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ARCHAEOLOGICAL DISCOVERIES DURING THE COPROLITE INDUSTRY

Bernard O'Connor 2000

 

In 1845 a new extractive industry developed in parishes along the South East Suffolk coast. Rev. John Henslow, the Professor of Botany at St John’s College, Cambridge, had been on holiday to the Victorian watering hole of Felixstowe. Poking around in the rocks at the foot of the cliffs of Suffolk Crag that had been exposed by a recent landslip he found numerous fossils. From their long, brown, smooth shape he suspected that they were “coprolites” – fossilised droppings. The name came from the Greek “kopros” meaning dung and “lithos” meaning stone.  As there was great demand for animal bones and their manure he suspected they might be valuable as a raw material in the chemical manure manufacturing industry. Tests showed that the Felixstowe coprolites were rich in calcium phosphate - a mineral much in demand by 19th century manure manufacturers. By 1846 boatloads of coprolite were being taken up the Deben and Orwell estuaries to works in Ipswich or up the Thames to Deptford.

 

It began as small-scale open cast mining but when similar fossil deposits were discovered in both the Lower and Upper Cambridgeshire Greensand, a much larger operation got under way. It involved thousands of men, women and children digging, washing and sorting these fossils. Locals thought they were the fossilised excreta of fish, lizards, crocodile, wildebeest and even dinosaurs. At least five dinosaurs were found - the land dwelling megalosaurus, iguanodon, craterosaurus, dakosaurus, and dinotosaurus as well as the marine lizards pliosaurus, plesiosaurus and ichthyosaurus and the bird pterodactyl. Amongst the phosphatic nodules (as the Victorian geologists preferred to call the coprolites) were found fossils of hippopotamus, rhinoceros, crocodile, turtle, whale and shark as well as those of elephant, lion, bear, tapir, ox, horse and hyena. Inside some of these creatures were found their fossilised stomach contents. And, whilst the 19th century geologists rejected the idea that the Cambridgeshire deposit was coprolitic, an excellent specimen of fossilised excreta has been found in Barrington, just southwest of Cambridge. However, the term ‘coprolite’ was in widespread use by those involved in the trade well before the geologists rejected the idea that they were coprolitic. The Times referred to them as ‘the petrified dung of extinct reptilia.’

 

Workings started in Burwell in the eastern Fens in 1846, reached Cambridge by 1848 and the Wey valley around Alton in Hampshire in the same year. They spread piecemeal across much of southern Cambridgeshire, reaching Bedfordshire by 1862, Buckinghamshire by 1869, Kent in 1870 and Norfolk in 1873.

 

The fossil seam averaged about a foot in thickness but in places was up to six feet thick. Once it was removed the surface of many fields was lowered. Occasionally the field on one side of a hedge is much lower than the other. More than a century of ploughing has destroyed much of the surface evidence of these diggings, but aerial photography has provided excellent evidence of the trenches in many fen skirtland parishes of eastern Cambridgeshire. The photographs on pages ... show extensive diggings around Reach and Horningsea. Tens of thousands of acres were worked, mostly at depths up to 20 feet (6.1m.) but in places in Suffolk, the labourers went as deep as 60 feet (18.4m.) Given the great extent of the operations, these diggings brought all sorts of fascinating objects to the surface. During the ‘coprolite years’ a huge number of excellent specimens of prehistoric creatures were unearthed by the diggers and sold to avid Victorian collectors. We can thank the Cambridge University geologists amongst them for the collections in such eminent repositories as the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, the Sedgwick Geology Museum and the Fitzwilliam in Cambridge, York Museum, the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford and the British Museum in London.

 

Whilst the fossils brought to the surface proved invaluable treasures to geologists and  palaeontologists other treasures were unearthed that fascinated the 19th century archaeologists. Many artefacts uncovered by the diggings attracted the attention of members of Suffolk and Cambridge’s Antiquarian Societies. There were prehistoric, Bronze Age, Iron Age, Roman, Romano-British, Anglo-Saxon and medieval artefacts which were of great interest to the many scholars who haunted the sites. Landowners, coprolite contractors and often the diggers themselves were offered a few shillings for interesting items. With the intense interest in archaeology, anthropology, palaeontology and geology sparked off by Charles Darwin’s controversial theory of evolution, fossils were much in demand by avid Victorian collectors. It was the done thing to have a collection in one’s drawing room. As a result there were thriving fossil and antique stalls on the market in Cambridge and Woodbridge. It is quite likely that many of the archaeological treasures from the diggings changed hands there. As a result many finds have not been documented in Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. Given that this area’s history dates back to Neolithic times, it was not surprising that excavating most of the fields along the extent of the Greensand uncovered much evidence from that period onwards. The diggings were, according to E. Ennion, “the most widespread upheaval since Romano-Celtic days”.

 

The diggings in southeast Suffolk, where there were fewer large estates than in Cambridgeshire, were on a much small scale. As a result there is not the same amount of documentation of the diggings as in Cambridgeshire. Small landowners often made informal arrangements to have the fossils raised. Larger landowners, like the Church, the Crown and the Cambridge Colleges, used their land agents, surveyors and solicitors to ensure their finances were correct. Anything of interest brought up on their estates would probably not have gone unnoticed and some of the treasures from the diggings are to be found in the College museums. Clement Francis, the Cambridge solicitor, had heard of archaeological treasures being found on some of the fenland estates that he had dealings with. When the deposit was found on Quy Fen, where he was Lord of the Manor, he introduced a clause into his coprolite agreement with Edward Packard, an Ipswich Manure Manufacturer, that ‘all gravel, coins, armour, bones, fossils, relics, antiquities and curiosities remained the property of the Lord of the Manor.’ Other landowners were quick to follow suit. 17

 

Not all the archaeological discoveries, however, were exploited. Sir John Burgoyne, the owner of a large estate in Sutton, Beds, according to local gossip, was informed that the coprolite diggers excavating John O’Gaunt’s Hill had uncovered large quantities of breastplate, weapons and armour. He stormed over and stopped the workmen from digging any further, telling them that they were disturbing the dead. 18 However, as shall be seen later, many other coprolite contractors and landowners were not so particular.

