- Reading, Reading, United Kingdom
Tom Brindle
WSP, Cultural Heritage and Archaeology, Faculty Member
- Cotswold Archaeology, Publications, Department MemberUniversity of Reading, Archaeology and Classical Studies, Post-Docadd
- Archaeology, Roman Britain, Roman Small Finds, Metal Finds (Archaeology), Roman Britain and Europe, Roman coins, and 9 moreGeophysics, Roman Religion, Metal detector surveys (Archaeology), Archaeology and Metal Detecting, Portable Antiquities Scheme, Roman Landscapes, History, Roman Archaeology, and Archaeological Post excavation strategyedit
- Post-Excavation Lead (Associate Consultant) in the Archaeology and Cultural Heritage Team at WSP in the UK. Prior to ... morePost-Excavation Lead (Associate Consultant) in the Archaeology and Cultural Heritage Team at WSP in the UK. Prior to this, I was a post-excavation manager at Cotswold Archaeology for several years. I previously worked on a Leverhulme Trust funded project investigating rural settlement in Roman Britain, led by Prof Mike Fulford (University of Reading) and Neil Holbrook (Cotswold Archaeology). The overall aim of this project was to use published and unpublished 'grey literature' reports to examine the intricacies of regional and chronological variation and distinctiveness within Roman rural settlement in Britain, south of Hadrian's Wall. I began my career as a specialist in small finds and coinage, and previously worked as Finds Liaison Officer for the Portable Antiquities Scheme, first in Northamptonshire and then in Staffordshire and the West Midlands. Aside from artefacts and coinage, my research interests also include the study of Roman rural settlement in Britain, landscape archaeology, and methodological approaches to the study of amateur metal detector finds. My doctoral research utilised Portable Antiquities Scheme data as a landscape resource for the study of rural settlement in Roman Britain, and was published as a British Museum Research Publication in 2014. I have also published articles about a range of sites and periods from across the UK.edit
In January 2018 Cotswold Archaeology undertook an excavation within a 6.4 ha development area for new housing on land to the north of Gloucester Road in Tutshill, Tidenham, at OS Nat. Grid 354360 194810 (CA 2019). Located at c.59 m OD,... more
In January 2018 Cotswold Archaeology undertook an excavation within a 6.4 ha development
area for new housing on land to the north of Gloucester Road in Tutshill, Tidenham, at OS Nat.
Grid 354360 194810 (CA 2019). Located at c.59 m OD, the site sloped down to reach 45 m OD
at its south-eastern extent and was situated mostly on Carboniferous limestone (BGS 2018). The
overlying soils are recorded as being slightly acidic loams (www.landis.org.uk/soilscapes). The
excavated area (0.5ha) was determined by the results of a trench evaluation, which identified a
small pit and ditch dating to the 12th to 14th centuries (OA 2017).
Prior to trench evaluation and archaeological excavation, the site had been subjected to an
archaeological desk-based assessment (CgMs 2014) and geophysical survey (Stratascan 2014), the
results of which suggested that the site lay within a landscape that contained relatively few known
archaeological sites and findspots (mostly prehistoric and Roman), including the projected line of
the Roman road from Newnham to Caerwent (for which no evidence was identified).
The place of Tutshill gets its name from a stone-built tower of uncertain origin of either late
Anglo-Saxon or medieval date (CgMs 2014). The southern end of the 8th-century Offa’s Dyke,
the border between Mercia and the Welsh principalities, runs within a kilometre to the south of
the site. The site also lies within the known former estate of Tidenham, which belonged to the
Welsh in the 6th century and was granted to Abbot Wulfgar and the monks of St Peter’s abbey,
Bath, in the mid 10th century and was subsequently mentioned in the Domesday Survey of 1086.
No Anglo-Saxon evidence is known from the site, although a spearhead was found 470 m to the
west. Medieval remains are similarly scant, despite the existence of a deserted medieval village
some 170 m to the north-west.
area for new housing on land to the north of Gloucester Road in Tutshill, Tidenham, at OS Nat.
Grid 354360 194810 (CA 2019). Located at c.59 m OD, the site sloped down to reach 45 m OD
at its south-eastern extent and was situated mostly on Carboniferous limestone (BGS 2018). The
overlying soils are recorded as being slightly acidic loams (www.landis.org.uk/soilscapes). The
excavated area (0.5ha) was determined by the results of a trench evaluation, which identified a
small pit and ditch dating to the 12th to 14th centuries (OA 2017).
Prior to trench evaluation and archaeological excavation, the site had been subjected to an
archaeological desk-based assessment (CgMs 2014) and geophysical survey (Stratascan 2014), the
results of which suggested that the site lay within a landscape that contained relatively few known
archaeological sites and findspots (mostly prehistoric and Roman), including the projected line of
the Roman road from Newnham to Caerwent (for which no evidence was identified).
