My name is Si Cleggett and I am the Wessex Archaeology Project Manager for the Army Basing Programme. Wessex Archaeology is one of the Country’s leading heritage practices. We were commissioned by the Defence Infrastructure Organisation’s (DIO) consultant’s WYG to undertake a programme of archaeological works. This was necessary in advance of DIO’s project to build 227 new military houses at Bulford in Wiltshire for families moving to the Salisbury Plain area under the Army Basing Programme. Desk-based research and a geophysical survey laid the foundations of fieldwork that began in February 2015.
Background of Bulford
The 227 new houses proposed on the Bulford site will be occupying land that has revealed a rich tapestry of archaeological remains that charts human activity from the Neolithic period (c. 3500 BC), into the Bronze Age (c. 2500 BC), to the Anglo-Saxon period and even remains from World War I and II.
To put that into context, the Bulford site saw activity at roughly the same time that Neolithic and later Bronze Age communities were constructing the monuments within the Stonehenge environment – probably pre-dating the building of the first pyramid for the Egyptian King Djoser! A large number of Neolithic pits were revealed that turned out to contain some spectacular items including flint axes, flint knives, a carved chalk bowl, red and roe deer antler, aurochs (an extinct form of large wild cattle), pottery and a bone pin. The pottery suggests that the pits were dug between 2900 and 2400 BC (4900 years ago to 4400 years ago). To place that in a global context, Biblical scholars place the Mesopotamian flood of Noah in around 2900 BC.
A Grave Discovery
Around 3,550 years after the Neolithic activity on site, in the 7th and 8th centuries, Anglo-Saxon inhabitants of the area established a cemetery comprising at least 150 graves.
![A spear found in the grave of an adult male. [Crown Copyright/MOD2016]](https://insideDIO.blog.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2016/04/20160414-Spear-3-200x300.jpg)
Military Activity
There is some evidence to suggest that a field farrier may have shoed horses and mules here before they were taken to join the troops on the front lines during World War I. These findings are particularly profound as we find ourselves excavating on site during the centenary year of that conflict.
Archaeological work is still ongoing on site at Bulford and our teams have already fought against at least 10 storms, rain, ice, wind and snow. The Bulford site really is a time capsule that adds to our story as a nation over thousands of years. The new homes for soldiers’ families will occupy a very special space indeed - one that reflects the familiar lives and beliefs of our ancestors within a fascinating landscape.
Wiltshire Council’s Strategic Planning Committee resolved to grant planning permission for the housing development, subject to conditions, when it met on 13 April 2016. Construction of the homes is expected to get underway from early 2017.
6 comments
Comment by Stephen Harness posted on
Excellent blog Si. Thanks. Very interesting.
Comment by Tylluan Penry posted on
Thank you so much for sharing this. It's really fascinating.
Comment by DIO Communications Team posted on
Thanks for reading and for your kind comments!
Comment by StewRat posted on
Some really important archaeological work being done here, well done guys and thanks for the blog.
Comment by DIO Communications Team posted on
Thanks!
Comment by Sarah Saunders posted on
I feel incredibly privileged to now be living in one of the homes built upon this amazing site, what an absolutely wonderful place to be!
We moved here having just spent the past two years on an exchange post in Missouri USA, where I was also lucky enough to be living on a base which was home to ancient cave dwellings and riverside camp grounds, naturally I became fascinated in Native American history and artifacts and I was able to surface find several flint arrow heads and scrapers.
Moving here to Bulford with my newly discovered passion has been beyond special, I actually grew up just over the hill in Shipton Bellinger and had never before realised how much history there was right beneath our feet, what an incredibly special place this really is!
In the words of 'Dorothy'... "There's no place like home..."