Archaeology in the Bedford Region

In the late 1980s and early 1990s five excavations took place around Bedford in preparation for a water pipeline. In addition to revealing the development of the rural landscape throughout prehistory and the historic period, the project also uncovered evidence of Roman domestic and industrial activity, as well as cemeteries. The Roman cemetery at Kempston is of particular interest because of the large number of decapitations. Continuous occupation throughout the Roman and Saxon periods was also detected. The report includes large amounts of data, with detailed descriptions of the sites and their features, the environmental and skeletal remains, and the rich variety of finds.