 

It has been suggested that considerable sums of money changed hands over the numerous artefacts that were discovered and not all of them, therefore, were recorded in Antiquarian or Archaeological papers. Reports often did not give the exact locations of their finds. Grid references were not used in Victorian academic publications. As today, landowners were not keen on trespassers or grave robbers descending on their property. It is likely that, given the additional income generated from such finds, landowners, farmers and coprolite contractors wanted to keep the site to themselves. It is entirely possible that many more treasures from the diggings around Cambridge, and the numerous other ‘coprolite villages,’ are in private hands. A number of the documented finds in this article can be seen in the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology in Cambridge. This was thanks to the work of Baron Von Hugel, who set up the Museum and documented some of these early discoveries.

 

Items of interest to the industrial archaeologist have also come to light. Much of the tools and machinery was sold off or scrapped but some of the coprolite trucks, tramways and washing mills have been found. On Coldham’s Common in Cambridge there still stands the weigh house still stands where the thousands of tons that left the coprolite works were weighed up before being carted to Cambridge Station.

 

What follows is a village by village account of the archaeological discoveries in Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire and Suffolk as recorded in archives and publications.

 

ABINGTON PIGOTTS, CAMBS.

 

The coprolite workings started in Abington Pigotts in the early 1860s but it was during a revival in the early-1880s that an Iron Age/Roman settlement was excavated. In March 1882 a low eminence, known as Bellus Hill, was dug revealing a rectangular enclosure of about twenty acres. It consisted of hollows and ditches of an ancient village, with closes, yards and houses. Post holes showed it was originally surrounded by a stockade. The landowner, Rev. Graham Pigott, reported to the Antiquarian Society that ‘Four cartloads of artefacts were removed, thought to be Roman.’ 

 

“About eight chain less than half a mile nearly north of the parish church of Abington Pigotts there is undulating ground, in fact, a slight hill trending East and West, which has been turned over during the years 1879-84 for the purpose of extracting the coprolite under it…”

 

He observed the diggings and noted that a Roman settlement was uncovered. He called attention to holes used for domestic purposes.

 

“I took special note of one of them on March 9th 1882 when I was of opinion that they were receptacles for funereal urns and I find in my notes that day, The men employed in digging coprolite came across a hole three feet in diameter containing refuse etc. The hole went through a seam of coprolite; from the surface of the ground to the coprolite bed was 14 feet; .. . . The coprolite men used to take what they call a “fall” of 4ft. at a time, and from each fall in this particular trench did I get fragments of the bowl.” 19

 

Bellus Hill was dug to a depth of 20 feet (6.1m.). Bronze Age finds included urns of a dark material which, round the middle of one and the bottom of another, the blackened colour changed to a whitish hue. This was the result of hot ashes being deposited in them. Fragments of samian ware, one repaired with rivets, a large vase with finger impressions, mortaria, colanders, and fragments of large wine vases of reddish earth were found. Four unusual circular pieces of iron, 3½ inches in diameter, and weighing between 5½lb. - 6½lb were removed as well as a 2.1 cm. fragment of a fluted, bronze, double edged rapier or dagger blade, a 6.4cm. bronze awl, querns, bone combs, animal bones as well as fragments of  human skulls. The whole skeleton of an adult girl was found eighteen inches from the surface. This was thought to be a later interment. Several of these finds were sold by the landowner, Mr de-Courcy-Ireland to the Cambridge University Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. 20

 

In 1884 a Roman coin of Drusus Senior, the father of Germanicus, struck in about 9BC, was found on the same site. 21 A year earlier some sherds of coarse grey ware, thought to be from a small Belgic beaker, were found in the diggings on nearby Butcher’s Close. 22 As well as hut sites, Iron Age pottery, Roman pewter plates, salt cellars and a scythe were discovered. Today there’s little evidence of this early settlement. 23

 

ASHWELL, HERTS.

 

Herbert Fordham gave the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology a broken medieval cooking pot with a wide flared rim. He said it was found in the diggings between Ashwell and Guilden Morden sometime between 1860 and 1870. According to the local historian, Alfred Sheldrick, a commotion broke out amongst the diggers when one of them threw an earthenware pot out of the coprolite pit. It broke open and many silver coins were scattered about. They were described as bearing raised designs, some showing seven stars. There was no indication of the location of the pits or from what period they dated from. A very similar account exists for Hinxworth (see below). 24

 

ASTWICK

 

William Ransom reported that the diggings near a stream at Astwick O.S. 216385) uncovered a large number of human skeletons, presumed to be Roman. Beside them were ten Samian vessels in very good condition. A print of them can be seen on page .. The name of the potter was visible on most. The large bowl had an unusually fine raised pattern of fishes running round it. They also had the impressions of the tips of the makers’ fingers underneath. A sword, a number of spear heads of Saxon origin and a broken shield boss were also found.  25

 

BARRINGTON, CAMBS.

 

In October 1868 Richard Bendyshe, one of Barrington’s larger landowners, leased the 371 acre Barrington Farm to Henry Sworder, his tenant farmer and Charles Roads, the Orwell coprolite contractor for £100 per acre. The agreement included the proviso that “all Coins, Armour, Bones, Fossils, Relics, Antiquaries & Curiosities which shall be discovered shall be the property of the landowner.” 26

 

The local vicar, Rev. Edward Conybeare, kept a diary in which he recorded many of the finds made in Barrington and nearby parishes. He began a fossil collection from the pits and, when the village museum opened in 1881, he donated numerous fine specimens along with an assortment of artefacts that were dug up during the diggings. In May 1879, whilst investigating another case of drunkenness, he “procured a magnificent flint pestle from coprolite works. Bones from an Irish Elk were dug up from the Close in May. Hippo bones were also found but the air made him crumble to pieces”. After an exquisite piece of Samian ware was discovered, a “Magnificent amphora, 3 feet high,” was brought in from Mr. Roads’ diggings, which Conybeare mended. 27

 

Many of the coprolite contractors, farmers and landowners were able to receive many hundreds of pounds profit from each acre and cared little for archaeology. As a result much of the field evidence for the evolution of the village has been obliterated. The Cambridgeshire archaeologist, Cyril Fox, referred to the Barrington finds.

