Ernest Greenfield

Last updated

Ernest Greenfield was a British archaeologist. He served with the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. During war service he became friends with Philip Rahtz who persuaded Greenfield to take up professional archaeology. His excavations included the Great Witcombe Roman Villa, Gloucestershire (1960–1973), and Chew Valley Lake, north Somerset (1953). Greenfield grew up in Sidcup, Kent and was a schoolboy when he set out single-handedly to excavate a Roman site at Horwood's Pit, St. Pauls Cray, whilst gravel extraction operations were being carried out in the 1930s. He was not popular with the gravel company, and subsequently contacted A. H. A. Hogg for help in the investigations. Hogg later drew up a plan of the site, and sought further help for Greenfield from Norman Cook at Maidstone Museum. In a letter to Cook, preserved at the museum, Hogg stated that Greenfield 'had the right ideas, but was discouraged 'after having lost his finds and site notes off the back of his motorbike!' Later Greenfield set up a local archaeological group which discovered many new sites including the famous Lullingstone Villa.

Bibliography

Unpublished letter from AHA Hogg to N.Cook concerning Greenfield's early career (held in Maidstone Museum)

Greenfield, E 'Notes on the Archaeological Sites in the Cray Valley'. The Transactions of the Dartford Antiquaries Society. V6 (1936)


Related Research Articles

Kathleen Kenyon British archaeologist

Dame Kathleen Mary Kenyon, was a British archaeologist of Neolithic culture in the Fertile Crescent. She led excavations of Tell es-Sultan, the site of ancient Jericho, from 1952 to 1958, and has been called one of the most influential archaeologists of the 20th century. She was Principal of St Hugh's College, Oxford from 1962 to 1973 and studied herself at Somerville College, Oxford.

Villa of the Papyri Ancient Roman villa in Ercolano, Italy

The Villa of the Papyri was an ancient Roman villa in Herculaneum, in what is now Ercolano, southern Italy. It is named after its unique library of papyri, discovered in 1750. The Villa was considered to be one of the most luxurious houses in all of Herculaneum and in the Roman world. Its luxury is shown by its exquisite architecture and by the very large number of outstanding works of art discovered, including frescoes, bronzes and marble sculpture which constitute the largest collection of Greek and Roman sculptures ever discovered in a single context.

Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales Archival institution in United Kingdom

The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales, established in 1908, is a Welsh Government sponsored body concerned with some aspects of the archaeological, architectural and historic environment of Wales. It is based in Aberystwyth.

Dion, Pieria village in Dion-Olympos, Greece

Dion or Dio is a village and municipal unit in the municipality of Dion-Olympos in the Pieria regional unit, Greece. It is located at the foot of Mount Olympus at a distance of 17 km from the capital city of Katerini.

Philip Arthur Rahtz was a British archaeologist.

Chedworth Roman Villa

Chedworth Roman Villa is located near Chedworth, Gloucestershire, England. It is one of the largest and most elaborate Roman villas so far discovered in Britain and one with the latest occupation beyond the Roman period. The villa was built in phases from the early 2nd century to the 5th century, with the 4th century construction transforming the building into an elite dwelling arranged around three sides of a courtyard. The 4th century building included a heated and furnished west wing containing a dining-room (triclinium) with a fine mosaic floor, as well as two separate bathing suites: one for damp-heat and one for dry-heat.

Great Witcombe Roman Villa

Great Witcombe Roman Villa was a villa built during the Roman occupation of Britain. It is located on a hillside at Great Witcombe, near Gloucester in the English county of Gloucestershire. It has been scheduled as an ancient monument.

Mensun Bound British marine archaeologist

Mensun Bound is a British maritime archaeologist born in Stanley, Falkland Islands. He is best known for directing the excavation of the Etruscan 6th-century BC shipwreck off Giglio Island, Italy, the oldest known shipwreck of the Archaic era, and the Hoi An Cargo which revolutionized the understanding of Ming-Vietnamese porcelain from Vietnam's art-historical Golden Age.

