It’s the start of a brand new day on site, and everyone is hard at work. Today, we’re going to talk about pottery, our most abundant find! The most interesting of all the pottery that has been found is probably the Ham Green pottery which was recovered in Trench 3.
Ham Green pottery traces back to Ham Green, a hamlet near Pill in Somerset. It was produced from 1100 AD to 1250 AD. Ham Green is the only Medieval kiln site which has been excavated in the Bristol area. An excavation there found an oval kiln, around 2.5m x 1.2m! Ham Green potters usually produced jugs, tripod pitchers, cooking pots, bowls, lamps, and dripping trays, with designs of humans and animals. They used the River Avon and Severn to trade; many Ham Green pots have been found in Ireland. Some of our finds show evidence of local geology being incorporated, such as quartz and limestone being crushed into the pottery. Additionally, the high levels of iron are easily identified due to the colour of the pottery.
We spoke to Ysabel, a first year student, about the pottery she had found. Ysabel found a new kind of pottery which was black and shiny; there is some speculation that it may pre-date the building. Ysabel says she thought it was unusual and was happy she found lots of different pieces. Afterwards, Ysabel and some other students cleaned the pottery with toothbrushes and water and commented that “It was nice to see the pottery come to life.” Whilst cleaning, the students discovered some pieces were quite charred. Top tips for cleaning pottery are be careful and go slowly!
We also spoke to the landowner, who described the volume of pottery found on site over the years. Over 13 years, 10,000 sherds of low grade quality have been found. 3 Ham Green jugs of high status were found during HARP projects. Over the years, a very small amount of sherds of Roman pottery have also been found. Lots of these sherds and pottery were found in the lower corner of the site – perhaps this was a well filled with rubbish?
Although not pottery, the landowner’s favourite find at the site is a Viking sharpening stone with a hole in, which was worn around the neck.
As I write this, I’m sitting in trench 1 as we dig deeper into the collapsed wall and rubble, cutting directly through a central ditch. The past two weeks have revealed a number of small but intriguing finds in this particular area of the site. Young members of the team have frequently extracted sherds of pottery and animal bone making for an especially excited atmosphere. The enthusiasm for potential finds here in the week to come is very palpable as I speak to Theo, a key part of the success in this trench. He says, in a determined and unamused tone, “I will find something this week”.
The trench is unique to the rest of the site in that is may represent an earlier phase in the development of the site here at Lower Hazel. Site manager, Joel explains to me that the lower surface of the trench that goes beneath the nearby wall indicates activity that was earlier than the walls themselves.
I venture over the baked earth and tired walls to trench 2 to see what is happening on the other side of the site. We have now excavated a long, thin and deep ditch as we follow what we think may be the foundation cut that we uncovered last week. However there is debate amongst the high ranked members of the dig about this ditch. Some are leaning towards other theories about the large rocks at the bottom of the ditch, postulating it may be a drainage system of some sort. There is no doubt, however, that this lower rock structure is from an earlier time than everything else. The pottery found here seems to be of an earlier typology than those found in other places. Aaron, who has been working this section for the last few weeks, admits this trench is still a mystery.
In trench 3, there is a collection of busy workers trowelling hard. They explain that they are preparing the trench to be dug deeper into. Trench 3 has been responsible for most of the significant finds during the excavation, including a large part of a ‘Ham Green Pot’, a type of pottery associated with the Anarchy period.
As we come to our final week, there are still intriguing problems to solve in each area of the site. The mysterious story of the Hunting Lodge here at Lower Hazel continues to fascinate.
This semester we are lucky enough to have two brilliant students from the University of São Paulo in Brazil studying with us at Bristol. This means we also get to have them on the Hartygrove Excavation with us!
So we decided to get their insight as international students, and asked them each a few questions!
Bianca
Why did you choose to study abroad at Bristol (and why Anthropology and Archaeology)?
I was looking into the exchange programme options at my home university, saw Bristol and it seemed like a great city to experience student life, as it’s very creative and intercultural. The University called my attention because of its rankings and of the units that would be available to me as a study abroad student. I had previously studied History and Archaeology of Classical and Hellenistic Greece, back in the University of São Paulo, but it was a theoretical unit. So Archaeological Practice was a great opportunity to have a more hands-on experience.