The place of Tutshill gets its name from a stone-built tower of uncertain origin of either late
Anglo-Saxon or medieval date (CgMs 2014). The southern end of the 8th-century Offa’s Dyke,
the border between Mercia and the Welsh principalities, runs within a kilometre to the south of
the site. The site also lies within the known former estate of Tidenham, which belonged to the
Welsh in the 6th century and was granted to Abbot Wulfgar and the monks of St Peter’s abbey,
Bath, in the mid 10th century and was subsequently mentioned in the Domesday Survey of 1086.
No Anglo-Saxon evidence is known from the site, although a spearhead was found 470 m to the
west. Medieval remains are similarly scant, despite the existence of a deserted medieval village
some 170 m to the north-west.
Research Interests:
Between summer 2016 and spring 2018, Cotswold Archaeology excavated the site of a Roman villa at Stoke Gifford, Gloucestershire. The excavation produced a huge number of records and photographs. This resource is designed to allow you to... more
Between summer 2016 and spring 2018, Cotswold Archaeology excavated the site of a Roman villa at Stoke Gifford, Gloucestershire.
The excavation produced a huge number of records and photographs. This resource is designed to allow you to explore some of the key elements of the site in a way that you can’t in a traditional book, particularly through the 3D models which were produced. You can work your way through the story chronologically or pick and chose what you are interested in from the menu at the top of this page.
The work at Dings was carried out in advance of redevelopment of land previously used as rugby pitches by Dings Crusaders RFC and funded by Redrow Homes. The excavations have provided fascinating insights into the development of a Late Roman villa landscape.
The excavation produced a huge number of records and photographs. This resource is designed to allow you to explore some of the key elements of the site in a way that you can’t in a traditional book, particularly through the 3D models which were produced. You can work your way through the story chronologically or pick and chose what you are interested in from the menu at the top of this page.
The work at Dings was carried out in advance of redevelopment of land previously used as rugby pitches by Dings Crusaders RFC and funded by Redrow Homes. The excavations have provided fascinating insights into the development of a Late Roman villa landscape.
Research Interests:
The Rural Settlement of Roman Britain online resource brings together the excavated archaeological evidence to inform a comprehensive reassessment of the countryside of Roman Britain. It includes both traditionally published reports and... more
The Rural Settlement of Roman Britain online resource brings together the excavated archaeological evidence to inform a comprehensive reassessment of the countryside of Roman Britain. It includes both traditionally published reports and 'grey literature' reports from developer-funded excavations since 1990. Phase 1 (April 2015) publishes the settlement evidence from Roman England. Subsequent phases will add Roman Wales (by December 2015) and the related finds, environmental and burial data (by 1st April 2017). These will be used alongside the specific site data in a series of integrative studies on rural settlement, economy, people and ritual to be published by the Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies as Britannia Monographs between 2016 and 2018.
Research Interests:
This volume focuses upon the people of rural Roman Britain – how they looked, lived, interacted with the material and spiritual worlds surrounding them, and also how they died, and what their physical remains can tell us. Analyses... more
This volume focuses upon the people of rural Roman Britain – how they looked, lived, interacted with the material and spiritual worlds surrounding them, and also how they died, and what their physical remains can tell us. Analyses indicate a geographically and socially diverse society, influenced by pre-existing cultural traditions and varying degrees of social connectivity. Incorporation into the Roman empire certainly brought with it a great deal of social change, though contrary to many previous accounts depicting bucolic scenes of villa-life, it would appear that this change was largely to the detriment of many of those living in the countryside.
Research Interests:
This second volume considers the rural economy of Roman Britain through the lenses of the principal occupations of agriculture and rural industry. It has two main concerns, the documentation of what is currently known of agricultural and... more
This second volume considers the rural economy of Roman Britain through the lenses of the principal occupations of agriculture and rural industry. It has two main concerns, the documentation of what is currently known of agricultural and industrial production in the countryside, and an exploration of the contribution that material culture can make to our understanding of how those resources moved across the province to feed and support military and civil populations and the development of towns and infrastructure between the mid-first century A.D. and the beginning of the fifth century A.D. At the same time, the classification and regional appraisal of rural settlement that is at the heart of Vol. 1, The Rural Settlement of Roman Britain, has enabled this study to provide a social context for rural production and consumption.
