In 1535 Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn visited Acton Court in southern Gloucestershire, the home of the favoured courtier Nicholas Poyntz. Built in the 13th century, on an older structure, by the Acton family, the moated manor was transformed by Nicholas and his father into the grand Tudor mansion that we can see large sections of today. This illustrated volume presents the results of `above- and below-ground archaeology'. The demolished parts of the house were excavated while the unique 16th-century features inside the house, such as painted friezes, are studied in detail. It was also during the excavation that the moat was rediscovered. With each section contributed by a specialist, the volume discusses the history and restoration of the house, before examining in detail the archaeological and structural remnants for each phase and part of the house, focusing on the evidence from the time of Henry's visit. Specialist reports also examine the finds including architectural fragments (including a rare sundial from the early 16th century), building material, woodwork, decorative plaster, graffiti (including sketches of ships), pottery, glass, coins, dress accessories, organic and animal remains, and longbows.
Despite the size of the county, stretching from the Cotswolds, through the Vale of Gloucester to the Forest of Dean, and the richness and variety of its parks and gardens, this is the first full history of the gardens of Gloucestershire. Timothy Mowl describes the creation of designed landscapes and gardens in Gloucestershire from medieval times to the present day, taking in the formal gardens of the late seventeenth century; Georgian Arcadia; the Gardenesque of the Regency; Victorian Arboreta; the Arts & Crafts garden and twentieth-century gardens. Throughout the emphasis equally on designers and patrons, aesthetics and practicalities. As the reader will discover, the county is particularly rich in Georgian, and good modern, gardens. But with such well-known delights as Thornbury Castle, Badminton, Sezincote, Batsford Park, Westonbirt, Hidcote and Highfield, the visitor is spoilt for choice which is one reason why the full annotated gazetteer is so helpful.
Hazleton North is an Early Neolithic chambered long cairn of the Cotswold-Severn group, which was selected for total excavation between 1979 and 1982 after survey showed continued damage from ploughing. This trapezoidal long cairn is an example of the laterally-chambered type of tomb with two very similar L-shaped chambered areas near its centre, entered from opposite sides of the monument. Particular attention is given to two aspects which make Hazleton North of outstanding importance for the study of Neolithic chambered cairns in Britain: the details of the cairn construction and the burial remains. The account is supported by a full range of specialist studies, including analysis of the artefacts, human and animal bones, plant and molluscan remains, soils, geology, and numerous radiocarbon samples, and is concluded by a discussion of the results of the excavation and its significance for the study of Cotswold-Severn cairns and the earlier Neolithic of the region.