What have you learnt so far and how has it complemented your degree?
I have been able to learn what Archaeology is like in practice – what it’s like to be on site, how the surveying methods and equipment work, as well as taking part in the HARP excavations. As a student of Ancient Greek, it has been nice to develop skills that can open doors in the future, broadening my options of study beyond language and literature (my degree at my home university).
What have you been doing today (31/05/2023) at the excavations?
After helping remove rubble from one of the trenches that will be excavated, Juliana and I were asked to do a section drawing of what was presumably a doorway. We measured and recorded the stones using drawing materials:
Juliana
Why did you choose to study abroad at Bristol (and why Anthropology and Archaeology)?
First, because of the language. I have been studying English for many years, so I knew I wanted to do a semester abroad in the UK. Second, during the process of choosing a University in the UK, I always caught myself going back to University of Bristol’s website because it showed to me a campus full of diversity and events that prioritize this same diversity. Once we were selected by the UoB it was time to choose the units. As a student of ancient Greek in Brazil, I was always, even before entering the University, curious about Archeology, so when me and Bianca saw that Bristol has a class called Archaeological Practice we made it one of our priorities, specifically because we don’t get the chance of having practical classes of archaeology like this one in Brazil.
What have you learnt so far and how has it complemented your degree?
In Archaeological Practice Class there is a great effort to teach from the basis to the latest technologies in the Archaeological field. Of course it is a lot, but to someone that has never studied Archaeology before it was an important opportunity to learn how the UK archaeology works and apply that in my future career. It has complement my degree in the sense that back in my home University my focus was on literature, but there is a huge field of the classical studies dedicated to Archaeology, which interest me as a student of Ancient Greek.
What have you been doing today (31/05/2023) at the excavations?
First me and Bianca worked removing stones with the trowel together with two other students. In the end of the morning we started to do a section drawing of the walls 16, 21 and 22 where there was supposed to be a door.
Archaeology is a fascinating subject which can be subject to many interpretations and changes in how we view the world of the past. As such it can be the root of many peoples dreams. So I decided I’d find out what some of my fellow archaeology students dreams are. Though naturally with such a broad subject so were peoples dreams. We had many from ‘discovering Atlantis’ to finding out the way people behaved in the past by viewing their botanical food remains.
Though on the darker side of dreams is archaeological nightmares, talking to Alex I found out that not all finds are good finds on a dig. Whilst many of the students, when asked what they would like to find replied with ‘a human skeleton’, Alex said that this is normally a nightmare to find, though not because any spirits will be haunting your sleep but more because of the paper work required! Other than the large amount of paper work required, if one is found you often have to excavate it and this can be an agonising task for an archaeologist who may have another trench which has definitive finds in it and all you can think about is the other trench. Also plans for reburial must be made and sometimes even a coroner must be called!
Just like the field of archaeology my question was left somewhat to interpretation and I also heard about what people had actually dreamt about archaeology. Some tasks in archaeology can be quite repetitive (the magic dust of causing dreams). Sometimes archaeology can be buried quite deep in the ground and troweling through meters of soil to get to the archaeology would be quite inefficient, so a 360 excavator machine will be used instead (aka a digger). One of our site supervisors Joel on another site was tasked with this job and said, ‘I watched a 360 excavator all day dreamt about watching it all day to wake up and watch it again.’ Another dream I heard about was from Izzie who said that after spending days troweling out the dirt from the walls, she dreamt that her pillow had turned into a rock and she had to trowel out the dirt from between it! She thinks she was actually half awake while dreaming about this and actually doing the action.
More unexpected insights to follow – stay tuned it!
Today family members and friends of department staff were invited on to site to see the progress we have made since last years excavation, and to give the students a chance to demonstrate what they have learnt in the past week. While the adults were given a 360 tour of the site, students helped to oversee the workshop that we have been building for the last couple of months.