Research Interests:
It has often been stated that Roman Britain was quintessentially a rural society, with the vast majority of the population living and working in the countryside. Yet there was clearly a large degree of regional variation, and with the... more
It has often been stated that Roman Britain was quintessentially a rural society, with the vast majority of the population living and working in the countryside. Yet there was clearly a large degree of regional variation, and with the huge mass of new data produced since the onset of developer-funded archaeology in 1990, the incredible diversity of Roman rural settlement across the landscape can now be demonstrated. A new regional framework for the study of rural Roman Britain is proposed, in which a rich characterisation has been developed of the mosaic of communities that inhabited the province and the way that they changed over time. Centre stage is the farmstead, rather than the villa, which has for so long dominated discourse in the study of Roman Britain; variations in farmstead type, building form and associated landscape context are all explored in order to breathe new life into our understanding of the Romano-British countryside.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Between June and September 2017 Cotswold Archaeology (CA) excavated a site ahead of the creation of a new Flood Storage Area (FSA) at Priors Farm in Whaddon, Cheltenham (OS Nat. Grid SO 97391 22804; Fig. 1). The work was undertaken at... more
Between June and September 2017 Cotswold Archaeology (CA) excavated a site ahead of the
creation of a new Flood Storage Area (FSA) at Priors Farm in Whaddon, Cheltenham (OS Nat.
Grid SO 97391 22804; Fig. 1). The work was undertaken at the request of CH2M (now Jacobs),
acting on behalf of Gloucestershire County Council. The development area measured 3.2 ha in
extent, comprising fields to the east of Whaddon, immediately to the north of Wyman’s Brook,
occupying a gradually sloping position (95–86 m OD east-west) at the base of Cleeve Hill,
which rises prominently to the east. It sits on clays of the Charmouth Mudstone formation, with
superficial silts and gravels associated with three palaeochannels (BGS 2019). At least two of these
may have been extant during the main periods of archaeological activity at the site.
The excavated area measured 1.1 ha (Fig. 1) and targeted features identified in a previous trial-
trench evaluation (CA 2017) and geophysical survey (Stratascan 2016), which identified an area
of Roman-period activity. Prior to this, no archaeological remains had been found at the site,
although an archaeological desk-based assessment indicated that it lay within a broader landscape
of known prehistoric and Roman activity, and was likely to have been within the agricultural
hinterland of the small medieval market town of Prestbury, 1 km to the north (CH2M 2016).
This report presents a summary of the discoveries at Priors Farm; the complete findings,
including full specialist finds and biological evidence reports, are presented in a typescript report
(CA 2019), which forms part of the archive and is available online via the Cotswold Archaeology
website (https://cotswoldarchaeology.co.uk/).
creation of a new Flood Storage Area (FSA) at Priors Farm in Whaddon, Cheltenham (OS Nat.
Grid SO 97391 22804; Fig. 1). The work was undertaken at the request of CH2M (now Jacobs),
acting on behalf of Gloucestershire County Council. The development area measured 3.2 ha in
extent, comprising fields to the east of Whaddon, immediately to the north of Wyman’s Brook,
occupying a gradually sloping position (95–86 m OD east-west) at the base of Cleeve Hill,
which rises prominently to the east. It sits on clays of the Charmouth Mudstone formation, with
superficial silts and gravels associated with three palaeochannels (BGS 2019). At least two of these
may have been extant during the main periods of archaeological activity at the site.
The excavated area measured 1.1 ha (Fig. 1) and targeted features identified in a previous trial-
trench evaluation (CA 2017) and geophysical survey (Stratascan 2016), which identified an area
of Roman-period activity. Prior to this, no archaeological remains had been found at the site,
although an archaeological desk-based assessment indicated that it lay within a broader landscape
of known prehistoric and Roman activity, and was likely to have been within the agricultural
hinterland of the small medieval market town of Prestbury, 1 km to the north (CH2M 2016).
This report presents a summary of the discoveries at Priors Farm; the complete findings,
including full specialist finds and biological evidence reports, are presented in a typescript report
(CA 2019), which forms part of the archive and is available online via the Cotswold Archaeology
website (https://cotswoldarchaeology.co.uk/).
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Between February and April 2019, Cotswold Archaeology (CA) excavated a site ahead of the creation of new industrial buildings at Saniger Farm, Sharpness, Gloucestershire (OS Nat. Grid SO 66993 01517), at the request of 5 Consulting,... more
Between February and April 2019, Cotswold Archaeology (CA) excavated a site ahead of the creation of new industrial buildings at Saniger Farm, Sharpness, Gloucestershire (OS Nat. Grid SO 66993 01517), at the request of 5 Consulting, acting on behalf of Howard Tenens (Sharpness) Ltd. The development area measured 9.5 ha in extent, on land previously used for arable cultivation. The site sits at c.10 m OD on ground that slopes from the east towards the River Severn (Fig. 1). The geology of the site comprises bedrock of the Raglan Mudstone Formation, overlain at the west by Tidal Flat Deposits (clay, silt and sand), and at the east by Holt Heath Sand and Gravel member (BGS 2019). During the excavation red, silty clay, mudstone and gravel deposits were exposed. The soils at the site are described as slightly acid loamy and clayey soils with impeded drainage (www.landis.org.uk/soilscapes/soilguide.cfm). Two areas were excavated, targeting features identified in a previous trial-trench evaluation (CA 2014) and geophysical survey (PCG 2013) (Fig. 1). Area 1 measured 1.6 ha in extent and was located towards the east of the development area; Area 2 comprised a narrow strip measuring 0.2 ha to the west of Area 1. Prior to this, no archaeological remains had been found at the site. An archaeological desk-based assessment had suggested there was low potential for the survival of prehistoric or Roman remains (CA 2013). This report presents a summary of the discoveries at Saniger Farm; the complete findings, including full specialist finds and biological evidence reports, are presented in an online typescript report (CA 2020, report number CR0075_1), which forms part of the archive and is available at
https://cotswoldarchaeology.co.uk.