 

“From several pits in the Barrington area archaeological remains were discovered. Between 1874 -76, North of the river, East of the Malton Orwell road and South of Trinity Farm Road, near Edic’s (Edox) Hill, some 30 pagan graves were opened by Mr. Wilkinson, working ahead of the diggers. They contained brooches, tools and weapons. Between 1880 - 83, in Hooper’s Field, north of the village and east of Orwell Road, 114 graves were discovered by Mr. Foster. They were part of a large pagan cemetery dating from the 5th to  the 7th century A.D. Again it contained brooches but as the workmen had discovered it first, many articles were never recovered. Finds from both are in the Cambridge Museum.” 28

 

The 114 graves were found on a southern slope to the west of the village. They were irregularly placed and sometimes disturbed each other. Only one had a coffin and a rectangular fosse on the site containing Romano-British rubbish appeared to have been filled in before the cemetery began. Conybeare reported that a pendant, brooch, bead, ring, bucket hoop, girdlehanger, pottery, finger ring, coffin and an inhumation were removed. 30

 

A number of the discoveries were ‘presented’ to Trinity College by Prof. McKenny-Hughes in 1879. Others were obtained by a Mr. Griffiths and given to the Cambridge Museum. These were from what is known as the Barrington A site at the eastern end of the village.

 

Sometime in 1880 an Iron Age settlement (O.S. TL 39244954) was revealed by the coprolite diggings which ultimately destroyed it. It was an irregular area defined by a rectilinear ditch 14 feet wide and 8 feet deep (4.27m. x 2.44m.). When it was discovered the ditch was invisible on the surface. Within the area were 50 enclosed pits, some as much as 13 feet in diameter (3.96m.) and 8 feet deep (2.44m.) but most were smaller and shallower. Filled with greasy earth these pits revealed occasional sherds of pottery, bones and teeth of ox (Bos Longifrons), horse, sheep and pig. The pottery included Belgic tazzas, globular urns and a pedestal urn together with imported Arretine vases of Augustan age. Fibulae of La Tene  (III-IV type) were also found. 32

 

Other items that Conybeare collected from the diggings included gold coins dating back to the time of Maximin during the Roman occupation, medieval and post-medieval ones from the reigns of Henry III, Henry VII and Henry VIII. He also reported getting ‘wonderful 18” bronze dagger still as sharp as a needle’ but did not mention from what date it was. From finds during 1880 - 81 he reported receiving:

 

“an iron axe head, Roman coins showing 22 emperors from Vespasian to Constantius, an elephant tooth, human bones, gold and silver (Henry VIII) from near Garnett House, a broadsword dug up behind Reynolds’, a sword and curved knife, a glorious gilt fibula ­ one with pin complete from Wallis’ ... a very pretty bronze candlestick dug up in fossil pit, a grand whistle, a splendid red deer horn from West Field.” 33

 

Whilst there were considerable details of the finds in Barrington, the archaeologist, Cyril Fox, felt that many artefacts were never recovered. He argued that contractors or the diggers found it more worthwhile not to report them.

 

“The majority of the cemeteries were discovered during the extensive coprolite diggings carried out in all parts of the district in the 1860s, 70s and 80s of the last century. Workmen went about with their pockets full of grave furniture and much came into the hands of collectors through the intermediary of dealers in Cambridge. I feel that the villages where workmen happened to reside sometimes came to be the recorded provenances of objects found in adjacent parishes.” 34

 

BARTON, CAMBS.

 

Some items recorded as being unearthed during the diggings on Barton Road were medieval harness trappings and 17th century trade tokens. Sir John Evans supposed that an escutcheon from a bronze bowl and a spindle whorl recorded as being from Barton were actually from the Haslingfield diggings. 35

 

BASSINGBOURN, CAMBS.

 

In early 1887 the coprolite diggers dug over a field about three quarters of a mile to the north of the village church. They worked through the moat and ruins of the medieval Castle, ‘John O Gaunt’s House’. This was reported to be the site of the old manor of Richmond’s, part of the large dower of Queen Edith, consort of Edward the Confessor. The whole area was turned over and the moat was to a large extent filled in. The stones of the moat bridge and those from the ruins were removed and used to repair the damage done to the roads by the cartwheels of the coprolite traffic.  36 A bronze statuette, nearly four înches high, (10 cm.) of the Roman goddess, Diana, was reported to be found in coprolite diggings near Bassingbourn. 37

 

As they were so close to the workings in the adjoining parish of Abington Pigotts there was some confusion over the origin of some of the finds. The Victoria County History reported that the workings revealed pewter plates, salt cellars and a scythe of unknown origin but these were found in Abington Pigotts. 38 One of the three mills in the village, owned by Mr Nunn, was converted for grinding coprolite.

 

BURWELL, CAMBS.

 

In January 1863 the coprolite diggers in Burwell Fen uncovered an ox’s skull with a ‘celt,’ a broken flint axe head, embedded 2¾ inches deep (11cm.) in the bone. 39 This was thought to be of prehistoric origin. The diggers sold it to a Mr. Farren who was ‘actively involved in collecting fossils for the Woodwardian Museum’ in Cambridge. It can be seen on display in the Sedgwick Museum in Cambridge. Further evidence of prehistoric occupation was provided when a flint hammer was found in one of the washmills. 40 Big Mill windmill (O.S. TL 59116660) is said to have been used for coprolite grinding. 41

 

 In 1867 a Bronze Age hoard was found in Hallard’s Fen about one mile northeast of Reach. It consisted of 11 socketed axes, 2 chisels, 3 gouges, a hammer, 5 knives, 2 swords, a chape, 7 socketed spearheads, 6 buttons, 2 bugle shaped objects and a number of rings and other items. 42

 

CAMBRIDGE

 

The workmen on Coldham’s Common in 1857 uncovered some pewter plate with the arms of Trinity College on it. It was given to the Corporation’s treasurer for safe keeping. This was eventually sold as part of the property of the Corporation’s Chairman, Harry Cross. 43 Sometime in 1860 the diggers on the Common unearthed a black Roman vase 6½ inches high, (16.6cm.) and 20 inches (51.2cm.) in circumference. Where that went was not recorded. 44 Sir William Ridgeway reported that a mottled grey and yellow flint axe was ‘found near Cambridge in coprolite pit, sold to me as a tool in Barnwell.’ 45