Ruxley Human settlement in England

Ruxley is a small settlement in southeast London, England, with no present formal boundaries. It is located 21 km (13 mi) southeast by east of Charing Cross, in the northeast corner of the London Borough of Bromley on the borough boundary with the southeast corner of the London Borough of Bexley, and is also adjacent to the Greater London border with Kent, overlapping into the Sevenoaks District and Borough of Dartford in Kent. Ruxley lies east of Sidcup and west of Swanley, on green belt land, where two main roads pass through east-west connecting London to the coast. Ruxley was a parish prior to 1557 and had its own thirteenth century church, St Botolph's. Ruxley's central location on the main road made it an important meeting place for the Hundred of Ruxley, which was named after it. Today still a major transport route, Ruxley's location on green belt land is on the edge of London's urban sprawl, industrial and residential areas are found on the west side, but to the east this quickly turns into more rural woodland and farmland. Ruxley Gravel Pits is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest located on the west side of Ruxley. Today the area is known for Ruxley Manor, a large site with a garden centre and other retailers and services.

Kingscote, Gloucestershire Human settlement in England

Kingscote is a village and civil parish in the Cotswold district of Gloucestershire, England, set on the uplands near the south western edge of the Cotswold hills. It is situated about two miles (3 km) east of Uley, five miles (8 km) east of Dursley and four miles (6 km) west of Tetbury. The landscape is designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The hamlet of Newington Bagpath lies to the west of the village; the parish lands extend near to the small village of Owlpen.

Dion, Archaeological Museum Archaeological museum in Central Macedonia, Greece.

The Archaeological Museum of Dion is a museum in Dion in the Pieria regional unit of Central Macedonia, Greece.

Mucking (archaeological site) Archaeological site in Essex, England

Mucking is an archaeological site near the village of Mucking in southern Essex. The site contains remains dating from the Neolithic to the Middle Ages—a period of some 3,000 years—and the Bronze Age and Anglo-Saxon features are particularly notable.

Herculaneum Roman town destroyed by eruption of Mount Vesuvius

Herculaneum was an ancient town, located in the modern-day comune of Ercolano, Campania, Italy. Herculaneum was buried under volcanic ash and pumice in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79.

Paul Ashbee

Paul Ashbee was a leading British archaeologist, noted for his many excavations of barrows, or burial mounds, and for co-directing the Sutton Hoo digs from 1964 to 1972. He was also president of the Just William Society. He died of cancer on 19 August 2009, aged 91.

Gino Vinicio Gentili

Gino Vinicio Gentili was an Italian archaeologist.

North Leigh Roman Villa

North Leigh Roman Villa was a Roman courtyard villa in the Evenlode Valley about 0.5 miles (800 m) north of the hamlet of East End in North Leigh civil parish in Oxfordshire. It is a scheduled monument in the care of English Heritage and is open to the public. {{cite web |url=http://www.east-end.uk East End local village website by https://weboxford.com

Fordcroft Anglo-Saxon cemetery History cemetery

Fordcroft Anglo-Saxon cemetery was a place of burial. It is located in the town of Orpington in South East London, South-East England. Belonging to the Middle Anglo-Saxon period, it was part of the much wider tradition of burial in Early Anglo-Saxon England. Fordcroft was a mixed inhumation and cremation ceremony.

Margaret Ursula Jones British archaeologist

Margaret Ursula Jones was an English archaeologist, best known for directing major excavations at Mucking, Essex.

Charles Green (archaeologist) English archaeologist

Charles Green (1901–1972) was an English archaeologist noted for his excavations in East Anglia, and his work on the Sutton Hoo ship-burial. His "signal achievements" were his East Anglian excavations, including four years spent by Caister-on-Sea and Burgh Castle, and several weeks in 1961 as Director of excavations at Walsingham Priory. Green additionally brought his "long experience of boat-handling" to bear in writing his 1963 book, Sutton Hoo: The Excavation of a Royal Ship-Burial, a major work that combined a popular account of the Anglo-Saxon burial with Green's contributions about ship-construction and seafaring.