Monument record MLI124960 - Middle Anglo-Saxon settlement at Little Carlton
Summary
A middle Anglo-Saxon settlement at Little Carlton
Type and Period (7)
- SETTLEMENT (Early Medieval/Dark Age - 680 AD? to 850 AD?)
- ARTEFACT SCATTER (Early Medieval/Dark Age - 680 AD? to 850 AD?)
- HEARTH (Early Medieval/Dark Age - 680 AD? to 850 AD?)
- FLOOD DEFENCES (Early Medieval/Dark Age - 680 AD? to 850 AD?)
- INDUSTRIAL SITE (Early Medieval/Dark Age - 680 AD? to 850 AD?)
- SMELTERY (Early Medieval/Dark Age - 680 AD? to 850 AD?)
- DITCH (Early Medieval/Dark Age - 680 AD? to 850 AD?)
Protected Status/Designation
- None recorded
Full Description
Anglo-Saxon artefacts have been found in the area around St Edith's Church in Little Carlton. These included Ipswich ware and continental pottery, whetstones, loom weights, fragments of glass, strap-ends, pins, hooked tags and tweezers. In particular sixteen styli (writing implements) have been found. The finds have been dated to the middle Anglo-Saxon period. The finds are characteristic of a middle Anglo-Saxon settlement but the styli suggest a literate population, at least in part, and some of the finds are high status. Consequently, links with a possible early monastic site has been postulated. A number of coins, sceattas of about AD680 to 790, have been found as well as later pennies suggesting occupation into the third quarter of the ninth century. The finds, the church of St Edith and the manor house are on an area of higher land which may once have been a habitable 'island'; a model of the landscape using LiDAR data suggests there was an peninsular of dry land here that pushed out into low lying marshland. Geophysical survey of the site identified boundary and drainage ditches and possible building foundations as well as an outer boundary ditch that ran just within the limits of what would have been the surrounding wetland. Evaluation trenches dug across the site showed that many of the ditches had ultimately been used to dump rubbish with quantities of middle Saxon pottery and butchered animal bone found. A sturdy flood defence bank had been constructed to protect the settlement. To the south of the island and outside the flood defence bank there was extensive evidence of industrial activity, mostly metal working. This included the base of a hearth with molten drops of lead and lead slag, indicating that smelting occurred here. The settlement may well have been a monastic or trading centre that was probably occupied continuously between about AD 680 and 850 before coming to an end at about the same time as the Viking invasions began. {1}
Sources/Archives (1)
- <1> SLI15815 Article in Serial: Peter Townend, Hugh Willmott, Adam Daubney and Graham Vickers. 2016. 'The mystery in the marsh, exploring an Anglo-Saxon island at Little Carlton' in Current Archaeology. Issue 313 (April 2016), pp.28-34.
Map
Location
| Grid reference | Centred TF 4029 8542 (313m by 388m) |
|---|---|
| Civil Parish | LITTLE CARLTON, EAST LINDSEY, LINCOLNSHIRE |
Related Monuments/Buildings (1)
Related Events/Activities (2)
- Event - Survey: Geophysical survey at Little Carlton (ELI12897)
- Event - Intervention: Trial trenching at Little Carlton (ELI12896)
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External Links (0)
Record last edited
Mar 21 2021 8:35PM
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