Through a Strange Country: The Parkers at Old Winchester Hill

William Cunnington, of Heytesbury Wiltshire, is an undisputed pioneer of archaeology, bridging the divide between pure antiquarianism and the development of excavation as a research tool in the study of ancient landscapes. He and his regular excavators, Stephen and John Parker, worked on over 400 barrows across Wiltshire between 1798 and his death in 1810, developing ideas and techniques that were to form a benchmark for archaeologists for several decades. This article assesses the documentary evidence which survives in the Wiltshire Heritage Museum archive for a little known foray into Hampshire, conceived and funded by the Rev. Richard Iremonger of Wherwell. It demonstrates that Iremonger, while not particularly active in antiquarianism, was nonetheless responsible for the earliest known barrow excavations in this county, in 1805. It also establishes the fact that the Parkers were briefly employed by him in July 1807, and that Cunnington, though offering advice, had no direct role in the excavations at Old Winchester Hill.