Children’s Archaeology Workshop
Perhaps the most fun part of the day were the children’s activities, set up in a clearing to the north of the excavation trenches. We hosted a mini-dig, washing line of time, archaeological activity book (which included a wordsearch, places to draw the finds from the mini-dig, tailored archaeological recording questions and a ‘design the strongest’ castle activity), as well as a ‘postcards from the past’ table.
A Washing Line of Time in the trees allowed the children to match pictures with events and their dates, and then put them into chronological order. This activity, while more generally historical was great group activity and required some real thinking to match up the dates to the event! It also gave the children the opportunity to talk about where they thought the excavation site fit in to the timeline, and helped to contextualise the site for them.
Last but certainly not least was the mini excavation, where not only lithic tools were ready to be excavated but chocolate too – after all, digging is hard work no matter your age and a little reward is of course required! The children who attended were excited to find the lithics we had planted – but more surprisingly, some unexpected finds made themselves known! A few animal bones and a lump of quartz were found by the children. While these were fairly unusable in terms of our archaeological excavation (as they came from an unstratified spoil context) they were invaluable to the little hands that lifted them, and excitement took over! It was excellent to see the children getting more excited about their archaeological finds than the buried chocolate?! Unprecedented!
Feedback from the children (and parents) who joined us today was great, with many asking if they could come back another day. Here are a few of our favourite quotes from our little diggers today!
Jack (Age 7) – “This place is AMAZING! Can we come again?”
Ben (Age 5) – “My best thing is that I found an arrow, I love it and I drew it! We want to come more, not just one time.”
Sofus (Age 3) – “I made my castle so the asteroid can’t break it”
Emily (Age 12) – “The washing line was good because I got better at it the longer I did it and started to work out the right dates and events, and some stuff I haven’t learned about in school”
Theo’s Daily Diary: The Perspective of a First Year on the Dig
Day 1: Monday 22nd May
As many of you will know, the first day of any seasonal excavation usually involves a lot (a LOT) of weeding and cleaning back of a years worth of debris! And our first day at Hartygrove was no exception (check out out Instagram instagram.com/bristol_archaeology/ for some amazing ‘Green to Clean’ transformations!). All three trenches were weeded and cleaned up in preparation for the archaeology to come!
Day 2: Tuesday 23rd May
Today we worked the trenches, trekking through the grassy fields after a long bus ride, we reached the medieval site of Hartygrove. Working there all of yesterday we knew what was to be done; so we set to work with little prompt. By trowelling around in the soil we managed to pull the soil from between the rocks. We brushed away the remaining dirt leaving the wall leaving fit for a photo of archaeological standard. Though this sounds like a simple task there were many challenges we had to overcome. Many people digging through nests of red ants, coming across startlingly massive spiders, including the false widow, the deadliest spider in the uk!
Though this was only part of our grilling work. Away from the shade and underneath the blazing sun, the other excavators were digging. Digging up the mud they worked together in a dynamic fashion, they quickly managed to locate many interesting artefacts, including animal bone and pottery.
Day 3: Wednesday 24th May
We kicked off today where we had left off from yesterday. With only a few changes, two of us had started to use the rover, a GNSS tracking device to measure some of the dimensions of the walls. The pair working with the device thought that it was a lot quicker than measuring and mapping out the dimensions of the wall as this does it automatically as you walk around. There were also people who had begun section drawing. This was exciting because it means that they have finally finished parts of their work on the excavation and can appreciate the done version before moving on, by measuring out the dimensions with a ruler.
More finds have been found today following on from pieces of oyster shell and broken pottery most likely from the medieval age. Though one incredible find came while clearing the rubble they came across a high status piece of pottery most likely from a wine pot, it was distinguished from the other finds because of its patterns along with its pretty green colour. With so many finds happening before the actual digging has begun, from just the gardening and clearing of rubble , many of the students on site are optimistic for what will be found.
Though the prospect of new technologies has got the students talking. Just before lunch break a drone was spotted flying in the air. Many students said they they were hoping to flying it.
