CBA SMA\SMA 1983.PDF - Council for British Archaeology

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MOATED SITES: Medieval moated sites have been assessed as part
of the Bedfordshire Parish Survey Programme. Some of the more elaborate
complexes have been drawn analytically in the field. In the course of
this work, several of the sites shown provisionally on the map with the
Willington excavations report have been disproved and some others have
been added. For the purposes of guardianship, rather than excavation,
the County Council have acquired one of the best sites, Gannock's
Castle near Tempsford. It would indeed be desirable to excavate one
of the better examples in order to throw light on local variations of
the type, but this would need to be done in a rescue context, with the
coincidence of unstoppable threat with worthwhile site.
VILLAGES: The nature and progress of the Rapid Parish Survey
Programme have been reported several times in these pages, and the
kind of work undertaken will be clear from the account of Eggington
in the 1982 Newsletter. The essays summarising questions of village
planning and development (amongst other matters) are available for
consultation in the Bedfordshire County Record Office as well as in
the Planning Department in County Hall. Some will be published as
either leaflets or as more extensive studies in the 'SUrvey of Bedfordshire''series.
The priority is however held to be the completion of
the Rapid Survey and the bringing of the Sites and Monuments Record
up to a consistent standard while money and staff are available.
THE MEDIEVAL ECONOMY, CHURCHES: There is much scope for the
investigation of Bedfordshire churches using the techniques of the
Royal Commission developed in Northamptonshire. This involves the
reconstruction of earliest plans and the identification of surviving
primary fabric from a close archaeological study of existing masonry.
Unhappily such work is very time-consuming and difficult to justify
in the context of conservation archaeology and the planning process,
though it has considerable scope for arousing local interest.
FUTURE CONCERNS: It is difficult to comment on David Kennett's
thoughts about how future research should go in relation to County
Council work because, as has been explained, the County Council is
not primarily or exclusively a research institute. The choice of
projects is heavily influenced by paymasters. The contributions from
the Department of the Environment to work in Bedfordshire could not
have been diverted to projects not considered to have the status of
national importance. This in itself, however controversial, is a
good buffer against scholars pursuing their personal research interests
at public expense.
ln summary, much of the work called for is in fact in progress.
For all archaeological periods, including the prehistoric, which is
not considered as such here, it is neither possible nor right to pursue
by destructive excavation those sites felt to be most fascinating now.
The task of 'public' or 'conservation' archaeology is to provide a
basis for the planned selection of those sites which will be studied
in the future, and to excavate at present only if this is unavoidable.
To conclude in David Kennett's metaphor, the ship of conservation has
to sail from the coasts of yesterday with an inherited cargo of