Castles, Siegeworks and Settlements: Surveying the Archaeology of the Twelfth Century

This volume presents twelve reports on archaeological investigations carried out at sites across England in support of a project investigating the so-called ‘Anarchy’ of King Stephen’s reign in the mid-twelfth century. Sites and their landscape settings are analysed through topographical and geophysical survey, as well as LiDAR and viewshed analysis, supported by cartographic and archival research. The reports examine sites at Burwell (Cambridgeshire), Castle Carlton (Lincolnshire), Corfe (Dorset), Crowmarsh (Oxfordshire), Faringdon (Oxfordshire), Hailes (Gloucestershire), Hamstead Marshall (Berkshire), Malmesbury (Wiltshire), Mountsorrel (Leicestershire), Rampton (Cambridgeshire), Wellow (Nottinghamshire) and Woodwalton (Cambridgeshire). The results help characterise the archaeological potential of this turbulent and controversial period, shedding new light on the castles, siegeworks and settlements of the twelfth century as well as antecedent activity and later phases of reuse.