Archaeological test pit excavations at Great Bowden, Leicestershire

<p>This report presents the results of a programme of archaeological excavation of 301m2 ‘test pits’ in the Leicestershire village of Great Bowden carried out in summer2013 and 2014. The programme was funded by the Heritage Lottery with the aim ofengaging the local community in their heritage. Scores of people from the local areatook part in the excavations which provided new evidence for the development of thearea now occupied by the village from the prehistoric period onwards. This appearsto have lightly used by humans in the prehistoric period, but in the Roman period twosites, one (near the later church) considerably larger than the other, were presentunderneath the present village footprint. No evidence was found for activity in the 5th–9th centuries AD, but finds of late Anglo-Saxon pottery, especially Stamford Ware,indicate a thriving settlement newly founded between the mid 9th- mid 11th centuries.The test pit data clearly show the settlement to have grown rapidly into a large anddensely packed village which retained some dispersed character arranged aroundgreens and ends after the 11th century. The settlement experienced relatively littledecline after the 14th century, and expanded again in the post-medieval period.The excavations were carried out by members of Great Bowden Heritage andArchaeology Society and residents of Great Bowden with advice from AccessCambridge Archaeology using ACA’s standardised excavation and recordingmethods. The site reports and background history were drafted in the first instanceby members of Great Bowden Heritage and Archaeology Group and the final editedreport with analysis of the results was prepared by Access Cambridge Archaeology.</p>