 

A larger ground and polished flint axe, 5½ inches x 2½ inches, (14cm. x 6.4cm.) was found by the geologist, J.P. Walker, ‘north of Coldham’s Common Coprolite Works.’ He presented it to the Sedgwick Museum. 46 In 1861, when men working for the coprolite contractor, Swann Wallis,  started the coprolite workings on Gravel Hill Farm in Chesterton, (OS TL 432601) they revealed a Roman cremation with two or three vessels in perfect condition. 47 The local archaeologist, Charles Babington, described to the Cambridge Antiquarian Society other finds made by the workmen in 1863 alongside Huntingdon Road, not far from Howe House, and north of University Farm (O.S. TL 43215989). Two Barnack stone Roman coffins, placed a few feet apart, contained the skeletons of a man and woman. The grave goods included a bracelet and a pin as well as flasks of Rhenish glass, a bronze vessel, castor-ware beaker, coarse-ware plate, a jet armlet and pins of jet and bone. These were dated to the third or early fourth century. 48 Babington went on to describe further finds from Wallis’ excavations later that year.

 

“One of the fields bordering the Via Devana (Huntingdon Road) and also adjoining the old enclosures of Howe’s Close, at about a mile from Cambridge, has recently been trenched to the depth of many feet in order to obtain the so called “coprolites” contained in the soil. Thus many hundreds of yards of the supposed route of the Roman Road had been thoroughly examined.” 49

 

In 1870 an Anglo-Saxon burial was unearthed just north of the coprolite works on Coldham’s Common (O.S. TL 474587) and two ancient clasp knives were found. Whether the latter were from the same site is not known. 50 More Roman inhumations and pottery were found during the diggings in 1871 in the field opposite Storey’s Almshouses, near Castle Hill, on the present site of St. Edmund’s College (O.S. TL 443594). 51

 

In about 1875 an octagonal bronze medieval seal was found in a coprolite pit near Barnwell. The impression is of a brass secretum or private seal, showing the head of St. John the Baptist on a charger. Encircling the device were the words ‘Caput Baptiste’ in 14th century writing and it is thought to have belonged to the Knights’ Hospitallers at Quy. 52 According to Reginald Dutton, who reported the finds to the Cambridge Antiquarian Society, ‘Like all, or nearly all the seals of this period, used by secular persons, it is circular in shape, oval seals being rarely used by any save females or ecclesiastics.’ Two years later, in 1878, a shield shaped, medieval merchant’s mark was found in a coprolite pit to the north of Newmarket Road. It was made from a brass-like metal. 53

 

COMBERTON, CAMBS.

 

Two medieval earthworks in fields just east of Comberton village were systematically destroyed in the coprolite diggings. The first was on Jaggard’s Farm, just south of Bin Brook, O.S. TL 393582) where the work took place in 1864. The second was in the field northeast of the crossroads where the work had spread to between 1868 and 1878. (0S TL 392565) No evidence has emerged of any artefacts being removed. 54

 

CROYDON, CAMBS.

 

The diggings in Croydon extended westwards out of the village along the slopes of the chalk hill and were reported to have damaged the earthworks of the deserted medieval village of Clopton. (O.S. 302489 - 303485) No records of any finds have been found. 55

 

FELIXSTOWE, SUFFOLK

 

It was in Felixstowe where the country’s first coprolite workings started in about 1845. The deposit was found in the Red Crag at the foot of the cliffs. There were still deposits worth extracting in 1871 in ‘The Park,’ not far from the church. (GR.316356) Here, according to the local historian, Allan Jobson, ‘..the men in search for coprolites came upon many interesting relics of the Roman occupation of this once important settlement.’ 56 Few details about these interesting relics have emerged but some are reported to be in the British Museum and Ipswich Museum. They include a Bronze Age collared urn and a circular bronze brooch disc dating from Saxon times. The latter has a backward looking animal on it with traces of red enamel. 57

 

FOXHALL, SUFFOLK

 

In 1855 what became known as the ‘Foxhall Jaw’ was found in the gravel heap of a 16 feet deep (4.88m.) coprolite pit. Frederick Laws, of Foxhall Hall, was raising the fossils in the grounds. 58

 

FOXTON , CAMBS.

 

The Cambridgeshire County archaeology department Sites and Monuments record has the suggestion that coprolite digging cut into the ditches of a possible track or Roman road. . (O.S. TL 405484) Aerial photographs show the markings but there are no records of any archaeological finds being made. 59

 

GRANTCHESTER, CAMBS.

 

The coprolite diggings in Grantchester started in the 1850s but no records of any archaeological finds have come to light apart from the period when the workings were restarted during the First World War. The main centre of these operations was in the fields on the eastern side of the Cam in Trumpington but another operation was underway in Grantchester, just across the river from Byron’s Pool. A sherd from an Iron Age bowl, ‘from the coprolite diggings prior to 1923’, can be seen in the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropolgy. Exactly where it was found was not stated. 60

 

However, there are detailed reports of extensive Roman house and farm buildings being destroyed by the diggings during the war. These were north of the confluence of the Cam and Bourn Brook. A quern stone, fragments of mill stones of Neidermendig lava, potsherds etc. were found. An unlined well, 29 feet deep, (8.84m.) was excavated, the bottom of which revealed Roman potsherds, a piece of decorated wall plaster and a piece of antler pick. Pottery sherds from the Iron Age were also reported unearthed at a point variously marked as Carters Well, Roman Well and Coprolite Workings no.2. In the same locality, the remains of stone and timber buildings were found with a quantity of Roman bricks, many flue and roof tiles, painted plaster and opus signinum. Refuse pits contained much debris and some charred oak beams that have been interpreted as part of a windlass. There was also an Anglo Saxon bone comb found. At Tartar’s Well, the upper part of a Doric column made from Northamptonshire oolite was found four feet (1.22m.) below the surface. Cyril Fox suggested that extensive crop marks showed that it was the remains of a Roman villa connected the nearby Cantelupe Farm. O.S. TL 43215500). 61

 

Mr. and Mrs. Porter, gave a report in 1921 to the Antiquarian Society about the Trumpington and Grantchester discoveries.