However not all went off without a hitch, as students came back from their lunch break to a temporary water shortage! It was quickly resolved by two students trekking back up to the tap across two fields for a refill but lessons were learned – maybe the drinking water shouldn’t be used for cleaning finds.
Carry on reading as over the next few days I will write about my latest research on site and I interview staff and second years about last year.
Day 4: Thursday 25th May
A day of an excavator. We have seen many of the skills involved with excavations over the first few days. Most of us started with de-weeding, wearing thick gloves we pulled the overgrown plants from the area. Though the walls had been excavated last year dirt fallen into the cracks between the stone walls and plants had grown from the dirt leaving long roots all the way to the bottom. From that we began removing the rubble. Making constant trips back to dump our buckets full of spoil and wheelbarrows of stones. The trowel is bread and butter for an archaeologist, and in some cases they’re best friend. You can tell how experienced an archaeologist is by how attached they are to their trowel. It’s a great tool for removing the dirt from the rocks, digging out trenches, making the stratigraphic layers of the ground clearly visible and of course keeping you company when the conversation with your fellow excavators ends. In hard ground though a mattock can be a better option. Though less friendly it can do a quicker job than the trowel, when covering a larger area and precision is not as needed. Another important piece of equipment is the camera. When a feature has been properly excavated it needs to be recorded. How many archaeologists does it take to take a photo, in our latest case 6. One person to take the photo and another 5 to hold up a sheet above the site in order to make sure no shadows were captured in the image. No archaeologist would deny that the most exciting part of an excavation is finding something, though this only represents a small part of the time spent on a site, it is definitely the most memorable. Most finds are hard to tell apart from small rocks and can leave you eagerly studying each one, wondering if it’s in fact a piece of mid century pottery or slag, or just a small rock. Though there’s no better feeling than identifying a new feature or placing a find into the daily finds tray.
Day 5: Friday 26th May
As we came to work on Friday, we realised we there was still a find we were still hoping to see the whole of. Yesterday what seemed like the remains of an entire pot was found while removing rubble. If we didn’t manage to uncover it today we would have to wait until the next three days to uncover it, due to the THIRD May Bank Holiday. Of course we keenly tried to clear all of the nearby rocks removing them to see what we had found, an exhilarating prospect, as usually we may find a small bone or piece of pottery but finding a whole of an object is very rare. So by working speedily but being careful not to harm the find, we finally uncovered it. Work slowed though not because it was the end of the week, and many of us had the weekend in our minds, thinking about the three day holiday that awaited us, after we finished today. Instead it was to crowd around the now fully exposed pot. Murmuring around it one person even described it as ‘giving birth’. We look forward to hearing about Isotope analysis from the soil context and potential lipid analysis! Next week our Archaeobotanist Charlotte will be using a method called flotation to see if she can extract any charred floral remains! Keep your eyes and ears peeled for next weeks diary, and for project updates.
Today (Day 4) on our Student Training excavation we were joined by a member of the University of Bristol’s Media and PR team! Jack came to site today to see one of our 3rd year students – Charlotte Harman – in action.
This year Charlotte won the ‘Everyday Hero’ award in the Bristol Outstanding Plus awards. The Bristol Plus status is awarded to students who go above and beyond working, volunteering and contributing whilst studying for their degrees. Charlotte is a single mother who has excelled at the university, and who is also volunteering with us this year on the dig! She has curated and executed archaeology lessons and workshops in local schools, worked with Bristol Museum on community archaeological outreach and worked with Operation Nightingale to build a recreation of a Bronze Age roundhouse (to name a few things!).
Charlotte has just handed in her dissertation “Planting Anarchy: Examining Archaeobotanical remains from the Hartygrove 2022 Excavations” so keep your eyes peeled for Charlottes upcoming blog post on what she investigated and found!
Charlotte has said when asked why she has decided to volunteer again in her 3rd year:
“It’s exciting! The thought that at any time you might find something is very exciting, and pair that with being in the outdoors with likeminded enthusiastic people, and there you have it! It’s also excellent for experience in excavation and experience at this site in particular.”
