The views stated in the reports below are those of the author(s), not necessarily the Society’s unless otherwise stated.
2012 Index of the Drawings and Sketches of the Reverend John Skinner
John Skinner (1772 – 1839), Rector of Camerton,was an enthusiastic archaeologist and antiquarian who travelled widely throughout Britain and the Continent. A prolific writer and illustrator he produced over 130 manuscript notebooks of his travels and discoveries
2020 Comparison of TR and RM Frobisher resistance meters for profiling
BACAS compared the TR/CIA resistance meter (old model) and the R M Frobisher TAR3 meter when used for resistivity profiles. The comparison was made in September 2019 in Cameley Church, Bath and North-East Somerset while taking a profile through the floor to look for vault spaces below. The report also compares the mechanics and sequence of the measurement methods.
2021 Looking under church floors
A novel technique has been developed to use electrical resistance tomography (ERT) to survey beneath stone floors. This presentation was given at NSGG’s Recent Advances in Archaeological Geophysics Conference, 19 February 2021.
Site Reports
Reports are ordered by site name, and then by publication date.
Bathampton 2018 The Archway in Bathampton; Glebe Cottage, Bathampton Lane
Geophysical surveys around a wall with a mediaeval archway and buttresses in the front garden of Glebe Cottage, Bathampton
Bathampton Down 2011 The search for Bathampton Down Stone Circles: Geophysical Surveys
Geophysical surveying has been carried out on Bathampton Down, Bath at a location where stone circles had been indicated by the Reverend Scarth in 1857 and Tratman in 1958
Bedwyn Brail 2013 Bedwyn Brail, Wiltshire: Geophysical Survey of Bowser Field and Adjacent Lands
Wiltshire Archaeology and Natural History Society (WANHS) Archaeology Field Group (WAFG) have been undertaking fieldwork at Bedwyn Brail since 2007, searching for the foundations of Edward Seymour’s mansion. During this period, other features associated with the house have been located, brick-built water conduits, settling tanks, a conduit house and cistern house have been observed. This project used several geophysical survey techniques in the area close to the cistern house and the results revealed an area of high resistence indicating the possible site of a building.
Boxford, Berkshire 2014 Three-Dimensional Geophysics at Boxford, Berkshire, August 2014
The report describes results of extra measurements added to spectacular and extensive magnetometry and resistance surveys at a Roman villa site within the parish of Boxford, Berkshire. The principal technique tried in this report was ground-penetrating radar, over the area of the main building complex. A smaller portion of this area was also subject to more intensive radar coverage.
Bromham, Wiltshire 2025 81-83 Westbrook, Bromham, Wiltshire A geophysical survey was conducted in the garden of 81-83, Westbrook, Bromham, Wiltshire in order to investigate parchmarks in the lawn observed by drone photography. The house itself has Fifteenth Century origins. The survey indicated a number of structures under the lawn which bore some correlation to the marks observed, and profiling added depth information to these features. The field to the north of the garden appears to be uneven and this may represent a deserted mediaeval village site.
Buckland Dinham 2003 An Iron Age/Romano-British field system and settlement in Buckland Dinham
An investigation of features in a field below Barrow Hill, Buckland Dinham
Cameley 2019 Under the floor of Cameley Church
The 12th century church of St James Cameley is set in a fold of the Mendip hills, in the valley of the river Cam. Many of the Rees-Mogg family are buried in the churchyard, but it was believed that there was a family vault within the church. During recent geophysics at The Roman Baths, John Oswin had experimented with resistivity through stone floors and found it worked well. This could be the answer to discovering what lies beneath buildings without being intrusively dug.
Camerton 1950 Camerton Excavation Club. 1949-50 Season
The 1949-50 season at Camerton continued the examination of this extensive Romano-British settlement
Castle Cary 2011 Geophysics at Castle Cary: The Castle Site
A geophysical survey was undertaken during March and April 2011, which encompassed the castle site at Castle Cary, Somerset
Charlcombe 2022 Charlcombe Churchyard, Geophysical Survey, November 2021
Reports of masonry within a grave cut in 2020 were confirmed and, on desktop investigation, found to be part of an earlier churchyard wall, superceded in the mid Twentieth Century. A few months later, masonry was observed in a second grave which did not lie on the line of any previously recorded wall. A geophysical survey using resistivity profiling (the only method possible in this very full churchyard) confirmed the presence of masonry, but without any pictorial evidence it was not possible to identify or date it.