 

“On a part of the Grantchester workings near the Barton Road and not far from the spot where local rumour has it that many men in armour were once dug up were found some medieval harness trappings of bronze, also a few tokens.” 62

 

GREAT SHELFORD, CAMBS.

 

A number of beads, including two of mother of pearl, were found by coprolite diggers on Mr. Gannel’s Farm at Great Shelford at a depth of four feet (1.22m.). Of what date they were is uncertain. 63

 

GUILDEN MORDEN, CAMBS.

 

During 1864 - 1865 a 2½ inch long (6.4cm.) elongated and flattened bronze pig was found when a burial site was uncovered in the coprolite workings. Its tail, when found, formed a complete ring. It was thought by the local landowner, Herbert Fordham, to be Celtic in origin due to its similarity to figurines from that period but J. Foster suggested it was an Anglo Saxon bronze boar, thought to have come from a helmet. 64 A doubled up skeleton was also found. Fordham made a number of donations of finds from the diggings to the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. These included an early cooking pot with a wide flared rim and sagging base. Its handles were missing. He reported that it was found in the Ashwell or Guilden Morden coprolite workings. He also donated three soles from some medieval boots found by the diggers. There were two children’s and one adult’s.  65

 

HARDWICK, CAMBS.

 

In 1864 the diggings started on a medieval earthwork (O.S. TL 353582) on Harcamlow Way in Hardwick, near Comberton, but there was nothing reported of any finds. 66

 

HARLTON, CAMBS.

 

A number of Anglo-Saxon objects, obviously from an inhumation, was presented to Trinity College in 1879 by Professor McKenny- Hughes. As there is no record of any such burial ground in the parish it has been suggested that they were ‘brought’ by a Harlton coprolite digger from the diggings in the Haslingfield cemeteries. 67

 

HASLINGFIELD, CAMBS.

 

We can thank the archaeologist, Sir Cyril Fox, for recording details of a find at Cantelupe Farm in Haslingfield where some very significant Iron Age relics were uncovered by the diggers. 68 An iron sword blade, a spearhead and the point of another spear - the last found in the shoulder of a skeleton - were discovered in 1865. Nearby was a large amphora filled with burnt bones and nails. Whether the latter were uncovered during the diggings is uncertain. However, Fox pointed out that during the period 1872 - 1875, when the coprolites were dug north of the river, an ancient burial ground was unearthed. This was northeast of the village and southeast of the field road to Cantelupe Farm, beside the Farm road running from the farm to Haslingfield, near spot height 71 (O.S. TL 413530). A considerable quantity of second century Romano-British and fifth and sixth century Anglo Saxon grave goods was recovered from the inhumations. They included brooches, wrist clasps, beads and bracelets which found their way into the British Museum, London and the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford.

 

Many of the finds were supplied by the somewhat illiterate Frederick Pond who had set himself up as a fossil collector. Correspondence he had with Professor Rolleston of Oxford University reveals an interesting side of this work.

 

Feb. 24th, 1874 ‘I have sent you the Antiquaties mentioned in my letter to you from Harston Station they was found at Haslingfield in the feald known as Stoney Hill there is a great many skelitens beene found there was some found with those Broach but they Buried them... I have bought this little thing like a watch face.”

 

March 26th I have got 3 Pots found in the Same Place... one the largest is figured outside very nice ... It had a lot of Bones Been preserved in it hade a Bone Combe in it with the earth.... The other 2 had not anything in them only earth 2 of them are small.” Rolleston recorded that the bones were human, of a girl aged about 14 and with them 2 glenoid ends of scapula of a calf.)

 

May 20th “3 urns, the smallest very nice... They was found in Stoney Hill with the skelitons and other things. I shall want 10 shillings (£0.50) for the urns. I have got 4 Heads 2 are Pretty good and 2 are Broaken and some Leg Bones I have got a Bullick face with the horns on it Perfect.”

 

“Dear Sir, I have received your letter about the finding of the skeletons I am sorry I did not hear of it amounth (sic) ago as there was several found about that time but they have run the slurry over them so it is impossible to get them but I will get you some skull and leg bones as soon as there is some more found I have been and gave the men the order to get me some more as soon as they turn up I quite think there will be some as they keep finding ornaments every few days now. Yours obediently,

Frederick Pond fossills Collector•

 

June 11th 2 skulls and 2 leg bones and a little broken pot were received by Rolleston.

 

July 13th A little urn was found very deep.

Aug. 3rd A skull and some bones were taken to Pond, and sent to Rolleston. Work stopped until after harvest.

 

Sept. 30th 2 more urns were received.

Oct. 16th More relics were found in the previous week but I have not got any of them yet there is some Gentleman at Cambridge they give a long Price for them but I shall get all I can and send them to Mr Greenwell.”

 

Oct. 28th “I have sent you 3 urns today... the Bones in the large one was in it when it was found ... Will you please let me know if you have sent those things to Canon Greenwell which I sent in your last box ...since I have got some more things for him which I have Bought since found with the skelitons one ring was on the finger bones when found those urns was found with the skelitons they broak the Heads in getting them out.”

 

Nov. 30th One skull and a pot containing bones was sent.

 

Dec. 28th.Another urn, with contents. 3 of these urns in the Ashmolean Museum still contain burnt bones; and there is a quantity of material from inhumation graves - brooches of every variety, especially small-long, wrist clasps, beads, bracelets, bucket escutcheons, etc. Several of the objects are very early in date, eg. a window urn, an equal armed small-long brooch, a bronze-gilt belt plate with egg-and-tongue ornament; as also are several disc brooches in the Cambridge Museum. There are also, however, some late objects, including a debased square headed brooch. 69



It was pointed out by Professor Rolleston that records of finds in Harlton in the Cambridge Museum and a brooch in the Ashmolean acquired in 1872 are probably from Haslingfield. As the diggers came from nearby parishes they took artefacts home and sold them. An escutcheon from a bronze bowl and a spindle whorl, obtained by Evans in 1874, are supposed to be from Barton but as no pagan objects have been recorded for this parish it is assumed they were from Haslingfield. In 1878, Professor Hughes exhibited to the Antiquarian Society a small earthenware vessel containing an opaque glass bead, and two bronze objects of unknown origin found by the coprolite diggers in Haslingfield. The exact location of these finds was not recorded. 70

 

HAUXTON, CAMBS.

