Saxons in the Deepings by

It is without doubt that there is high quality archaeology in the general area of the Deepings. For example, the Bronze Age barrow cemetery overlying Neolithic occupation at Little Duke Farm, on the Welland valley/fen edge interface; the Bronze Age and Iron Age settlements at Welland Bank Quarry, Deeping St James; the Iron Age and Roman riverside settlements at Outgang Road, Market Deeping, sited on the banks of a former channel of the Welland; the Roman Villa at Rectory Farm, West Deeping, to name a few. Aside from the excellent archaeology, the thing that makes these sites special in most cases is the wellpreserved indicators of the ancient environments.

Sadly though, for an article about the Saxons in the Deepings, most of the spectacular archaeology ends with the Roman period. Knowledge of Saxon archaeology in the Deepings is limited. During the Fenland Survey of the 1980s nothing Saxon was found in the Deepings despite extensive field walking in Market Deeping and Deeping St James parishes. None of the Roman sites found in the Deepings had pottery from the subsequent Early Saxon period, whereas a number elsewhere on the fen edge did.

Generally, elsewhere on the survey, pottery was found from the Early Saxon period (400-650) and Middle Saxon period (650-850). Settlements in the Early Saxon period tended to be small and dispersed, but with some larger and more nucleated Middle Saxon examples. Pottery from the latter sites included ‘Maxey’ Wares, first noted on a site excavated in 1964 in nearby Maxey. On the Cambridgeshire side of the county boundary, sites are known on the Welland Valley terraces. In Lincolnshire, north of the Deepings, a large (2.2ha) Early Saxon settlement was located at Thurlby, on the north side of the River Glen. In the adjacent parish of Baston, to the south, are known Saxon cemeteries. Settlements and cemeteries are also known inland from the Deepings at Tallington.

Tom Lane

As elsewhere it may be that any evidence for Middle Saxon sites is hidden beneath the present-day built-up areas. Some Saxon evidence did finally come to light, however, during fieldwalking ahead of the construction of the Market Deeping Bypass in the 1990s. On the Lincolnshire section this evidence took the form of just two isolated Early Saxon sherds found during fieldwalking. On the Cambridgeshire section of the bypass, however, on slightly raised ground, a former ‘island’, near to Fox Covert Lodge, a Saxon cemetery and probable settlement was located.

Ahead of the road scheme some 154 sherds of Early Saxon pottery were found near Fox Covert Lodge during excavation of features including a gully, pits and some amorphous hollows. These were found in a restricted area along with pottery of both Iron Age and Roman dates. It would seem that the localised higher ground within the wetter ground of the Welland valley attracted the settlement(s) and also burials of Roman, Early Saxon and possibly prehistoric dates. The Early Saxon graves included two with multiple burials. Grave 021 contained skeletons of an adult male and pregnant adult female, along with the skeleton of a child of about three to four years, who was buried face down with the head at the opposite end of the grave to the adults. Grave goods included a glass bead,

Saxons

an iron knife and a buckle, probably everyday dress items. Cause(s) of death of this probable family group are unknown, as are the circumstances behind their irregular, almost haphazard, shallow burial. Nearby Grave 007 contained skeletons of an adult female and male, while a group of four Early Saxon burials were located northwest of the more isolated double and multiple burials, and possibly represent part of a more formal cemetery.

The burials and the remainder of the archaeology were very shallow beneath the present-day topsoil. After removing the most threatened and sensitive archaeology the area of archaeological deposits beneath the road line was covered by a geotextile and up to 0.75m of protective overburden, on top of which the road itself was built. In total, this strategy enabled c.65% of the archaeological deposits threatened under the new line of the A15 near Fox Covert Lodge to be preserved in situ, and to avoid the cost to the developer of extensive excavation.

For archaeologists, excavating cemeteries is sometimes necessary but is never an enjoyable part of the job. The nature of the Early Saxon ‘family’ in grave 021, however, made the work a particularly saddening, almost chilling, experience.

Excavating an Anglo-Saxon multiple burial on the line of the Market Deeping Bypass. The skeleton in the centre is an adult male. To his left an adult female who was pregnant. Tiny bones of the foetus are in the plastic bag. The excavator is working on the skeleton of a child of undetermined age and gender. Note how shallow the burials are. The skulls of the adults would have been ploughed away.