Archaeology of the Battlefield

Stray finds have been made on the battlefield at various times, including weapons and armour. There are some artefacts from the battlefield in the Blake Museum in Bridgewater, while the farmer at Bussex Farm also has a small collection of musket and pistol shot and a silver button from the field. Many more finds must have been made over the years and a metal detecting survey with a mapped record of distributions has been conducted on an amateur basis. More recent archaeological work, as yet unreported, has been conducted by the Glasgow University Archaeological Research Division (GUARD) as part of the television series Two Men in a Trench.

Sedgemoor also has one of the few relatively well located mass graves on any English battlefield. It is approximately positioned on the 1st edition Ordnance Survey 6 inch map. There has however been no detailed archaeological survey or excavation to confirm its exact location or to establish the condition and survival of any burials of the site. It was dug into shortly before 1896. Other burials may also be expected across the former moorland between the Bussex Rhyne and Chedzoy island, and possibly also on the island where some rebels were cut down within the cornfield. It is however uncertain the degree to which bodies were collected together for burial. Warner refers to burial pits near both Chedzoy and Westonzoyland but gives no authority for this.

 

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