 

In 1879 coprolite diggings near Hauxton Mill revealed some Anglo-Saxon brooches and a large knobbed pot. (O.S. TL 432528) During the 1880s ­ 1890s quantities of pottery and a comb were found when Professor Hughes excavated an Iron Age settlement (O.S. TL 432526) that was uncovered by diggings northeast of Hauxton Mill. In 1887 an iron reaping hook, thought to be Saxon, was found in the same workings. On the west side of Hauxton Road, at the approach to Hauxton Mill, a Roman cemetery containing 33 bodies found between five and eight feet deep (1.52m. to 2.44m.) was excavated. Seven varieties of pottery and Roman coins of Postumus, Salonia, Constantine II were brought to light by the diggers. (71)

 

The diggings recommenced during the First World War below the chalk pit (O.S. TL 43255284) which was subsequently filled in with waste. Fox reported the finds of a Bronze Age flat axe, a palstave and a pestle. 72

 

HINXWORTH, BEDS.

 

According to the local historian, Audrey Kiln, one of the diggers, a Mr. Tom Hedger, ‘had the good fortune to turn up an earthenware vessel containing silver coins all imprinted with seven stars. These he sold, according to Mr. Street, for a handsome profit, which enabled him to become landlord of the then vacant ‘Three Horseshoes’, a less arduous and far more lucrative occupation. This find seems to be the same referred to in the account of Ashwell. 73

 

HORNINGSEA, CAMBS.

 

During more than forty years of coprolite diggings in Horningsea much archaeological evidence of ancient settlement along the banks of the Cam was revealed by the excavations and some interesting finds were recorded. The north west third of a square ditched enclosure with rounded corners, (O.S. TL 49656214), a Roman settlement of about three acres, was destroyed when the diggers were working along the 30 foot contour. The only reported finds were a few sherds of pottery from the local Roman kilns. 74

 

Roman pottery was found in the 1850s in a coprolite pit east of Eye Hall Farm. (O.S. TL 503637).  75 This was thought to have come from one of seven Roman brick ovens in the 15 acre ‘Potter’s Field,’ southwest of the farm (O.S. TL 496634). 76 They are thought to date from the second to the third century and pottery from the site included large grey ware storage jars up to two feet (0.61m.) in height, pedestal jars, shallow bowls and indented beakers. In addition there was also some Samian ware, a bronze cooking vessel and fibulae which dated from Roman times. 77

 

LEVINGTON, SUFFOLK.

 

According to the Suffolk SMR a collared urn in the British Museum is said to have come form the coprolite diggings in Felixstowe but another report states that it ‘almost certainly’ came from Levington (TM 233388)78

 

QUY, CAMBS.

 

Lode Mill, near Quy, in the grounds of Anglesey Abbey, was used for grinding coprolites when the adjacent fields were worked. 79

 

SHILLINGTON, BEDS.

 

In Joan Wayne’s history of Shillington she referred to an 1871 newspaper cutting which recorded a 19 year old George Weedon discovering ‘Treasure Trove.’

 

“...whilst digging coprolites near ‘The Marquis of Granby’...a workman... struck with his pick a small earthenware vessel... (and) a number of coins fell out... and the men scrambled for them. The coins consist of silver pennies, of dates certainly before Edward I - possibly Stephen or Henry II. There are not less than three to four hundred... probably they were hidden away in troublous times. Applications by Trinity College, Cambridge, for restoration of the coins has been made.” 80

 

STONDON, BEDS.

 

A long, thin bronze object, thought to be an earpick from Roman times, was donated to the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology and reported to have come ‘from Lord Cowper’s coprolite diggings.’ There were workings on Lady Cowper’s estate on Hunsdon Lodge Farm in Stondon, near Henlow, in 1876. Whether Lord Cowper had allowed workings here or elsewhere is not known. 81

 

STRETHAM, CAMBS.

 

A mound in Middle Common just south of Stretham is the approximate line of a coprolite bank (O.S. TL 50767344 - 50977418) where, in 1877, the diggings revealed ‘an old Roman burial place’. Two glass bottles, two pieces of samian ware and some Roman pewter dishes were found. 82 Roman pottery was also reported found in a coprolite pit (O.S. TL 513732) to the west of the road down Middle Common Drove. 83 Whether it was from the same site or not is unknown.

 

SUTTON, BEDS.

 

The coprolite diggings spread from Sandy Heath and Potton south towards Sutton in the 1870s and the local landowner, Sir John Burgoyne, allowed part of his estate be worked. According to local gossip he was informed that the coprolite diggers excavating John O’Gaunt’s Hill, part of the present golf course, had uncovered large quantities of breastplate, weapons and armour. Being a military man he stormed over and stopped any further work telling the men that they were disturbing the dead. 84

 

SUTTON, SUFFOLK

 

The local trade directories of the early to mid-1880s mention that Thomas Waller occupied the Sutton Hall Estate where two urns were dug up during the diggings. They contained copper coins of the reign of Constantine.’ 85 Map evidence shows that they were unearthed in 1870 (0.S.30624514) but archaeological records omitted the date, stating that,

 

“...two coin hoards were unearthed by the coprolite diggers during the diggings and they included nearly a bushel of bronze and copper coins (mainly Constantinian) from c.330 AD buried in a Saxon urn. Ten of them were donated to the Ipswich Museum.” 86

 

The site uncovered by the diggers was a Roman burial ground. Some of the finds were sold and taken out of the country but others can be seen in the British Museum. One striking piece was a Samian vase over a foot high (0.3m.). Other finds included flue tiles, amphorae, glass scent phial, bronze pins, tweezers, mirror fibulae, gold and silver rings, a gold chain and a bronze amulet. Numerous silver and bronze coins were also uncovered which dated back to the reign of Victorianus, Constantine, Gordianus, Galienus, Arcadius, Serverus etc. Many urns were found containing inhumations, and many shells which showed the Roman’s taste for sea food. They included cockles, mussels, periwinkles and snails.

