Cleeve Hill Grandstand Excavation

Sunday 25th May 2025

In no time at all it is over for this year! Over four days, around 20 volunteers undertook 37 person-days of excavation of the front wall of the grandstand of Cheltenham’s first racecourse, near the top of Cleeve Hill.

We uncovered both ends of the foundations of the front wall and also identified the position of the main doorway, along with a number of other interesting features, helping us build up a picture of what this grand, but short-lived building would have looked like.  We recovered lots of coloured wall plaster, mouldings, possibly skirting boards, a few pieces of glassware and pottery and a single sequin!

All that remains is for us to measure, draw and photograph the site and then fill it all back in again. We hope to be back next year to find out more about the interior of the building, to help us to complete the picture.

We had loads of passing interest in what we were doing. If you would like to join us and take part in our future digs, go to Membership Sign-up and get involved.

Our next dig will be at Honeycombe near Miserden (details below, and don’t miss the guided walk on Churchdown Hill on July 10th.

Starting TODAY: Cleeve Hill Grandstand Excavation

Sunday 18th May 2025

We are ready to go! Today sees the start of our second season of excavation at the site of the grandstand of Cheltenham’s first racecourse on Cleeve Hill. Details of last year’s dig can be found on the Fieldwork page.

This year our volunteers will be exploring the front of this once-grand building, which was constructed in 1835 and went out of use in the 1840s, when it was demolished. It could be seen from the Promenade in Cheltenham town centre. We are seeking to understand the layout and appearance of the grandstand as no surviving pictures have been discovered.

We will be on site today, tomorrow (Monday 19th), Friday 23rd and Saturday 24th May. Spaces are still available for GlosArch members to take part on Friday and Saturday. If you are on Cleeve Hill during the dig, please come over and take a look. You will find us on the top of Cleeve Common, close to the radio masts.

Summer trip to the Rollright Stones, North Leigh Roman villa and Witney:

Saturday 10th May 2025

Owing to the excellent take up for this coach trip, I am very pleased to let you know that cost has come DOWN to £26 per person to cover the coach journey and guided tour of the villa. There are still a handful of places left on this trip so please email garstanforddasilva@gmail.com to book your place.

For more details see Summer Visits below.

STOP PRESS:

Monday 14th April 2025

In a change to the published programme, the speaker for this evening’s lecture will now be Gail Boyle, formerly of Bristol Museums and now chair of the Council of British Archaeology Trustees.

Andrew Armstrong is unwell and his lecture has been postponed until the 2025-26 lecture season.

The lecture will commence at 7.30pm following the AGM, which starts at 7pm. The Zoom link has been circulated.

Spring Newsletter

The Spring 2025 Newsletter is now available , with full information on the 2025 excavation programme, the summer visits and and lots of other useful stuff. To download the Newsletter go to the Publications page on the GlosArch website and follow the link.

Fieldwork and Summer Visits Programmes

The fieldwork programme for 2025 and this year’s Summer visits programme are out now. For more details of what we are doing and how to take part please see below.

Annual Subscriptions 2025-26

GlosArch members are politely reminded that subscriptions for 2025-26 fall due of 1 March 2025. Subscriptions remain at £20 for Ordinary (full) members and £10 for associate and student members. If you have joined GlosArch since 1 December 2024 your membership will run until 28th February 2026.

Payment can be made by standing order or bank transfer to Gloucestershire Archaeology; Sort code 08-92-99; A/c no. 67285787, or by cheque to our treasurer, Sally Nicholas, 57 Church St, Tetbury, GL8 8JG.

2024 Frocester Fund Award

We are pleased to announce that this year’s Frocester Fund Award has been given to Andrew Armstrong, Gloucester City Archaeologist, to fund scanning of a collection of fabulous small finds drawings by Phil Moss from the excavations at Gambier Parry Gardens in the 1980s (see Glevensis vol 56). The scanned images and associated documentation will be made available on line.

Grant Award by Jockey Club from GC100 Fund

GlosArch is excited to announce that we have been awarded £2000 a grant of from the Gold Cup 100 Community Grant Initiative administered by the Jockey Club and Rotary Clubs of Cheltenham. The grant is to support post-excavation analysis of finds from the excavation of the Cleeve Common Racecourse grandstands and the creation of a digital 3D reconstruction of the building based on the evidence we uncover. This will be available to view via our website and on the Common.

Excavation at Miserden June and August 2024

The excavation at Honeycombe, near Miserden, north of Stroud at the site of a ruined building on a terrace in a steep sided valley is now complete for this year.

We have made good progress over the first two digs uncovering substantial parts of the building and have exposed a well-constructed doorway, floors, a stair and fireplace.

A report on the excavation will feature in the monthly lecture on 25th November.

Winter Lectures and Summer Visits

GlosArch members can access the archive of recorded lectures by logging in to their account on the website and going to Resources>Recorded Lecture Archive.

2024-25 LECTURE SERIES

The programme for the 2024-25 lecture series, is available here. Lectures are free to members and non-members (non-members are invited to make a small donation towards the cost of running the talks – £5 is suggested). Payment can be made by bank transfer to Gloucestershire Archaeology; Sort code 08-92-99; A/c no. 67285787.

