The unearthing of 18th and 19th century pottery, bones and a Saxon stylus in an old cellar in Chippenham, is helping to piece together the town's history. SARAH SINGLETON looks at the importance of the finds.

THE colourful pageant of Chippenham's past is slowly coming to light as archaeologists unearth evidence about the town's history.

A recent discovery of pottery, bone fragments and what might be a Saxon stylus, or writing instrument, in the foundations of an old cottage in Chippenham town centre is the latest in a long series of important finds helping historians put together a picture of the past.

Builders renovating a cottage behind the Jubilee building and next to the graveyard of St Andrew's Church uncovered a hoard of fragments in a buried medieval cellar.

Rob Edgell and Mark Smith were working on the renovation when the finds came to light.

Now archaeologists are poring over the important finds.

Mike Stone, the manager of Chippenham Museum and Heritage Centre and an author of local history books, is an expert on the gathering picture of Chippenham's past and watches every new discovery with great excitement.

Finds in the last few years include a Bronze or Iron Age skull in the River Marden and cess pits containing bones and pottery behind the old forge in the Cause, now converted into homes.

The Wessex Archaeological Unit carried out an investigation when flats were built in Chapel Lane off the High Street and they found medieval ditches and two pits dating back to neolithic or bronze age times.

Cotswold Archaeology also undertook a trial trench on the Flowers site in the summer and the results of their investigation are eagerly awaited.

"We have learned a lot over the last few years," said Mr Stone.

"Every property had some kind of cess pit and they made very useful rubbish pits.

"This gives us some good clues about the status of the people living there and they

appear to be fairly wealthy. In the 18th century the burgesses were making big money out of the weaving trade."

Numerous finds of Stone Age flints and arrowheads in the Chippenham area, as well as indications of Roman occupation, including remains of a Roman farm on the Englands site behind the new magistrates court, suggest the Chippenham area has supported a human population for thousands of years.

But Mr Stone is convinced the earth still has many secrets to yield. "I'm sure there is lots more to find," he said.

His dream find would be the remains of a Saxon structure, dating back to the time of King Alfred.

He would also like to find some Danish artefacts, from the occupation of the town.

The district council kept the Jubilee building site under inspection because of the historic nature of the building and when the cellar came to light archaeologist Bernard Phillips was called in to undertake an excavation.

Mr Phillips spent three days working on site with the builders and they unearthed all sorts of fascinating objects.

"We were excavating to put the foundations in when we came across what looked like a stone formation," said Mr Edgell.

"At first we thought it might be an early grave."

The archaeological investigation followed and revealed the formations the builders had spotted dated back to the 12th century.

Further exploration revealed a dry-stone walled pit, which was at first thought to be an ice house an early version of a fridge but later Mr Phillips concluded it was a less glamorous cess pit instead.

The cess pit contained a large assemblage of pottery shards from the 18th and 19th centuries.

"It was full of pottery from 1780 to 1830," said Mr Phillips.

"It is quite an interesting group. We found a little pot, and the remains of chamber pots."

The builders said a bronze pin was also discovered, that Mr Stone suspected might date back to the mid- Saxon period.

He said the site of the find was appropriate as an older church was present on the site at the time of King Alfred.

"Some of the pottery looks fantastic," he said.

"We hope to have it in the museum and we will put it

altogether in a display."

Following the excavation, the historic stonework was

covered up and will remain protected beneath the new building, until future generations uncover it again.

The finds are being cleaned and catalogued by Mr Phillips, who will compile a report on the finds in about a month.

Mr Edgell said it was exciting to find Chippenham's buried history.

"I'm just glad we didn't uncover any bodies being so close to the graveyard that was a possibility," he said.

And Mr Faulkner paid tribute to the builders' hard work.

"The guys on the site did a lot of the work three days of shovelling," he said.

"The excavation was very worthwhile. The amount of pottery found was substantial. It was worth doing."