 

TRUMPINGTON, CAMBS.

 

The estate of Mr. Pemberton of Trumpington, land to the northwest of the village between the river and Trumpington Road, was extensively worked for coprolites during the early 1870s. He reported to the Cambridge Antiquarian Society that a cinerary urn had been found but gave no details as to where, nor whether other artefacts were unearthed.

 

During the First World War workings started again to the south of Cambridge in the grounds of Anstey Hall, Trumpington. They were known as the Hauxton Road Coprolite Works. The only recorded finds were when student volunteers in the 1917 - 1918 diggings discovered some neolithic remains and a Roman farmstead with its own river wharf in the gravel by the river (O.S. TL 43225424). Many unused Romano-British potsherds were found on the landing place, including mortaria. Ten Roman copper coins were found in the fragments. At the workings closer to Hauxton Road seven skeletons were uncovered, buried, it was suggested, at the time of the Black Death. Whether it was from these workings was not stated but a semi-circular piece of bone from Post Medieval times was reported found at ‘Coprolite Diggings No 5’ in Trumpington. All this area was reinstated, concrete emplacements were blown up and removed and the river banks recut. The huge earth bank was levelled in the construction of the M11.

 

WICKEN, CAMBS.

 

The coprolite diggings in 1877 were reported by the Rev. Pigot to have revealed three sepulchral urns, found together with a small one, ‘on the east side of the old West River in the parish of Wicken, opposite to Dimmock’s Cote in the parish of Stretham.’ It was suggested that they were Roman as there was an ‘old Roman burial place’ a mile away in Stretham.

 

1. Rothamsted Library Archives, A1, letter from Lawes to Henslow 13th June 1845; Henslow, J.S. correspondence in Agricultural Gazette, 11th March 1848, p.180

2. The Farming of Cambridgeshire,’ Journal of Royal Agric. Soc. (1847), p.71; Reid (1890), p.16

3. Owen, Revd. CUL.Add.7652.I/E/74a.; CUL.Add.7652.I/E/60a.,61,75; Cambridge Independent Press, 18th Jan.1851 p.3

4. Gardeners Chronicle 19th Feb. 1848; Agricultural Gazette, 4th March, 11th March 1848 pp.164, 180-1; Way, J.T and Paine, J.M. (1851) p.551

5. Coton (Date of first evidence of coprolite workings 1856) King’s College Muniments Coton 149; Cambridgeshire County Record Office (CCRO.) Coton vestry Minute Book 1856; Haslingfield (1857) CUL.Add.7652II/C/4 ; Grantchester (1859) CCRO. Bidwell 18 p.2; Meldreth (1851) (Licence, 1851, penes, Mr Palmer, quoted in Victoria County History, ‘Cambs,’ p.92; Barrington (1861) CCRO. Bendyshe Papers T15/1,2, CCRO. Francis Bill Books 1861 A-N p.26; Bassingbourn (1863) CCRO. Bassingbourn parish documents of Capt. D.H.F. Hatton; CCRO. Francis Bill Books A-p.3; Whaddon (1861) Christ’s College Muniments. Box C6.5; Eversdens (1858) Birt (1931), pp.9-14; Orwell (1861) CCRO. 296B420 pp.40-44; Trumpington (1869) CCRO. City of Cambridge Records October 1869) Ashwell (1857) Clutterbuck, R..(1877) p.238; CCRO. R60/3 Cambridge Manure Company Minute Books 1857 - 1860; Hertfordshire County Record Office (HCRO.) 28250 - 2

6. Hitchin Museum, Diaries of George Beaver, p.73a; Documents in possession of Mr. D. Smyth, of Edworth, Beds.

7. Buckinghamshire Record Office (BCRO.) P15/49 Ashridge Estate papers

8. Folkestone Chronicle 29th Oct. 5th Nov. 1870; Topley (1875) pp.147, 390

9. Norfolk Mercury 23rd May, 1874, Kelly’s Post Office Directory, Norfolk 1879

10. Tye (1930), pp.5-7

11. Fordham, (1866);  Seeley, (1869) p.78; Communication by Seeley CUL. Add.7652/II.EE; Teall, J.J. (1875) pp.8-10; Seeley, (1874); Seeley, (1912); Sedgwick Museum, Downing site, Cambridge

12. Keeping,  (1883) pp.12-13

13. Found in Peter Blackburn-Maze’s garden in Barrington and in author’s possession

14. The Times, (April 16th, 1874)

15. Cambridge University Library, (C.U.L.)Owen, Revd. Add.7652.I/E/74a.; Add.7652.I/E/60a.,61,75; Add.7652II/C/4; Ashmolean Library, Oxford, Rolleston Papers, correspondence)

16. Ennion, (1951), p.221

17. CCRO. Francis Papers R89/40; Bendyshe Papers 14/1

18. Personal communication with Mr. Croot, Potton, Beds.

19. Pigott,Rev. Graham F.(1886), pp. 309-12

20. Ibid; Cambridge University Museum of Arch. and Anth. IDNO 1957.277 A & B

21. Fox, (1922-24), vol. 4, pp.211-233; Cambs. Arch.SMR 03320/E

22. Museum of Arch. and Anth. IDNO 1951.341

23. Pigotts, (1886) Appendix p.cxi; Pigotts, (1937), p.32; Kiln, (1979), p.47

24. Museum of Arch. and Anth.  IDNO A 1906.114;  Sheldrick, (1991), p.12

25. Ransom, (1886) p. 40; Fox, (1923), p.267; Meaney, (1964), p.35

26. CCRO. Bendyshe Papers 14/1

27. CCRO. Conybeare Diaries 1879

28. Fox, (1923), pp.109, 250-5

29. Ibid. p.241

30. CCRO. Conybeare Diaries 1880; Cambs. Arch.03438; PCAS, vol.xxxv, (1934), p.141 

31. Griffiths, (1934), p.xii; Allen, (1898), pp.39-56; Lethbridge et al. (1934), p.141; Meaney,  (1964) p.61; Cambs. Arch. SMR 03438, 04853