As before, the venue for in-person attendance is St Andrews URC church hall, Montpellier St, Cheltenham, GL50 1SP. The lecture will also be broadcast on Zoom. GlosArch members will receive the Zoom link automatically a few days before the lecture. Non members can request the Zoom link by emailing: mailbox@glosarch.org.uk

To get a flavour of the range of topics covered in 2023-4 click on Lectures below and follow the link.

Summer Visits 2025

The Summer visits programme for 2025 has been arranged by David Jones who has taken over the organiser’s role.

Crickley Hill – Revisited –  Postponed – new date TBA

The earliest evidence of human activity on Crickley Hill dates back to the early Neolithic, around 6,000 years ago, when it was the site of one of the most important causewayed enclosures in the country. Later in the Neolithic around 2500BC, saw the building of cairns and a long mound on the promontory. After the abandonment of the Neolithic site, Crickley may have lain deserted for more than a thousand years. In the Iron Age, from about 700 BC onwards, a hillfort was built on Crickley Hill. This survived for around 100 years before being destroyed. The defences were reinforced and the site resettled around 500BC, but this too was abandoned. The site has seen farming, battles, sacred worship, tribal gatherings and settlements. 

GlosArch have a long association with Crickley Hill going back to the time of Director of Excavations, Professor Philip Dixon MA D.Phil FSA FRHS.

This evening walk is free to GlosArch members, but donations for the National Trust and the Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust will be appreciated.

Meet at the Crickley Hill Country Park car park GL4 8JY. 

What3Words location: ///abundance.crowns.washable

Saturday 10th May

All Day Coach Trip To:

Rollright Stones at Long Compton, Oxon/Warks. 

An ancient complex of megalithic monuments with three main elements, The King’s Men stone circle, the King Stone, and the Whispering Knights dolmen. The dolmen is the oldest, dating to the early Neolithic, circa 3,800-3,500 BC. The King’s Men stone circle was erected in the late Neolithic, circa 2,500 BC; whilst the King Stone dates to the early to middle Bronze Age, circa 1,500 BC. All are made from natural Jurassic oolitic limestone, which forms the bulk of the Cotswold hills. Used for millennia as a sacred site, the stones are a great source of myths and legends. The site is managed by the Rollright Trust.

— Plus

Roman Villa at North Leigh, Witney, Oxfordshire.

This courtyard villa, managed by English Heritage, is one of the larger villas of Roman Britain. It was at its most extensive in the early 4th century, when it included three bath suites, at least 19 mosaic floors and 11 rooms with underfloor heating. The most important feature of the site is a fine mosaic tile floor dating to the early 4th century.

The visit will include a talk on relationship of the villa to Akeman Street by Dr Tim Copeland.

— Plus

Tea & cake at Witney

From North Leigh we will travel to the historic town of Witney where we will be free to explore and grab a bite to eat or drink.

Coach trip £26 per person starting at 8:15am from The Oxstall campus of Gloucester University and picking up at 9:00am from the Cheltenham Racecourse park and ride. Although both venues are admission free, if we have guides, we will be expected to make donations, which are included in the ticket price. Places are limited to 37.

To book a place please email David Jones at: garstanforddasilva@gmail.com (if you have already expressed an interest in this visit you will be contacted to confirm and pay)

Thursday 10th July. 7pm

Walk on Churchdown Hill

Michael Hare,Mike Joy and Phil Cox will lead an evening visit to Churchdown Hill. Michael will explain the geology of the hill and how it bears on the siting of the church before Phil will take us to the earthworks surrounding the top of the hill, thought to date to the Iron Age and a likely small hillfort. This will be followed by a visit to St Bartholomew’s church, which has its origins in the 12^th century, led by Mike Joy.

Meet at the St Bartholomew’s Church car park at 18:30 – Free to members. Post code GL3 2LG. What3Words location: ///nature.record.rats

Withington Roman Villa. 

Date TBC

We will be taken on a guided tour of the recent excavations by archaeologist Simon Greenslade. This site comprises two Romano-British building complexes surviving as buried masonry with associated field boundaries and trackways situated on a limestone plateau. The first villa was excavated in 1811 by Samuel Lyons and again in 2006. At this time geophysical survey showed the second even larger building complex nearby which was also excavated. Simon Greenslade is leading the latest excavation of the site

September/ October. Date and time TBC depending on ongoing work.

For reports on the 2024 visits please see the Autumn Newsletter, available to download by going to Publications/Newsletter Home.

If you have a suggestion for a visit in 2025, please drop me an email at mailbox@glosarch.org.uk

Fieldwork

To take part, email fieldwork@glosarch.org.uk (members only).

Fieldwork Programme 2025

Plans are coming together for the 2025 fieldwork season. On the excavation front we will be returning to Cleeve Hill, Honeycombe and Severn Bank, Minsterworth. The centrepiece of the geophysics will be a major survey near Uley.

