Pressing for protection
A leading archaeologist has branded the development of a site known for its Roman remains as cultural vandalism.
Professor Warwick Rodwell believes the remains, off Church Street, Southwell, are of national importance and must be preserved.
The consultant archeologist and architectural historian at Westminster Abbey, London, pressed the importance of preserving the site in an email to Southwell Community Archaeology Group.
Professor Rodwell said he was disturbed to read about the proposals to build on the former Minster School site.
He said: “That would be an inexcusable act of cultural vandalism, and it must be opposed vigorously.
“The core of Southwell is an archaeological and historical site of national importance and should be protected from the greed of modern development.”
There is planning permission for 13 homes on the site and the possibility of another application to increase that number.
Archaeologists investigating the area ahead of the development believe they have found what could be Roman temple, providing a possible link between the Romans and the minster.
Professor Rodwell said Southwell was a rare site where an Anglo-Saxon minster or cathedral built on Roman remains had not had intensive development around it that could have destroyed evidence.
“By rare, I mean less than a handful in the entire UK,” said Professor Rodwell.
As a result, he believes there is great potential in Southwell to study how the minster was linked to the Roman remains.
He said: “The insidious, piecemeal erosion of this exceptional archaeological complex should be halted permanently.
“This is emphatically not a site to be tackled on the back of a planning consent by a drafted-in archaeological contractor working to a developer’s timetable and his funding.”
Southwell Community Archaeology Group, Southwell Civic Society, Southwell Heritage Trust and Southwell Local History Society are working together to try to preserve a green corridor of land, known as the orchard, close to the site where the most important Roman remains are located.
They hope the orchard and the adjacent land could create an outstanding heritage area.
The chairman of Southwell Civic Society, Mr Mike Struggles, said Professor Rodwell had confirmed the groups’ views.
He said: “We want politicians to be aware that the site is of national importance, not just a local issue.”
The groups have met with Newark and Sherwood District Council and Nottinghamshire County Council.
They are also working with the local MP, Mr Patrick Mercer, to urge English Heritage to reconsider its decision to allow development on the site.
Chairman of the archaeology group, Mr Trevor Wight said the body had admitted there had been a huge change in the archaeological information now available, which, he said, justified a review.
The groups hope to carry out a geophysical survey of the former school playing fields to see if there are more remains.
The district council’s planning services manager, Mr Peter Wilkinson, said the 2005 planning permission required archaeological investigations to be carried out.
He said: “Consequently, archaeologists have for several months been carrying out various investigations on the site to establish the level of archaeology present.
“Ultimately, these findings are likely to form part of a subsequent planning application to the district council when such details will be publicly available.”
