Winchester: Swithun's 'City of Happiness and Good Fortune': An Archaeological Assessment

This critical assessment of the archaeology of the historic city of Winchester and its immediate environs from earliest times to the present day is the first published comprehensive review of the archaeological resource for the city, which as seen many major programs of archaeological investigation. There is evidence for activity and occupation in the Winchester area from the Palaeolithic period onwards, but in the Middle Iron Age population rose sharply with settlement was focused on two major defended enclosures at St Catherine’s Hill and, subsequently, Oram’s Arbour. Winchester became a Roman ‘civitas’ capital in the late 1st century AD and the typical infrastructure of public buildings, streets and defenses was created. Following a period of near desertion in the Early Anglo-Saxon period, Winchester became a significant place again with the foundation of a minster church in the mid-7th century. In the Late Anglo-Saxon period it became the preeminent royal center for the Kingdom of Wessex. The city acquired a castle, cathedral and bishop’s palace under Norman kings but from the late 12th century onwards its status began to decline to that of a regional market town. The archaeological resource for Winchester is very rich and is a resource of national and, for the Anglo-Saxon and Norman periods, of international importance.

Table of Contents

Contents
Foreword by Martin Biddle
List of contributors
List of illustrations
List of tables
Abbreviations
Acknowledgements
Summary

Part 1: Introduction
1 An archaeological assessment for Winchester

Part 2: Analysis and synthesis of the archaeology of the study area
2 Winchester in prehistory
3 Winchester in the Roman period (c AD 43–c 410)
4 Early and Middle Anglo-Saxon Winchester (c 410–c 860)
5 Late Anglo-Saxon Winchester (c 860–1066)
6 Medieval Winchester (1066–c 1350)
7 Late medieval Winchester (c 1350–c 1600)
8 Post-medieval Winchester (c 1600–1837)
9 Winchester in the Victorian and modern periods (c 1837–2014)

Part 3: An overview of Winchester’s archaeology
10 Winchester through the ages

Appendix 1: Gazetteer of sites referred to in the text
Appendix 2a: UAD Monument gazetteer
Appendix 2b: UAD Event/Site gazetteer
Bibliography
Index