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THE WILTSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY MAGAZINE 



the west of Great Orchard, the surviving Courthill 

 House (Pevsner 1975, 373). 



THE SITE OF THE 

 EPISCOPAL RESIDENCE 



Local tradition and the place name Courthill to 

 the west of Potterne village hint at the likely location 

 of the episcopal manor (McGlashan and Sandell 

 1974, 90). To the east of Courthill House lies a 

 field called Great Orchard (Figure 2). There are no 

 earthworks within this field and no archaeological 





Fig. 2. Location of Great Orchard within the village, 

 showing 1961 excavation (A), 1974 excavation (B), 

 Plump Well (C) and 2001 geophysical survey (D) 



features visible on the available aerial photograph 

 coverage. There are few early maps covering 

 Potterne, but those that survive reveal that Great 

 Orchard was formerly arable (for example see WRO 

 1553/1 12, 1798; Potterne tithe map, 1839), which 

 could explain the absence of any physical evidence 

 above ground. In terms of the topography, Courthill 

 would have been a suitable location for the palace, 

 close to local facilities and resources, yet in a 

 dominating position. On the western side of the 

 field is a well, the 'Plump Well' (Figure 2, C), which 

 would have been a convenient source of fresh water 

 to the episcopal mansion. When this well was 

 modernised in the 1 930s two large steps made from 

 non-local stone were removed (McGlashan and 

 Sandell 1974, 90-91). These were on the south-east 

 side of the well, facing toward the lower slopes of 

 Courthill. 



A small area within Great Orchard field was 

 investigated archaeologically in 1973 by N.D. 

 McGlashan and R. E. Sandell (1974). This followed 

 a trial excavation in 1961 close to the road in the 

 southern part of the field (Figure 2, A), which 

 apparently revealed a gravel surface (McGlashan 

 and Sandell 1974, 91). The 1973 work consisted of 

 three trenches of approximately 9.0 x 0.9m, 6.8 x 

 1.6m and 5.0 x 0.7m (Figure 2, B).The excavators 

 concluded that 'this site was one of wealth and 

 importance . . . with clear connections with the 

 church' (1974, 95), but that they had missed the 

 actual dwelling house itself and located part of an 

 ancillary structure. 



The geophysical survey 



A resistivity survey using a Geoscan RM15 was 

 undertaken at Great Orchard in October 2001 to 

 try to locate the site of the episcopal residence. The 

 twin probe configuration was employed, with a 0.5m 

 mobile electrode spacing. Eighteen 20m square grids 

 were laid out using tapes and triangulation (Figure 

 2, D). Readings were taken every metre along 

 zigzagged traverses spaced at one metre intervals. 

 The location of the survey area within the field was 

 surveyed using an EDM and the resistance readings 

 were downloaded into Geoplot version 3 for 

 Windows. Grids 16, 17 and 18 (at the north end of 

 the survey) were partially restricted by an area of 

 long grass. A shade plot of the data is shown in Figure 

 3 and in Figure 4 the plot has been superimposed 

 onto a map of Great Orchard. 



The 2001 resistivity survey has confirmed that 

 the 1973 excavation did indeed miss the main 

 domestic block of the residence, which appears to 

 have been located slightly further to the north east, 

 on a knoll opposite St Mary's church on the other 

 side of Potterne High Street. The site would have 

 afforded the bishop and his household good views 

 not only of the village but also to the north and 

 west. The geophysical plot shows clearly that there 

 was formerly a large stone building in the middle 

 of Great Orchard, centred on ST 99350 58488. A 

 square block measuring around twenty metres in 

 length and width is evident in the centre of the field 

 (Figure 4, A). This appears to have had some 

 internal divisions, but is partially shadowed, perhaps 

 by rubble. It is tempting to identify part of this 

 structure as the medieval hall, perhaps having been 

 divided in the late or post-medieval period. To the 

 north of this is another high resistance area (B), 