32. Babington (1880-84), pp.7-10; Foster, (1880-84) p.xii, 5-32;

V.C.H. Cambs. vol.1, (1938) pp.295-6,300; Car, (1954) p.24; Evans, (1864), p.373; Fox, (1923), p.88; Cambs. Arch. SMR 03263

33. CCRO. Conybeare Diaries, (22nd March, 28th June 1880, 15th December 1881)

34. Fox, (1923), p.253; Hughes (1878), Appendix 7.

35. Porter, (1973) pp.5-6

36. VCH, vol.7, Cambs, ii, (1948), pp.15-16; Cambs. Arch. SMR 01776

37. PCAS vol.37 p.52; Museum of Arch. and Anth. IDNO 1923.239

38. Pigotts, (1886), Appendix cxi

39. Babington, (1863b), p.285-6; Carter, (May 1863); Carter, (1874) pp.492-96

40. Babington, (1863a), p.201

41. Camb.Arch. SMR 06495

42. Prigg, (1880), pp.56-62; Fox, (1923) p.324; V.C.H. Cambridgeshire. Vol.i, (1938) p.279; Camb.Arch. SMR 06397

43. CCRO. Borough of Camb. Minutes 13th July 1857

44. Griffiths,  (1878), p.xii

45. Ridgeway, Sir William, 13th Jan. 1895, Museum of Arch. and Anth. IDNO 1927.497

46. Museum of Arch. and Anth. IDNO 1951.46032

47. Babington, (1863c), pp.289-92; Cambs. Arch. SMR 05186)

48. Ibid.; Cambs. Arch. SMR 05129 

49. Babington, (1863c), pp.289-92;

50. Pemberton, (1879) p.xvii; Fox, (1923) p.244-5; Cambs. Arch. SMR 050678

51. Cambs. Arch. SMR 05082; Babington, (1883) p. ..

52. King, (1875) p.255; Cambs. Arch. SMR 04692

53. Dutton, (1879), p.187; Cambs. Arch. SMR 04644; Museum of Arch. and Anth. IDNO 1953.52

54. CUL. MS Plans RA2, draft enclosure map 1839-40; Camb. Arch. SMR 03217

55. Royal Commission for Historic Monuments, England, ‘West Cambridgeshire’, (1968) p.76; Cambs. Arch. SMR 012161

56. Jobson, (1967), pp.174-5

57. V.C.H. Suffolk, vol.1, (1911) p.348; Smedley,  & Owles, (1962) p.185; Ipswich Museum, card 966-107; Suffolk Country SMR. 03026, 03054

58. Moir, (1927); Spencer, (1965), pp.118-20

59. Cambs. Arch. SMR.08629

60. Fox, (1923) pp.82-3; Cambridge University Museum of Arch. and Anth. IDNO Z 11492; O’Connor, (1994)

61. Fox, (1923) p.82; Royal Commission for Historic Monuments, England, ‘West Cambridgeshire’, (1968), p.112; V.C.H. Cambs. 7, (1978) p.45; Cambs. Arch. SMR 04509, 05166A; Museum of Arch. and Anth. IDNO Z 23162/3, Z 42037

62. Porter, (1921), pp. 124-5

63. Gibson, (1885), appendix lx

64. Fordham, (1902), pp.44,373; Fox, ‘The La Tene and Romano British Cemetery, Guilden Morden,’ P.C.A.S.  pp.49-63; Foster, (1977), pp.166-7; Cambs. Arch. SMR 02268A, 00662

65. Museum of Arch. and Anth. IDNO 1906.114; 1906.111 A/B/C

66. Cambs. Arch. SMR 03216

67. Fox, (1923) pp.257-8; Cambs. Arch. SMR 03438

68. Fox, (1923) pp.255-9; Grove, R. (1976), p.47

69. Ashmolean Library, Oxford, Rolleston Papers; Meaney, (1964), pp.66-7

70. Hughes (1878), Appendix 7; Brown,  (1935) pp.785,787; V.C.H. Cambs. 1, (1938) pp.313-4; Parker, (1969), p.57; Cambs. Arch. SMR 04816

71. Kimmins, (1887), p. cvii; Hughes, (1891), p.24; Fox, (1923), p.259; Museum of Arch. and Anth. IDNO Z 16384

72. Fox, (1923), p.111; V.C.H. Cambs. 1, (1938), pp.267, 273, 288; Cambs. Arch. SMR 04978, 04979, 05032; Museum of Arch. and Anth. IDNO Z 16384

73. Kiln, (1979), p.4

74. RCHM. ‘Northeast Cambridgeshire’, (1972), pp.72-3; Cambs. Arch. SMR 05402

75. Cambs. Arch. SMR 0637275.

76. Cambs. Arch. SMR 05546

77. Cambridge Graphic, 2nd Nov.1901,p.11; CCRO 65/04; McKenny-Hughes, (1901) p.202; McKenny-Hughes,, vol.10, p.174; Walker, (1912-13) pp.14-69; Fox, (1923), pp.210-1;Cambs. Arch. SMR 05393

78. Suffolk Arch. SMR 03851

79. Author’s conversation with restoration worker at Quy Mill who found coprolite dust in the millstone.)

80. Wayne,  (1987), pp.64-5

81. Museum of Arch. and Anth. IDNO D 1906.8; Hitchin Museum, Diaries of George Beaver p.111b

82. Pigot, (1880) p.xvi

83. Cambs. Arch. SMR 06877, 06905, 06928

84. Personal communication with Ted Croot, Potton, Beds.

85. Kelly’s Post Office Directory, (1883); White’s ‘Suffolk Directory’, Sutton (1885)

86. Suffolk County SMR.03678

87. Bunnell, (1871) pp.28,34; Moore, (1947) p.175; Fox, (1900) p.163; V.C.H. Suffolk 1, (1911), p.318)

88. Pemberton, (1879) p.xvii

89. Porter, (1921), pp. 124-5; CCRO. P79/8/27 pp.124-6; O’Connor, (1991) pp.8-10; Cambs. Arch. SMR 04929; Museum of Arch. and Anth. IDNO Z 40667

90. Pigot, (1880) p.xv

 

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