Charmy Down 2022 Geophysical Survey, Hollies Lane, Batheaston. Re-evaluation April 2022
The Hollies Lane geophysics report (Jackson & Oswin, 2019) suggested the feature at ST 779 690 was man-made and carried a further suggestion of being a potential long barrow. If this feature were a long barrow, this would be extremely important to the Neolithic landscape of the area, long barrows (usually Neolithic) are absent in the area for a radius of several miles, add to this only one cursus and no causewayed enclosures in the area would make this a unique find. This report re-evaluates the evidence.
Charmy Down 2019 Geophysical Survey, Hollies Lane, Batheaston, July 2019
On a spur half way up the hill leading to Charmy Down is an unusual mound which commands spectacular views across the St Catherine Valley. Geophysics on the mound in July 2019 suggested strongly that the mound was man-made, but was not able to provide a date for it. There is a possibility that it is a long barrow, but the feature could also be modern, and dating it would require excavation.
Claverton Down 2020 Bushey Norwood, Claverton Down, Bath
Bushey Norwood is made up of two fields running alongside the east of Bath University. It contains some visible early field banks from the Bronze or Iron Ages including the site of a possible building enclosure first excavated by Colonel HD Skrine in 1888. At the southern end of Bushey is thought to be a Mediaeval or earlier Roman road that crossed from Claverton village to Bath. The geophysics survey was prompted by a conservation plan by the land owner, The National Trust, to plant trees but not to damage any early remains. While surveying the planting area the opportunity was also taken to survey other areas relating to the archaeological remains of the building enclosure, the field banks and the road. Results indicated the initial tree planting was unlikely to damage any remains and that the other survey areas warranted further investigation by excavation and/or further geophysics.
Claverton Down 2021 Flatwood Camp, Claverton Down, Bath
Flatwood Camp was used from 1892 until 1899 as the location for the 28 day summer camp of the 4th Battalion The Prince Albert’s (Somersetshire Light Infantry) sited in a field of that name on Claverton Down, southeast of Bath. Permanent buildings are shown on the 1904 25” Ordnance Survey map and a geophysical survey was carried out in August 2021 using magnetometry and resistivity equipment.
Cold Ashton 2019 Geophysical Surveys at Lilliput Farm, Cold Ashton, South Gloucestershire
The southern slopes of Lilliput Farm, Cold Ashton, South Gloucestershire were surveyed between 2013 and 2018, and an area of approximately 30 ha was covered. The area was associated with personalities of the Bath cultural elite during the eighteenth century, who had an effect on the landscape, and prior to that had been on the periphery of the Battle of Lansdown during the English Civil War. Its boundaries in the south correspond with county and Saxon charter boundaries, and there were barrows taking the landscape back to prehistory. The report describes the geophysical surveys of each of the fields (magnetometry, twin-probe resistance and in some cases, resistivity profiling) in turn and then considers the whole landscape. There are two annexes.
Cold Ashton 2019 Geophysical Surveys at Lilliput Farm, Cold Ashton, South Gloucestershire: annex 1, the Lilliput Farm Barrows
A walkthrough of the resistivity profiles
Cold Ashton 2019 Geophysical Surveys at Lilliput Farm, Cold Ashton, South Gloucestershire: annex 2, the Hermitage
A walkthrough of the resistivity profiles
Durley Hill 2018 Archaeological Excavation and Survey, Spinney Close, Keynsham
A geophysical survey was undertaken by BACAS across the middle to top half of Spinney Close Keynsham in January 2017. At the time of this survey a large stone wall was observed crossing the northern end of the field, mostly obstructed by dense undergrowth of bramble, elder, blackthorn and large amounts of modern detritus. This wall was described by residents as polygonal in shape and was probably part of a large enclosure. Bryn Walters from ARA thought this wall was Roman in construction and worthy of further research and investigation.
Durley Hill 2017 Spinney Close, Keynsham
South of the road embankment and cemetery
Durley Hill 2016 The Roman Building in Durley Hill Cemetery, Keynsham
Archaeological Evaluation and Assessment of the Results
Dyrham Park 2025 Geophysics Project for Dyrham Park 2025
The prime objective of this project was to survey a perfect circle of 34 metres diameter, that
appears in LIDAR scans. The circle is in the parkland, just over 100m NE of the topograph in the northern section of the park. The objective is to try to establish what the ring might be, including possibilities of a henge or a
disc barrow. Recommendations are made for a future project to excavate the circle.
Dyrham Park 2023 Geophysics Project for Dyrham Park 2022-23
Geophysics was used to investigate William Blathwayt’s ornate gardens, particularly the fountains and canal. Good results were established for both east and west gardens, with indicative dimensions for the canal in the east garden and possible foundations of the manor house and outbuildings in the west garden. Along with some extant Tudor features the survey does suggest a surprising possible configuration for the Tudor house.
