Recent work in Birmingham has included assessment and recording in advance of development of sites of various dates and types throughout the City, improvement of the Council's archaeological records, and promotion of Birmingham's archaeology through leaflets and displays.

A small piece of Iron Age pottery, the first prehistoric pottery so far found in the City, was recovered together with a Neolithic worked flint during observations by the Birmingham Roman Roads Research Project of development works in Selly Park. Part of the site of Metchley Roman fort lies within the campus of the University of Birmingham. Excavations by Birmingham University Field Archaeology Unit showed that the fort's ditches survived under a car park, and further excavation will take place before new development.

At Sheldon Hall, the original extent of the moat and remains of a timber building preceding the existing 17th century structure were recorded by Hereford and Worcester County Archaeological Service during renovation works. Excavations by Warwickshire Museum Field Archaeology Section at Blakesley Hall revealed remains of 18th and 19th century buildings next to the well-known 16th century house. At Witton Hall in Brookvale Road excavations by Hereford and Worcester County Archaeological Service showed that 18th century ponds and cobbled yards survived below later surfaces, and ditches and pits, potentially much older, await radiocarbon dating. In Digbeth, the first stage of excavations has taken place as part of the extensive redevelopment of the Bull Ring. Trenches by Birmingham University Field Archaeology Unit alongside Smithfield Passage revealed the medieval watercourse originally joining the moat around the manor house (now partly under the Wholesale Markets) with Parsonage Moat (in the Pershore Street area). The watercourse had been free-flowing until the mid 18th century when debris from leatherworking, glassmaking and metalworking was dumped in it. In Digbeth, excavations at Hartwell Smithfield Garage by Birmingham University Field Archaeology Unit demonstrated the survival of waterlogged medieval layers under 17th and 18th century dumping and the remains of early 19th century houses.

Research by the City Council's Conservation Group into Birmingham's gasworks and glassworks continues. At the Fazeley Street Gasworks, established in 1837 between the Grand Union Canal and the River Rea, the walls of the retort house of 1837 survive to full height and the gasometers are buried under a later yard surface. Ironbridge Institute of Industrial Archaeology made a record of the boundary wall of the 19th century gasworks site in Gas Street before redevelopment. About twenty glassworks sites dating from the late 18th to the mid 19th century have been located through documentary research. Although only one of them is still visible above ground, below-ground remains are likely to survive at several sites.

Trenches for sewer pipes in Woodlands Park, observed by Birmingham University Field Archaeology Unit, revealed the edge of one of two burnt mounds first discovered in 1982 and a former stream channel. The other mound, visible in the stream bank as a short exposure of heat-shattered stones, was shown to be on the other side of the stream from the trench. A survey of the Moseley Bog burnt mound (assisted by the Moseley Bog Conservation Group) as part of proposals to protect it from erosion demonstrated that much of the site survives as an upstanding mound opposite the exposed stream section.

Recent excavations near Couchman Road in Saltley revealed remains of its rural past. The site of a small medieval village south of Alum Rock Road was suggested by a group of fields on a map of 1760 which included a triangular area, possibly a former village green, and the names "Far Town Croft" and "Near Town Croft". Terraced of houses built on the site around 1900 are being cleared for redevelopment as part of an urban renewal scheme, so the City Council commissioned an archaeological assessment to find what remains of the medieval village were likely to survive. Following a study of documentary and historic map evidence, six trenches were excavated. There were no traces of the medieval village, but substantial remains of an 18th century brick building were found on Couchman Road. It had brick and cobble floors, a cellar or basement which contained large quantities of late 18th century pottery, and a trackway alongside it. It can be identified with a building shown on the 1760 map, and is likely to have served an agricultural purpose, possibly as a byre or dairy attached to a dwelling.

February 1999:
At Minworth Greaves Farm, an evaluation revealed medieval feaures, including a probable boundary ditch, two pits and a gully, all containing medieval pottery. The existing farmhouse would therefore seem to be on, or adjacent to a medieval building.

A desk-based archaeological assessment of the northern part of Digbeth was being undertaken by BUFAU, with a primary aim of looking at post-medieval industrial archaeological remains, above and below ground. A glassworks and a gasworks were included in this assessment.

Mike Hodder
Birmingham City Planning Archaeologist