midlands Regional Research Framework for Archaeology, Seminar 5: Dalwood
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The archaeology of medieval small towns in the west
midlands
Hal Dalwood
Worcestershire County Council Archaeological Service, Woodbury,
University College Worcester, Henwick Grove, Worcester WR2 6AJ
hdalwood@worcestershire.gov.uk
Introduction
This paper is an overview of the archaeological research framework for smaller
medieval towns in the West Midlands. It should be read in conjunction with Nigel
Baker’s discussion of the major medieval towns (Baker, this web site).
There are sound reasons for viewing smaller towns as a settlement type that is distinct
from both larger towns and rural settlements. The distinction is a useful one for both
developing an archaeological research agenda for the medieval period and for
ensuring effective professional practice.
We need a working definition of towns, and historians and archaeologists broadly
agree that such a definition can best be defined in terms of their economic basis and
social structure. Chris Dyer has offered this definition: ‘we define towns as
permanently established concentrations of people, who were pursuing a variety of
non-agricultural occupations, in which crafts and trades would predominate but which
also included administrators, clergy, schoolteachers, prostitutes and other specialists.
To would-be migrants, the towns beckoned because they gave opportunities for
different skills and talents’ (Dyer 2002, 187-8).
Medieval towns should not be defined by simple criteria such as legal status,
population size, physical dimensions, morphology, or the presence of distinctive types
of monument (such as town walls). Although there is no difficulty in recognising
large medieval towns as a distinctive type of settlement with complex social and
economic structures, the full range of medieval urban settlements is not so well
understood. The distinction between the smaller towns and rural settlements depends
on an assessment of documentary sources, together with archaeological, architectural
and topographic evidence (Dyer 1994, 292). Archaeologists need to recognise the
distinctive character of smaller towns in terms of relevant research framework, not
least because such an understanding is the starting point for archaeological research
management.
Small towns were an important aspect of the medieval settlement pattern. They were
numerous in medieval England, and it has been estimated that by 1300 about 20% of
the population is estimated to have been town dwellers; perhaps half of them living in
the 450 to 500 small towns across the country (Keene 2000). In England, historical
research has identified the majority of medieval urban settlements through the
distinctive legal status they often acquired (Beresford and Finberg 1973; Beresford
1981).
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There has been a wealth of archaeological research in larger towns since the 1970s,
and the results of this work have made a major impact on current knowledge of urban
history (Ottaway 1992; Schofield and Vince 2003). However the contribution made
by archaeological evidence from smaller medieval towns has been very small, and
this cannot simply be explained as a low level of re-development. Across England, the
archaeological potential of smaller medieval towns has been poorly understood by
archaeologists, or even misunderstood. In the past, archaeological research in smaller
towns has tended to focus on significant monuments, such as castles or monastic
institutions, with little interest in investigating smaller towns as settlements with a
range of social and economic functions that formed an important part of the medieval
landscape.
However in recent years new approaches are being developed, and these have led to
an increase in archaeological fieldwork. It has been argued that: ‘over time…this
upswing in archaeological work in smaller towns will have a considerable academic
impact’ (Gerrard 2003, 209).
Character of the evidence in the region
The West Midlands region contains numerous smaller towns, and in this respect it is
typical of southern and midland England. The existence and the location of the
majority of medieval smaller towns in the region is known from detailed documentary
research based on state record (Beresford and Finberg 1973; Beresford 1981). Many
aspects of individual settlement lordship, chronology, economy, and religious
institutions are known from Victoria County Histories and local historical studies.
Older historical research tended to focus on documentary evidence for the legal status
of towns (such as the dates of borough charters). Modern historical research has
adopted a broader framework, and previously ‘invisible’ towns have been revealed
through detailed documentary research, such as Redditch (Worcs) and Knowle
(Warks) (Dyer 1994).
Archaeological research in medieval towns of the west midlands began in the major
towns in the late 1960s. However there was important early work in a number of
small towns, with Droitwich (Worcs) seeing sustained and concentrated
archaeological attention from the mid-1970s (Freezer 1981). The results of this
programme led to a detailed understanding of salt production in this town (Hurst
1997; Woodiwiss 1992). However the archaeological attention focused on Droitwich
was a special case in the west midlands region as a whole, and archaeological
research in smaller medieval towns up to the 1990s was very limited.
The smaller medieval towns of Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Shropshire were
the subject of an ‘extensive urban survey’ in the 1990s (the Central Marches Historic
Towns Survey). The survey was part of an initiative launched in 1992 by English
Heritage, and comprised a detailed study of over 50 urban settlements, excluding the
three county towns (cf Schofield and Vince 2003, figure 8.3). The Central Marches
Historic Towns Survey drew on archaeological information as well as a range of other
sources, and used morphological analysis to develop an understanding of each town.
This study led to a notable increase in archaeological fieldwork resulting from
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planning conditions: in some market towns in Worcestershire there were real
developments in archaeological knowledge (Dalwood 2000).
The individual assessment reports produced as part of the Central Marches Historic
Towns Survey synthesised archaeological information. For most towns, the quantity
of existing archaeological information was rather limited. However the provision of
synthesised information, and a coherent assessment of the archaeological potential of
every identified medieval town, proved to be a sound basis for archaeological
resource management (Dalwood and Atkin 1998). Currently, similar ‘extensive urban
surveys’ are planned for other counties in the region.