Easton Royal 2014 Geophysical Survey at Easton Royal, Wiltshire, March 2014
An archaeological geophysical survey was undertaken at Easton Royal in the Vale of Pewsey, Wiltshire in March 2014 to try to identify earthworks resulting from the defunct Holy Trinity Priory
Foula 2008 The Foula Landscape Project: Da Heights Stones Survey and Investigation, 6th – 20th June 2007
In June 2007, at the request of John Holbourn and Foula Heritage, a small team of BACAS members went to Foula. The aim of the team was to investigate a sub-circular feature discovered in 2006 on Da Heights at the northern end of the island. The team located buried stones by probing the peat and recorded the location and shape of both these and the visible stones. In all 290 stones were recorded
Foula 2006 The Foula Landscape Project: Geophysical Survey at Harrier, 4th – 11th May 2006
At the instigation of Foula Heritage, BACAS undertook an eight day geophysical survey in the region of Harrier, on the Shetland island of Foula, during May 2006
Frome 2022 Shining Light on the Prehistoric Occupation of Frome, Somerset, England
In the Winter of 2021, BACAS member Andrew Edwards discovered human fashioned Chert artefacts in a field near Frome. The finds consist mainly of cores, blades, bladelets and a small number of scrapers. Similar cores have been found at Chedzoy and Gough’s Cave, Cheddar, A hypothesis is proposed that the people who left chert artefacts at Chedzoy may have been the same people that left similarly shaped artefacts near Frome.
Fromefield 2016 Excavations at ‘Leystones’, Fromefield, Frome 2016
The mysterious stones at Fromefield
Great Bedwyn 2021 Geophysical Survey Report: St Mary’s Church, Church St, Great Bedwyn, Marlborough SN8 3PE Wiltshire
BACAS undertook a geophysical survey of the floor of St. Mary’s (choir, chancel, and sanctuary), they also surveyed a strip of the churchyard projecting from the south side of the building. The aim was to try to locate the walls and floors of the Saxon buildings thought to be under the existing building and, secondly to identify the positions of tombs, vaults or graves.
Hemington 2015 Under Hardington Vale: A decade of geophysics around Upper Row Farm, Hemington, Somerset, 2001 – 2011
Geophysical survey of the area centred on Upper Row Farm in the eastern part of the parish of Hemington in Somerset started in 2001 alongside the excavations on Blacklands. Many fields within an area about 0.5 km square were subject to both magnetometry and resistance survey, and a number of outlying sites were also investigated. The survey covered a decade in time. The picture derived from the complete survey gave a good idea of prehistoric, Roman and medieval activity in this area.
Hemington 2012 Archaeological Field Evaluation and Post Excavation Assessment: Homefield Excavation Report
Between 2000 and 2011 a series of evaluations, which included a geophysical survey followed by a number of excavations took place in Homefield, Upper Row Farm, Hemington in Somerset
Hemington 2010 Geophysical surveys at Chickwell Farm, Hemington, 2009-10
Geophysical surveys were carried out around Chickwell Farm, Hemington, Somerset, between January 2009 and March 2010. Two areas were investigated: a field below the farm, referred to as ‘Cat’s Tails’ and fields above the farm referred to as ‘Pentagonal’ and ‘Chickwell Moor’. The surveys showed traces of ancient field boundaries which are visible as earthworks on the ground. They also showed a possible Roman temple site.
Hemington 2006 Blacklands: A Landscape
Excavation of a Late Iron Age and Romano-British Settlement, near Frome, Somerset
Hemington 2006 Geophysical Survey at Charlton Farm, Hemington, Somerset
A number of fields in the vicinity of Charlton Farm in the parish of Hemington, Somerset have been surveyed by geophysics to investigate the archaeology. This has been done as part of BACAS’s continuing Blacklands Project, centred on nearby Upper Row Farm.
Hemington 2005 Lower Row Roman Villa, Hemington, Somerset: Report on the Geophysical Survey
Three fields totalling approximately nine hectares in area in the Lower Row area of Hemington have been subject to geophysical survey by BACAS between January and May 2005. These fields contain the Lower Row Roman Villa
Hemington 2005 Upper Row Farm, Blacklands: The Samian Ware
Edited by: Phil Rowbotham & Peter Webster, 2007. The Samian catalogued here derives from excavations by BACAS at Upper Row Farm, Blacklands.