The evolution and exploitation of the Avon flood plain at Bath and the development of the southern suburb: Excavations at Southgate, Bath 2006-9

Abstract

• The SouthGate site lies between the River Avon and the southern defences of Roman and later Bath. This volume describes the evolution of the local Avon flood plain from the Pleistocene to the 20th century. Highlights include a large Early and Late Mesolithic lithic assemblage, Anglo-Saxon extramural activity, the Norman and later development of the Southgate suburb, and an artificial watercourse which eventually became an open sewer known as the Bum Ditch. Later periods provide glimpses of a low-status area that provided goods, food and services to the more familiar wealthy Georgian city, the ‘Baedeker’ air raids and the Beatles.