Whilst I was conducting research for the village history book, I sourced a lot of material that wasn’t finally used due to space constraints. One such item was an earthwork survey of the field by the church, which was undertaken by the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England in July 1996. I thought that you may be interested in a summary of the findings. The area surveyed were parts areas 18, 19, 21 and 22 shown on the map above.
a. The Survey
The earthworks at Calstone Wellington he in a pasture field to the west of the parish church. They are located on a northwest-facing hillslope which descends towards a deeply incised valley; a stream at the bottom of the valley flows north-east before widening into what were formerly mill ponds (j). This stream forms a tributary of the River Marden.
The earthworks extend westwards as far as a prominent bank (a), which measures 95 metres long and up to 0.3 metres high and turns sharply towards a terrace. A number of slight depressions and cuts in the bank mark the position of probable tree holes. Continuing from the bank is a slight linear ditch (f) which extends beyond the bank for a further 42 metres. To the west of this bank are very slight traces of ridge and furrow cultivation, orientated north-west/south-east.
Between the bank and the church there are two sub-rectangular terraces; the larger of the two lies to the south and measures some 95 x 65 metres, whilst the second measures 75 x 30 metres. Both terraces extend beyond the surveyed area for approximately 20 metres into a field of rough grassland
On the southern side of the larger terrace are two scarps (e) which extend for 45 metres along the fence-line, the upper one continues into the churchyard towards the Old Rectory (i). A third scarp lies just below and curves towards a sub-circular mound measuring 12 metres diameter and up to 0.1 metres high. Within the larger terrace a slight hollow way leads south from the chinch lane towards a sub-rectangular platform (c) measuring 20 x 10 metres. At (d) a partly eroded bank curves from the upper terrace to butt up against the churchyard
To the north of the lower terrace are two parallel banks approximately 0.3 metres high which form sub-rectangular enclosures. The westerly enclosure measures 50 x 35 metres, whilst the one to the east (g) measures 35 x 25 metres and extends almost to the scarp edge. Situated on a north-facing terrace above the stream and backing on to the westerly enclosure are a series of sub-rectangular earthworks with four possible building platforms measuring between 15 x 10 to 10 x 7 metres.
b. Interpretation
The earthworks at Calstone Wellington probably represent settlement with attendant field closes. It is probable that the bank which lies almost in the centre of the field formed the settlement boundary bank at some time, and that the arable fields lay to the west and south. The ridge and furrow here probably reflect a small furlong since the hedgerow on the western side is up to 0.5 metres higher than the pasture field and probably formed the edge of another field
To the north-west, at the bottom of the hill, there are at least four probable building platforms. The most westerly one (b) contained red brick overlying chalk rubble. This may be the building shown on a map of 1830 (WRO.807/27), although it was no longer standing in 1845 (Tithe map). Also, within this building platform a sherd of Medieval and two sherds of post-Medieval pottery were found during the survey.
At the south-eastern end of the field, activity is concentrated on a probable building platform (c) which, together with its surrounding enclosure, may represent the layout of an individual croft and toft. The boundary scarp (e), which continues within the churchyard probably forms a field boundary known as Church Furlong in the mid-19th century (Tithe map). This scarp possibly was probably a headland Apart from a gap in the gateway, this headland continues south-west to the south-east comer of the field known as Church Croft, beyond the boundary bank.
Ref: A Survey of the Settlement Earthworks at Calstone Wellington, Wiltshire. Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England. G.Brown. July 1996.