Well done to Charlotte for all of her achievements and look out for our Weekly Excavation Roundup!
In 19th century Bristol, chalk was used to write on walls to portray messages and ideas; this practice, called ‘chalking’ was not always a political act. Chalking was rejected by the upper class who would cover these chalked walls with paper advertisements for their businesses. The use of chalk to write on walls could arguably be one of the origins of graffiti in Bristol. Chalking had similar repercussions as graffiti does today, with the rejection of temporary messages through the grey washing of street art and tags under Marvin Rees political campaign as Bristol Mayor, with reportedly around four thousand graffiti tags so far repainted with grey paint.
Source: People’s Republic of Stokes CroftSource: People’s Republic of Stokes Croft
The grey washing of painted walls has received backlash from the Peoples Republic of Stoke Croft and other community organisations around Bristol, who regularly combat the council to provide legal space for artists to paint and practice their work. They argue that by allowing artists to use practice walls, where tags and messages can be painted over regularly by others to practice their art, this will reduce the amount of graffiti tags on illegal walls. This is due to the creation of legal space for artists to express themselves and share messages meaning there is less desire to do it on illegal walls. The practice wall on Ashley Road has seen reports from locals stating that random graffiti and tagging has declined hugely in the local area, suggesting that the creation of space for art is a better solution than grey washing it completely as this creates more conflict.
Ashley Road. Source: People’s Republic of Stokes Croft
The culture of Graffiti in Bristol is arguably a part of it’s identity, with Banksy being a big influence, as a Bristol born artist. The exhibition of his work in mainstream galleries, such as the ‘Crimes of Passion’ display at the RWA, has helped to add to the acceptance of street art in Bristol through the display of graffiti alongside classic art. Another breakthrough was the ‘See No Evil’ project in 2011, which saw the sides of tall concrete buildings in the city centre painted with huge murals. This project has become a huge tourist attraction and combined with Banksy’s work, completes many of the street art tours bringing people to all parts of the city. Bristol is also home to Europe’s largest Graffiti festival, Upfest, bringing in tourists from all over world. Upfest celebrated its 15th anniversary last year with around 50,000 people attending to watch over 400 artists paint live. Upfest shows how Bristol has become a global hub for street art with artists from over 50 countries coming to the city to paint.
See No Evil Street art festival in Bristol – Dolce Vita International
Undoubtedly, graffiti and street art are a huge part of Bristol’s culture. Graffiti will continue to be tangled with anarchy and social change in Bristol, through political murals and links to protest. It is unlikely grey washing will put a stop to Bristol’s rebellious identity and expression via graffiti. Graffiti comes hand in hand with rejection, whether it started with chalking being covered with advertisement or spray paints being grey washed. The messages shared and the council walls used all add to rebellion that graffiti is used to express. Banky’s ‘Well-Hung Lover’ on Park Street was painted on a council owned wall and came under fire by the council to get rid of it but due to immense public backing it is now one of the most famous spots in Bristol. Graffiti is a powerful visual tool to see social change and anarchy as it happens and the rejection it faces just adds more meaning to its message.
Source: BBC Bristol
Author: Nell Beckett, 2nd Year Anthropology BA Student, University of Bristol
The National Lottery Heritage Fund is in place to connect people and communities with local and national heritage, and in partnership with this fund we are embarking on an exciting project! The South West Anarchy Research Project will build a bridge between the community and a variety of archaeological sub-projects, relating to the concept of ‘1000 years of Anarchy’.
So firstly, what IS anarchy in archaeology?
Most of us will have heard the word anarchy at some point, and the word itself is often associated with unrest, chaos and a lack of government. But broadly, in anthropology and archaeology, the study of anarchy is interested in the ways that resistance within hierarchical societies exists. But how can we see these kinds of resistances? And what do they mean for archaeological study? In early medieval archaeology things like evidence of fortification can tell us about conflicts and alliances, and in modern archaeology, small resistances from communities can be seen in things such Bristol’s own rich tapestry of graffiti. What is clear is that anarchy is not an exclusively historical or an exclusively modern concept – it has been present wherever there is ordered hierarchy in a society. So let’s investigate!
