An Anglo-Saxon Enclosure at Copsehill Road, Lower Slaughter: excavations in 1999

During October and November 1999 Cotswold Archaeological Trust (CAT), now Cotswold Archaeology (CA), carried out an archaeological excavation of land adjacent to Church View, Copsehill Road, Lower Slaughter, prior to the redevelopment of the site for housing. The site, centred on O.S. Nat. Grid SP 16502267 (Fig. 1), lies at a height of c.138 m above O.D. close to the centre of the village of Lower Slaughter, on a gravel terrace 100 m to the north of the Slaughter Brook (Fig. 2). To the south, Church Farm House dates from the 17th century and the surrounding farm complex includes 18th-century and later buildings. The farmyard was used as a builders’ yard until 1994, after which a number of buildings on the site were demolished and a quantity of topsoil was imported. The excavation followed an earlier field evaluation (OAU 1994) requested by the local planning authority as the site lay close to the parish church and at the centre of the historic village, a location where archaeological remains might be expected to survive. The evaluation identified a series of ditches crossing the northern part of the site and containing Roman and later medieval pottery, and part of a cobbled surface, possibly later medieval in date, in the southern part of the development area. The results warranted further investigation prior to redevelopment, and a programme of archaeological excavation was subsequently carried out by CAT in 1999, commissioned by the landowner, Mr. A.T. Wheeler. The excavation was secured as a condition of planning permission granted by Cotswold District Council, and undertaken in accordance with a brief prepared by Gloucestershire County Council. Within this report the term ‘Anglo-Saxon’ is used to describe the early medieval period from A.D. 410 to 1066, and is subdivided into the Early Saxon (A.D. 410 to 650), Middle Saxon (A.D. 650 to 850) and Late Saxon (A.D. 850 to 1066) periods. The term ‘later medieval’ refers to the post-Norman Conquest period. In the pottery descriptions, ‘Saxon’ is synonymous with ‘AngloSaxon’ and ‘medieval’ refers to the post-Conquest period. In view of the important Anglo-Saxon remains that were revealed during the course of the excavations, details of the known early documents relating to Lower Slaughter are discussed to provide a historical context.