Scheduled Monument: Anglo-Saxon Cremation Cemetery and associated features 750m west of Rempstone Hall (DNT6159)

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Authority Historic England
Date assigned 09 November 2020
Date last amended

Description

The Anglo-Saxon cemetery 750m west of Rempstone Hall is scheduled for the following principal reasons: Potential: it has considerable archaeological potential in the form of buried deposits which, if subjected to excavation and scientific analysis, will provide information on the population, social structure and ideology of the community that used the cemetery and its position in the wider social, economic and political landscape; Survival: for the high level of survival of urned cremations as confirmed through the excavation. Estimation of precise numbers remains problematic but is likely to comprise several hundred urned cremations with occasional inhumations; Period: given the rarity of rural Anglo-Saxon settlement sites, cemeteries of this period offer our principal sources of archaeological evidence about the Early Anglo-Saxon period; Documentation: for the archaeological documentation available for the site in the form of excavation reports, and the detailed analysis of the structural, artefactual and sedimental deposits discovered during the excavation. PRINCIPAL ELEMENTS The monument comprises a group of largely urned cremations within what appears to have been a low mound set beside a ring ditch that appears likely to represent a prehistoric monument which acted as a focus for the Anglo-Saxon activity. DESCRIPTION The site, known as ‘Burton’s Land’, is centred on SK 56222 24576 and consists of an L-shaped parcel of pasture land covering 12110m² (3 acres) within a field located in the angle formed by the A6006 and the Rempstone Road. It lies immediately to the south-east of the Cemex quarry facility at East Leake. Open area excavation and trenching within the east section identified a total of 75 cremations, of which 26 have been excavated and 49 remain unexcavated. Detailed hand excavation within a small area centred on SK 56293 24586 suggests an average of approximately 1.4 urns per m²; extrapolated across the whole (estimated as 0.12ha or 1200m²) and based on an assumption that around 50% of the area currently identified as the cemetery limits contains cremations (600m²), then this gives an estimate of around 840 cremations. Given the vagaries of estimating overall numbers, a total number of burials in the range of 500 to 1200 is possible.

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Sources (1)

  • Published document: Historic England. 2020. Advice Report: Anglo-Saxon Cremation Cemetery and associated features 750m west of Rempstone Hall. [Mapped feature: #8413 ]

Map

Location

Grid reference Centred SK 56201 24569 (153m by 146m)
Map sheet SK52SE
District Rushcliffe
Civil Parish Rempstone, Rushcliffe

Related Monuments/Buildings (1)

Record last edited

Nov 10 2020 1:06PM

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