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Palaeolithic and Mesolithic - Before 5,000 BC
Palaeolithic hand axes, Mesolithic footprints and stone tool scatters recovered from the foreshore indicate the presence hunter-gatherer groups present before the introduction of farming. Just outside the estuary, at Westward Ho! in the Bristol Channel evidence of reed burning and tree burning close to settlements make it probable that humans were using fire to influence their environment, perhaps to encourage favourable grazing for their quarry.
Sea level rise has been 60 metres in the last 10,000 years, so the estuary these people knew was very different to our own. Imagine Flat Holm island as a hill, rising up above a vast area of marshy land, our hunter-gather ancestors using it as a lookout to spot animals to hunt, or as high ground to escape to in times of flood.
Campsites from these people are preserved in the alluvium and peat. Peat is especially fruitful, as it preserves wood as well as a record of the changing environment over thousands of years. The distribution of such sites shows a marked bias towards the intertidal zone, since this is where the alluvium that overlies the prehistoric landscape has been eroded away. Many more archaeological sites are likely to lie inland in the peat, but lie undiscovered.
Neolithic - 4,000 BC
Evidence of Neolithic tool making has been found at Oldbury-on-Severn and Hill in Avon. The Oldbury site seems to be a large settlement, partly concealed beneath the modern meadows and partly exposed on the eroding coast.
In Somerset and on the Gwent levels, evidence of trackways have been found, linking settlements on higher ground with the waters edge, used to cross the marshy ground to get to the estuary.
Bronze Age - 1,000 BC
During the Bronze Age settlements continued to grow around the estuary, moving further inland as sea levels rose.
The use of coastal sand dunes are highlighted by the discovery of five Bronze age settlements at Brean Down in Somerset. Evidence that circular houses were used along with the oldest evidence from Western Europe for extracting sea salt.
Roundhouses and pottery from this period have been exposed on the foreshore at Rumney and Magor in Gwent.
Iron Age - 400 BC
Further sophistication and development took place in the Iron Age.
Remarkable clusters of prehistoric sites are associated with the peat on the shore at Goldcliff and Redwick in Gwent. Rectangular wooden buildings found there are unique to the British late Bronze Age and Iron Age. Animal hoof prints occur around the buildings, suggesting the seasonal grazing of livestock. A small bone assemblage found here has pointed to the raising of mainly cattle, but also the presence of horses and dogs, and access to sheep / goat meat. Human skulls have also been recovered.
Later in the Iron Age the well known settlements of Glastonbury and Meare in Somerset rise to prominence.
Roman Rule - AD 50 - 400
The Romans brought great changes across the British Isles, and the estuary was no different. The twentieth legion established itself in AD 49 in Gloucester and Roman Vessels soon plied the river, estuary and Bristol Channel. The first major use of the estuary for trade was underway, with ports springing up on the Avon and Parrot. Smelting of Ire-ore at Woolaston (Gloucestershire) and Oldbury-on-Severn (Avon) used ore shipped form the Forest of Dean. A Roman boat recently found close to the inland margin of the levels at Magor, Gwent, from what was then a tidal creek, suggests the kinds of craft that worked the estuary. The boat, of nailed planks was originally of about 12 metres long.
The Roman period saw the start of the draining of the land around the estuary. Much of the great tidal marshes of Gloucestershire, Avon and Gwent were embanked and drained, starting the process of making today’s’ agricultural landscape. Evidence that the Roman army assisted in the draining is given by an inscribed stone from Goldcliff.
After the Romans left the seawalls were inundated by the
tide again, and the sea defences broke down in many places. Marshy conditions
returned and tidal slit buried some Roman settlements and field systems.
Medieval AD 1000 - 1500
Saxon times led to the re-colonisation of the levels, starting in Somerset and Gloucestershire. The monks of Glastonbury Abbey drained and exploited the wetlands. Soon after the Norman Conquest most of the levels were being cultivated in great open fields divided into strips- the ‘ridge and vurrow' (furrow). Monastic Communities at Goldcliff and Tintern played an important role in the re-colonisation and subsequent draining of the Gwent levels. The monks built flood defences and dug ditches, such as the raised waterway called Monk’s Ditch near Goldcliff. Fish traps also proliferated in the mediaeval period, as fishermen became better at using woodland products such as willow withies to construct effective traps.
The estuary was increasingly a link to the wider world. The ‘Newport Ship’, discovered during the excavation for a new arts centre in Newport, is one of the most complete examples of a late medieval ship, believed to be built circa 1465. It illuminates a picture of a busy estuary, with trading links to Spain and Portugal. Portuguese pottery and cork, stone cannon balls and engraved brass strips have been excavated. The great ports like Bristol, starting to spring up all around Britain, would have relied on ships such as this for commerce and for exploration.
The end of this period sees the vessel ‘Matthew’ leave Bristol bound for Newfoundland. It marks the beginning of the great voyages of discovery.
Industrial AD 1600 - Present
Daniel Defoe, c1720 described Bristol as “…the greatest, richest and best port of the trade in Great Britain, London only excepted.”
The “trade” was the Africa Trade, - goods to Africa, slaves from Africa to the New World, and the return to Bristol with sugar, rum and tobacco. Bristol gained great wealth from its lucrative trade triangle and rose to prominence as a major seaport. After the terrible trade was banned, Bristol continued to develop, and it was joined as a major seaport in the C19th by the South Wales ports of Cardiff, Newport and Barry, burgeoning from the exploitation of coal from the South Wales Valleys. The estuary was busy with vessels of all sizes in probably one of the most dangerous shipping lanes in the world. Incoming vessels would be met by the pilots, who sailed in fast and seaworthy Bristol Channel Pilot Cutters. The pilots would sail westward in search of ships heading for ports along the channel, before setting a pilot on board and being sailed back to port by an young apprentice. Also growing in size was the port of Gloucester, due to its important inland canal links, and the industrialisation of the midlands.
Smuggling in the estuary became rife, with several famous smugglers and smuggling stories coming from the 17th and 18th Centuries.
Alongside this development, the population around the estuary continued to increase, and development created many towns, villages and communities around the estuary. The estuary also started becoming popular for holidays by the sea, peaking in Victorian times in seaside resorts such as Weston-super-Mare, Burnham, Severn Beach and Penarth.
The C20th has seen huge changes to the estuary, including the industrialisation of farming practices on the levels, commercial dredging of marine aggregates, and the building of new factories, motorways, and housing estates in the technological age. Perhaps the greatest testament to the way the estuary has changed is by our method of crossing it, and the time that it takes. The two Severn bridges offer a quick easy route across the treacherous channel, taking just a few minutes to cross.
Link: Smuggler's Britain - this great site has information on the history of smuggling around the estuary.
Future?
There appears to be no let up in the rate of recent change on the estuary.
Proposals for further development continue, and the new challenge of sustainability is starting to be recognised. The recognition of the estuary as an internationally important wildlife area, awareness of its valuable archaeological heritage, and the importance of a healthy, pollution free estuary raise the bar further for what we must do to achieve this vision of sustainable development. Alongside this comes increasing opportunities for tapping the estuary’s resources, such as renewable power.
Sea level rise, like that which our ancestors had to deal with on the estuary, also faces us in the future. We cannot move inland as easily as they did however, and how we deal with the rising sea level is surely one of the biggest challenges facing the estuary in the future.
