2,500 years of history uncovered in Melksham

It’s not that often that we get to carry out open-area excavations close to the centre of a historic market town but that opportunity arose in 2021, working on behalf of Wiltshire Council in preparation for the construction of Melksham Community Campus, close to the town centre.  

Earlier archaeological work at the site, including a geophysical survey and trial trenching, had shown that two areas looked promising for archaeological remains: to the south, where two adjacent areas of excavation were opened up, and to the north, where another area was opened close to the churchyard of St Michael and All Angels, the parish church of Melksham that dates back to at least the 12th century. Together, the excavations uncovered evidence of multi-period activity mainly dating to Iron Age (700 BC to AD 43), Roman (AD 43 to 410) and medieval (1066 to 1540) periods.

Iron Age and Roman remains were found in the two trenches to the south. At least two phases of settlement evidence were uncovered here, including large postholes, metalled surfaces and rubbish pits, with field boundary ditches also apparent. Iron Age pottery fragments from storage vessels and finer tableware were recovered from features from the earlier phase, dating from the 7th to 4th centuries BC, suggesting that communal feasting may have taken place. The pottery evidence is similar to that found at Budbury Hillfort, approximately 7km to the west.

Roman items recovered from the later phase include fragments of ceramic ‘tegula’ roof tiles and ‘box flue tile’ of the kind used with ‘hypocaust’ central heating systems. Their presence here suggests that a high-status Roman farmstead or villa may have been located nearby.

Excavations to the north took place in an area between the parish church to the west and Melksham’s historic marketplace to the east. This area was formerly a part of the manorial land of Capital Manor, a large and valuable estate that was founded in the 11th century. In the Post-medieval period (1540-1800) if not earlier, the manor house is known to have fronted Melksham marketplace to the east, with orchards and gardens to the rear where the northern area of excavation was located.

Archaeological remains in this area dated to the medieval and post-medieval periods, and included ditches defining land plots that closely followed the alignment of the adjacent church. There was also evidence for a similarly aligned wooden structure. Medieval and later waste pits were also uncovered and found to contain artefacts including pottery, three iron knives, lots of animal bone, and burnt daub from a wattle and daub structure. A hearth stokehole was recorded which, along with some recovered iron slag lumps (or ‘hearth bottoms’), suggests that metalworking took place on site. Post-excavation analysis may help to show us how metal was processed and worked here in the past.

A highlight among the later finds are four oxshoes, probably dating to the medieval period, which were found with nails still in place, suggesting they were lost while in use. Oxshoes are less common than horseshoes and were used for certain agricultural tasks including ploughing, where shoes may have improved traction and so reduced injury.

Caz Adams, Martin Watts and Ed McSloy