ANARCHY IN MEDIEVAL ENGLAND
The first anarchy period in England happens over 19 years, from around 1135AD to 1153AD. The catalyst of these years of civil unrest and chaos was a classic fight for the throne. In 1135, William the Conqueror’s son, King Henry I died, and a succession battle took place between his daughter, Empress Matilda and her cousin, Stephen of Blois. Both grandchildren of William the Conqueror, the country was plunged into civil war. What we as archaeologists see as the product of this battle for the crown are things like castles cropping up across the country, churches and other usually unprotected buildings being fortified and coins with both Matilda and Stephen on appearing as people tried to make their allegiances clear and known.
The South West of England played a key role in this period of anarchy, and SWARP has two very exciting sites that we are and will be working on over the next few years. Where study of the anarchy period has usually focused on castles and classic means of fortification, we are now also looking further afield at the bigger picture.
Hartygrove, South Gloucestershire
Every year, the Department of Anthropology and Archaeology run a student training excavation – three weeks of digging, discovery and experience for our wonderful students. After 15 years of digging at Berkely Castle, we are now excavating a site in South Gloucestershire! So far, the students, staff and the Thornbury Archaeology Group have uncovered what is currently thought to be a medieval hunting lodge with an associated kitchen building and extensions to the original lodge.
So what are medieval hunting lodges?
Nobility in England and indeed further afield have long had a thirst for hunting, but as this often required travelling to a prime hunting ground or destination, hunting lodges were built for the nobles to reside in during their trips. These are often uncovered with kitchen buildings, separate to the main lodge so that the nobles could be served and fed throughout their stay. This bears great similarity to what we have begun to uncover at Hartygrove.
Bristol Castle
While most of us who live, work and study in Bristol will have walked through Castle Park at some point or other, how many of us know that beneath our feet are the remains of a great castle, demolished in 1656 by order of Oliver Cromwell? Originally built for Bishop Geoffrey of Coutances, the half-brother of William the Conqueror, Bristol Castle quickly become one of the most important castles of Norman origin in England. Built in a very strategic location, Bristol Castle was surrounded by water, sitting on the river, meaning that it was incredibly well defended from attack and siege. Multiple phases of fortification were added to the castle throughout it’s existence, furthering this defensible status. When we look at this castle through the lens of anarchism, and relating to the anarchy period that SWARP is investigating (1135-1153AD), this really is a key site. Alongside Empress Matilda’s rebels rallying at the castle, and it becoming an impregnable stronghold, Stephen of Blois was captured and imprisoned inside the castle walls in ¬1141.
3D Reconstruction of Bristol Castle by David Martyn, based on archaeological and historical evidence
These two sites are of great interest to the South West Anarchy Research Project, and we will be bringing them to life so that we can all gain a better understanding of the history and heritage of our local areas.
ANARCHY IN 17TH CENTURY ENGLAND
The next key period of anarchy that SWARP encounters is the English Civil War (1642-1651). A period of civil unrest, rebellion and all out war, these 19 years were triggered by the unpopularity of Charles I’s regime. Three wars ensued between the supporters of Charles I, and those who were loyal to Parliament, where up to 200,000 people lost their lives.
Royal Fort Gardens and House
During these years of Civil War, what we see today as the historic environment changed drastically. Buildings all across the country were heavily fortified, be them castles or not, and many of the ruined castles that we see across the English landscape today were destroyed as a result of this catastrophic conflict.
As we edge closer to the spring and summer months, Bristol students and locals will start to fill the lush green lawns of Royal Fort Gardens, bathing in the sun or sitting in the shade of the magnificent house. But if we throw our minds back to the 17th century, what would we see?
While the house that stands today was built in the 18th century, it was preceded by five bastions designed by Dutch military engineer, Sir Bernard de Gomme. These bastions were one of the very few sites that were constructed solely for defensive purposes during this time. They acted as the western headquarters of the Royalist army and were said to have been the strongest defenses in Bristol. Evidence of this defensive site were excavated by the University of Bristol in 2001, 2009 and in 2021.