Although there has been a demonstrable increase in archaeological understanding of
some towns in the region since the 1990s, it is beyond the scope of this paper to
provide a detailed assessment of the general pattern. However the contributions to the
medieval seminar suggest that the level of archaeological fieldwork in smaller
medieval towns is highly variable across the region
Methodological problems
The character of archaeological deposits in smaller medieval towns needs to be
understood, as it has implications for archaeological research potential, for fieldwork
methods, and for mitigation strategies. Archaeological deposits tend to be relatively
shallow and widely dispersed in comparison to the centres of larger towns. The
evidence revealed in narrow evaluation trenches may seem unimpressive. The careful
targeting of trenches based on an understanding of the likely disposition of deposits,
and the use of wide evaluation trenches, should be considered.
The survival of medieval building remains is highly variable, and cellars have often
removed all deposits from the areas adjacent to street frontages. However medieval
buildings have been excavated on street frontages, preserved beneath later buildings,
and such survivals are rather unpredicatable.
In many urban plots in smaller towns there are few substantial features containing
large artefact and ecofact assemblages. Pottery, for example, may largely survive as
redeposited material in post-medieval soils, and sampling of such deposits should be
considered as this material can build up a general understanding of settlement
chronology and growth.
Similarly, palaeo-environmental material may be rare, and sampling strategies need to
maximise the information where it survives. A few smaller towns contain fairly
extensive waterlogged deposits (eg Much Wenlock, Shropshire) or have localised
waterlogged deposits in town ditches or marshy areas on the urban fringe (eg
Leominster, Herefordshire). Such areas are of particular importance in regional terms.
Research agenda.
A number of areas of for future research can be identified:
1. Towns in their landscapes. Sometimes towns are seen as distinct entities, separate
from the rural landscapes: this is a modern perception. We need to understand small
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medieval towns within their landscape. They lay within a network of routeways which
were the arteries of trade. The surrounding rural hinterland was served by each small
town as a market centre, and this hinterland can be mapped from documentary
research. The hinterland provided staple food for the town dwellers, and was the place
of birth of a proportion of the urban inhabitants and so linked by ties of birth.
Archaeological evidence has great potential for illuminating these urban-rural links,
and thus not only throwing light on local economic systems but on social networks.
However the development of such a broad research framework is a major challenge
(Perring 2002).
Most of the smaller towns in the region were founded in the 11th or 12th century. The
current understanding of the impetus for urban foundation comes from historical
studies, which point to an active role for either the church, or the local aristocracy, in
market town foundations. Archaeological approaches which are based on a detailed
understanding of the local medieval landscapes in which towns were established may
lead to a more sophisticated understanding of urban origins.
2. Medieval town planning: urban landscapes. Plan-form analysis based on 18th or
19th century plans allows a hypothetical interpretation of the medieval plan of smaller
towns. These town plans are the result of conscious decisions. Such plan analysis is
achievable for every smaller medieval town in the region, and allows comparison with
towns with similar morphology. The archaeological study of towns has been
characterised by this ‘landscape’ approach since the 1970s. On one hand such studies
identify areas of archaeological sensitivity, such as monastic precincts or churchyards
which may be obscured by later change, and therefore underlies planning decisions
relating to modern development. On the other hand such studies provide the
fundamental understanding of the urban landscape and as such are an essential context
for archaeological fieldwork.
3. Buildings. Some medieval small towns in the region contain nationally significant
groups of medieval buildings (eg Weobley, Herefordshire), and there is potential for
developing a more coherent approach to research into medieval urban buildings in the
region.
In many much of the medieval housing stock has been replaced. However the
buildings of the urban poor do not survive anywhere. There is enormous potential to
develop the understanding of medieval vernacular architecture through studies of
standing buildings and archaeological evidence. Archaeology can contribute to the
understanding of the building types of medieval towns where no medieval houses
survive, and to the study of the changing use of building materials (such as the
introduction of roof tiles).
4. Crafts and trades. Small medieval towns were urban communities, with most of
the population engaged in crafts and trades. The range of occupations was not as great
as the larger towns, and craft production was largely focused on the needs of the local
rural population rather than the requirements of the elite. Although some crafts are
largely invisible archaeologically, small towns provide clear evidence for how
medieval townspeople made their living. For most medieval towns, documentary
sources can only give the broadest insight into occupations: archaeology offers the
possibility of obtaining fine-grained and comprehensive evidence.
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5. Varied development patterns. Historical research suggests that small towns
tended to develop in broadly similar ways, and have similar economic structures.
Across the region, many small medieval towns had lost their urban functions by the
16th century, and had become villages. It would be difficult to ignore the role of the
marcher lords in Herefordshire and Shropshire (and in Wales) in the foundation of
new towns, which led to the distinctive distribution pattern of medieval towns in the
region. The decline of the institution of marcher lordships clearly had a significant
effect on the long-term survival of a high proportion of marcher boroughs.
However it is possible to see some other distinctive types of small town, such as
inland ports on the River Severn. Archaeology can make a contribution to the
understanding of these urban settlements. In addition there are few ‘specialised’
small towns with unusual economic functions: Droitwich (Worcs) is probably the best
known in the region, and archaeological study of medieval salt production is wellestablished (Hurst 1997).
6. Developing research agendas for smaller towns. Smaller medieval towns were
not as complex and varied as larger towns in terms of their social structure. Smaller
towns were the centres of local areas and tended to be similar to each other. One
fruitful archaeological approach to smaller market towns would be work within a
comparative framework, seeing different towns as examples of the same settlement
type. The goal could be to synthesise archaeological information from a number of
different small towns across the region, in order to develop the understanding in a
number of thematic research areas (for example food supply, or building types). Such
approaches would focus on existing information and offers the potential to produce
insights into apsects of towns that are relevant across the region.
References
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Beresford, M W, and Finberg, H P R, 1973 English medieval boroughs: a handlist,
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Dalwood, H, 2000 The archaeology of small towns in Worcestershire, Trans
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33-5
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