Solent-Thames: Research Framework for the Historic Environment

The Solent-Thames region, as recently defined by central government, comprises five counties from north to south: Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, providing a N-S transect across Central Southern England. This area includes a varied geography, from the Cotswolds in the north across the chalklands of the Berkshire Downs and the heathlands of Hampshire to the south coast. It does not follow previous regional divisions of England, instead aiming to provide fresh insights into the past through the grouping of existing administrative units in a new combination. This volume presents the first two phases of the Research Framework project for this region. The first is an assessment of the current state of archaeological knowledge within this region from Palaeolithic times to the present day, the second a series of research aims and priorities both for specific periods and for wider cross-period themes. It starts with an introduction explaining the current organisation of information about the past in the region, and a brief introduction to the environmental archaeology of the Solent-Thames area. Following this, two chapters are devoted to each major chronological period, the first presenting an overview of the resource as currently understood, the second a Research Agenda for future work. There is then a brief conclusion. In several of the chronological periods, this region contains some of the most important and best researched sites, or groups of sites, in England. These include the remarkable series of early Mesolithic settlements along the Kennet valley, the hillfort at Danebury and its environs, the Roman town of Silchester and the cemetery of Lankhills, and the Saxon and medieval towns and cities of Southampton, Winchester and Oxford. The region has strong royal links in the medieval period, resulting in the preservation of Windsor Forest and the New Forest, and Oxford was the capital for King Charles I during the English Civil War. Arguably the most important ships in the naval history of Britain are housed at Portsmouth, including the Mary Rose, the best-preserved Tudor warship in Britain. Among the many country estates, Blenheim Palace, the seat of the Dukes of Marlborough, is of international renown. More recently, this region has been the focus of political dissent during the Cold War, around the nuclear facilities at Greenham Common and Upper Heyford. The Resource Assessments are written by eminent period specialists, drawing upon county assessments prepared by local experts, which can be found online at http://oxfordarchaeology.com/research-projects-by-name/ 217-solent-thames-research-framework . The Research Agendas are organised under the same headings as the Resource Assessments, and the research questions are numbered for ease of reference. The volume is one of a series covering the whole of England, and is published with the support of English Heritage. It aims to draw together the results of developer-funded, purely academic and local research within this region, and to place the results in the context of current research. It is hoped that it will be useful to all those contemplating, planning or undertaking future archaeological work within the region.