If you wish to volunteer for any of these activities, please email fieldwork@glosarch.org.uk with your preferred dates. Depending on the number of volunteers, it may be necessary to restrict the number of days individual participants can take part, to maximise the number of members that can be involved. 

Cleeve Hill – The grandstand of Cheltenham’s first racecourse.

We have received further permission from Natural England to continue our excavation of the grandstand of the late Georgian racecourse on the top of Cleeve Hill. Last year we excavated parts of the northwestern end of the building, revealing well built walls of a main front building and a less sturdy rear one. This year the target is the main southwest facing front of the grandstand, which we believe will include the main entrance and vestibule. If there are sufficient volunteers, we may also attempt to locate the site of the wooden grandstand that pre-dated the stone one and which was destroyed by fire.

The dig is planned for an initial four days, Sunday 18th, Monday 19^th, Friday 23^rd and Saturday 24^th May.

Honeycombe, Miserden

After a successful season of excavation of this well-constructed building on a terrace in Honeycombe near Miserden, we shall be returning to expose more of the site this summer. The dig identified a two-roomed building with flagstone floors, stone stairs and a fireplace. This year we aim to complete the excavation of the building and understand more of the surrounding enclosure. We will also attempt obtain solid dating evidence to determine when the building was constructed.

The dates for this excavation will be Sunday 22^nd, Monday 23^rd, Friday 27^th and Saturday 28^th June.

Uley – West Hill Roman temple

We are excited to announce that following a successful application to Historic England, we have received permission to undertake geophysical surveying within the Scheduled Monument area around the site of the Uley Roman temple on West Hill, near Uley Bury hillfort and Hetty Pegler’s Tump. The aim is to use magnetometry and resistivity to determine the extent the structures around the temple, which was excavated in the 1970s, within the scheduled area. 

We will be aiming to undertake 6 days surveying in the first instance, although this may need to be extended depending on the results. 

The work will take place later in the summer, between 9-15^th August, once the hay has been cut in the fields. 

Severn Bank, Minsterworth

After a year off, we will be returning to the grounds of Severn Bank, Minsterworth to continue our exploration of the lost building, seen on an 18^th century map of the village. Towards the end of the excavation in 2023 we discovered the remains of the foundations of one wall of the building. We intend to extend from the site of this trench to locate the corner of the building to enable us to determine its position and size.

The dig will follow on from the Uley geophysics, from 17^th-20^th August.

Recent Fieldwork

Return to Honeycombe

Five further days of excavation took place at Honeycombe in August. All places were taken and we also had three members who cleaned, bagged and labelled finds on site. We made fantastic progress and have uncovered much of the two-roomed building, identifying entrances, flagstone floors, a fireplace and stair. We had some interesting finds too. Thanks to everyone who took part. We are aiming to return to the site next year. Neil Cathie will be reporting on the excavation at the November lecture.

Excavation at Honeycombe, Miserden. 9/10 and 20/21/22 June 2024.

The second excavation of 2024 took place at Miserden. A preliminary excavation in 2023 had showed substantial building remains in this quiet valley. The excavation uncovered extensive well-built walls of a two-roomed building. For more details see the fieldwork page.

Excavation on Cleeve Hill 14th-15th and 19th-20th April 2024

This excavation has been completed for 2024. For a brief report see ‘Latest News’ above.

We intend to return to the site in Spring 2025 to continue investigating the layout of this interesting site, with the aim of producing an interactive 3D visualisation of the building which will be publicly available.

Excavation at Brookthorpe, 12-13th and 17-18th November 2023

Excavation at Minsterworth, 6-8th August 2023

The excavation at Minsterworth is now complete. A short report appears in the Autumn newsletter. Neil Cathie presented a summary of the findings at the fieldwork update meeting on December 18th. A recording of this talk is available to members in the Recorded Lectures Archive page in the members’ area of the website.

Geophysics

Resistivity and Magnetometry Survey in Leckhampton.

In December we undertook a small resistivity survey in the garden of a Georgian house in Leckhampton, Cheltenham. The results showed evidence of lost features  including a formally laid out garden at the rear and evidence of a possible carriage circle relating to an earlier building. Further investigation is being planned.

Ground Penetrating Radar Survey at Castlemeads, Gloucester. 19th and 21st August, 2024

This activity is complete.

In collaboration with Exeter University we have undertaken a GPR survey of the features on Castlemeads, Gloucester in the area previously examined by resistivity and magnetometry. we have identified some shallow sub-surface solid structures as well as the electric cables and some other much deeper features. Further work is being considered.

Magnetometry Surveying at Castlemeads, Gloucester 

This activity is now complete.

In rather wet conditions and after having to abandon the original survey due to flooding (it is on a flood plain after all) we managed to complete the magnetometry survey on a chilly, slightly damp December day.

The results show a number of underground electricity cables but also features which appear to correspond to the LIDAR images. The findings were presented at our members update meeting on 18th December.

Geophysics Training

If you are interested in receiving training on our geophysics equipment, please contact Phil Cox via: fieldwork@glosarch.org.uk as a further session can be arranged if there is demand.