There are numerous reasons why sites of conflict might be disturbed. For example, disturbance might take place during the construction of linear developments such as roads, railways, or pipelines. In 1968, for example, the route of a gas pipeline was cut through West Littleton Down, Tormarton, Southern Gloucestershire and human remains were discovered within the spoil of a ditch or pit. Weapon trauma and fragments of the actual weapons used were found on the bones of two individuals, suggesting that it had been a scene of Bronze Age conflict (Osgood 2000).
In 1992, on the battlefield of Naseby, England (1645), a new road construction cut across the battlefield despite pressure from interested parties, such as the Battlefield Trust, to divert the road. In recent years the A19 motorway extension in Belgium has led to the discovery and recording of extensive archaeological evidence from the First World War.
Several housing or industrial developments have either destroyed or had the potential to destroy the sites of famous British battlefields. In 1997, at Stamford Bridge, England for example, a housing development covered the site of the 1066 battle on Battle Flats (Plate 10). In the same year, however, English Heritage and lobby groups, including The Battlefield Trust, prevented the construction of a housing estate on “The Gastons”, the site of the medieval battle of Tewkesbury (1471).
Other battlefield protection successes include those at Blore Heath (1459) when, in 1992, it faced destruction by the extraction of gravel on the site of the conflict. The Battlefield Trust successfully campaigned against the development and the site was saved.
Remains of conflict are most likely to be disturbed during the agricultural work on a piece of land, such as by deep ploughing or whilst digging drainage ditches.
Plate 10: Battleflats Way, on the site of the 1066 Battle of Stamford Bridge, Yorkshire, which has been destroyed due to a housing development (© T.L.Sutherland 2004)
At Towton (1461), for example, deep ploughing that apparently took place by accident over the limestone geology of the battlefield disturbed the otherwise relatively protected contexts of the deeply buried skeletal material in mass graves from the battle (Sutherland forthcoming 2).
There are also historical references to the disturbance of human remains discovered during the construction of drainage ditches. During such work at Marston Moor (1644), for example, in 1858 and 1859 … :
“certain mounds were explored and at a depth of about 1.2 metres hundreds of skeletons were reportedly found”
(Harrington 1992, 52).