https://cotswoldarchaeology.co.uk.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
ABSTRACTExcavations at Barnwood, Gloucestershire, revealed several phases of activity dating to the a.d. 60s. This included gravel quarrying, with one quarry pit containing a significant assemblage of pottery, metalwork and glass with... more
ABSTRACTExcavations at Barnwood, Gloucestershire, revealed several phases of activity dating to the a.d. 60s. This included gravel quarrying, with one quarry pit containing a significant assemblage of pottery, metalwork and glass with strong first-century military associations. A large roadside enclosure contained ditches and a post-hole alignment; these were replaced by a square burial plot containing a post-built structure and several pits, which yielded a lead ossuarium containing cremated human remains and a collection of burnt beans and hobnails. The location of the site raises questions regarding the organisation of the military landscape around Gloucester during the first century. The Supplementary Material available online (https://doi.org/10.1017/S0068113X18000272) contains full specialist reports and catalogues for the excavated artefacts and biological remains.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
The Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) database includes records of over 225,000 artefacts of Roman date, with a wide geographical coverage and the potential to contribute to our understanding of Romano-British landscapes and settlement at... more
The Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) database includes records of over 225,000 artefacts of Roman date, with a wide geographical coverage and the potential to contribute to our understanding of Romano-British landscapes and settlement at several scales of analysis. This paper draws upon the author’s doctoral research to describe regional case studies from six counties (Wiltshire, Worcestershire, Warwickshire, Northamptonshire, North Lincolnshire and Cumbria) on the use of PAS data. The data have value nationally and regionally as general guides to ancient settlement patterns, but it is arguably at the micro-scale that they have the most potential. With reference to detailed landscape studies from parts of Warwickshire and Wiltshire, the paper argues that sites represented by PAS data are often rural settlements that show evidence for continued activity throughout the Roman period. The paper demonstrates that with an appropriate methodology PAS data can be an immensely valuable archaeological resource, particularly when interpreted at multiple scales, and can be considerably more than a guide to broad distributions of Roman finds.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
This major international conference, to be held at the British Museum on Friday 11th March and Saturday 12th March 2016, will explore the deposition and hoarding of coins and other artefacts in later prehistoric and Roman Britain and... more
This major international conference, to be held at the British Museum on Friday 11th March and Saturday 12th March 2016, will explore the deposition and hoarding of coins and other artefacts in later prehistoric and Roman Britain and Europe, and will critically reexamine the evidence for social, economic and political instability during the third century AD.
Papers will cover a range of diverse topics including the evidence for ‘ritual’ deposition in the Neolithic, Bronze Age and Iron Age, the significance of landscape to Iron Age and Roman hoarding practices, hoarding and status at rural sites in the Romano-British countryside, the Piercebridge Roman river metalwork deposits, Britain and the continent in the 3rd century AD, hoarding inside and outside the Empire in northern Europe during the Roman period, Carausius, Allectus and the British Empire, and hoarding patterns and monetary change.
In addition, on the evening of Friday 11th March, Philip de Jersey will be giving a public lecture on the recent finding and excavation of the large hoard of Iron Age coinage, torcs and other objects on the island of Jersey.
The conference and the evening lecture are all free, but booking is essential, via the British Museum events website.
Papers will cover a range of diverse topics including the evidence for ‘ritual’ deposition in the Neolithic, Bronze Age and Iron Age, the significance of landscape to Iron Age and Roman hoarding practices, hoarding and status at rural sites in the Romano-British countryside, the Piercebridge Roman river metalwork deposits, Britain and the continent in the 3rd century AD, hoarding inside and outside the Empire in northern Europe during the Roman period, Carausius, Allectus and the British Empire, and hoarding patterns and monetary change.
In addition, on the evening of Friday 11th March, Philip de Jersey will be giving a public lecture on the recent finding and excavation of the large hoard of Iron Age coinage, torcs and other objects on the island of Jersey.
The conference and the evening lecture are all free, but booking is essential, via the British Museum events website.