SWARP will continue to research and process everything that was found during these excavations, and begin to bring together these tales of anarchy throughout history in the South West!
ANARCHY IN THE MODERN AGE
The underground scene in Bristol and the South West in the last 40-50 years is one that is entwined with the art and music scene. Much of the original underground music scene in Bristol holds its roots in Caribbean influence; recent years have rightly reminded us of the origins of the city of Bristol, and the movement of black Caribbean peoples. This combined with the punk movement in Bristol gave way to an original music scene, in turn giving way to hip-hop culture in the 1980’s. With this, came a rise in graffiti art around the city, with renowned artists like Robert Del Naja (AKA 3D) and Banksy working in and on the city. The underground scene, by definition is removed from the mainstream, and music and art produced is often associated with political statement and rebellion. An important element of the SWARP project is going to investigate the heritage of Stokes Croft and it’s graffiti in particular – there is often a narrative of illegality surrounding graffiti, and the word ‘vandalism’ is thrown around frequently. SWARP is going to research and survey the buildings throughout Stokes Croft and the wider areas to document and hopefully contribute to the preservation of this important heritage feature in Bristol.
We look forward to keeping you up to date with the project and all the exciting things that come with it!
As we continue with archival research and report writing for our excavations, we came across the question; Who designed the Royal Fort? Bernard de Gomme would be the person in question! His name may not be as famous as Charles I or Oliver Cromwell but his countless fortifications across England changed military engineering. Little is known about de Gomme before his military apprenticeship as an engineer with Fredrick Henry, Prince of Orange in 1641[1]. However we do know he was born in 1620 in the Netherlands and died in 1685. At 22 years old, de Gomme was appointed quartermaster-general before he accompanied Prince Rupert to the storming of Bristol in 1643 and was later knighted by Charles I in 1645 [2] . Under Prince Rupert, de Gomme constructed the Oxford fortifications as well as Liverpool, Newark, and of course, Royal Fort.[3] He followed Prince Rupert into exile in 1646 but returned to serve as Charles II’s Chief Engineer in 1661. During his second stay in England, de Gomme constructed countless fortifications including Dunkirk, Plymouth (pictured to the right), and Tilbury, and reconstructed the Tower of London and Windsor Castle.[4] Much of these plans are now kept in the British Library and readily available for viewing!
De Gomme’s battle maps and engineering plans are extensively detailed. Edmund Turnor’s 1803 landscape of Bristol was the assumed structural layout of the Civil War, but De Gomme’s map provided several fortifications that Turnor left out.[5] Not only were de Gomme’s maps and plans thorough, but so was his account of the 1643 siege. The link below is a transcription of the account by Lieut.-Colonel G.H. Leslie. While De Gomme’s account of the siege is meticulous in some regards, he is criticized for not providing further detail on the royalist line after it moved from Stoke’s Croft to Tower Harratz. [6] While in Bristol, De Gomme oversaw the fortification and improvement of abandoned parliamentarian defenses such as Windmill Fort which became Prince Rupert’s headquarters. [7] This included the Royal Fort which was described to be a “practical solution for the elevated terrain.” [8] Bernard De Gomme’s Royal Fort’s blueprints may be lost but excavation efforts have and continue to uncover Bristol’s strongest Civil War defense.
[1] Christopher Storrs, Review of Fortress Builder. Bernard de Gomme, Charles II’s Military Engineer, by Andrew Saunders, (Exeter: University of Exeter Press, 2004): 119.
[2] “Sir Bernard de Gomme,” Fortified Places, accessed 2021.
The National Lottery Heritage Fund is in place to connect people and communities with local and national heritage, and in partnership with this fund we are embarking on an exciting project! The South West Anarchy Research Project will build a bridge between the community and a variety of archaeological sub-projects, relating to the concept of ‘1000 years of Anarchy’.
During these years of Civil War, what we see today as the historic environment changed drastically. Buildings all across the country were heavily fortified, be them castles or not, and many of the ruined castles that we see across the English landscape today were destroyed as a result of this catastrophic conflict.
