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With the death of Derek Upton in September 2005 the Severn Estuary Levels Research Committee lost the person whose remarkable archaeological discoveries had brought the committee into existence in 1985 and inspired its activities ever since.

His outstanding contribution to archaeology came not from a conventional training in the subject but from a lifetime’s familiarity with the stark, beautiful and ever-changing landscapes of the Severn Estuary, the traditional ways of life associated with it, and the plant and animal life it supported. His achievements are all the more remarkable because his archaeological work was done during spare time from a day or, quite often, night-shift job as a skilled lubrication technician at Llanwern steelworks. He was outstanding in making important contributions to the archaeology of many periods and also to natural history and nature conservation.

What he observed in his walks in the estuary were not the types of sites described in the archaeological textbooks. Instead, they were patterns of wooden stakes, fishing structures and huts, which he understood because of his knowledge of its traditional ways of life. In the early days it was not easy to get recognition for his discoveries: he was sometimes told that the sites he reported were already known, or that they were recent and not of great interest. The assumption perhaps was that somebody who earned his living at Llanwern steelworks was not likely to have made discoveries which challenged accepted views. Events later proved otherwise. In fact, the areas where his finds occurred were blank on the distribution maps, their archaeological potential was not understood and we now know that many of the sites were actually prehistoric.

His approach was empirically based. It rested on his powers of observation (which many found exceptional) during repeated visits over many years. His achievement was precisely because he did not have a conventional archaeological education. He could look at things with new eyes informed by local knowledge and conditions. His life demonstrated to an especially developed degree the essentially democratic nature of archaeology: everybody can bring to the subject fresh insights informed by their own experiences. His happened to be a particular combination of knowledge, experience, dedication and aptitude which provided exceptional insights to past life in the estuary. The archaeological community is fortunate that he was active at a crucial period in the development of coastal archaeology.

The archaeological discoveries which Derek made are numerous and of wide- ranging dates. He may well have made a greater contribution to the post-glacial archaeology of Wales than anybody else in his lifetime. He was a realist appreciating that he could not investigate and write up all his discoveries himself. Even if he had possessed the necessary literary and drawing skills, the number of sites was far greater than any individual could tackle. The approach he adopted was an admirably generous one: he encouraged and actively helped many scholars to fully investigate, record and publish the finds he had made. His help and encouragement were always liberally offered to professional archaeologists, university staff, research students, undergraduates on training digs, or individuals who just wished to learn more about the estuary he loved. He was a one-man outreach programme for the Severn Estuary in the days before strategies, research agendas, and the like became the mode. Because he was so successful in involving others, his industry has left a very substantial legacy of published work, and has had an influence on wetland and coastal archaeology well beyond the Severn Estuary, throughout the British Isles and in other parts of the world.

The early days of his archaeological explorations before the establishment of the SELRC are a little obscured by the mists of time. He talked sometimes of early mudlarking activities: collecting clay pipes, bullets, shells and pottery from the bed of the estuary and of the remains of wartime crashed aircraft. By the 1970s he was collecting bones and prehistoric and Roman pottery, and noticing wood structures which he thought were associated with them. He shared his early discoveries with Bob Trett, then Curator of Newport Museum, Dr (now Professor) Alasdair Whittle of Cardiff University and Dr (now Professor) Stephen Green, then at the National Museum of Wales. They and others became involved in investigating some of the sites which by this time he was discovering thick and fast. One of the first was his 1979 find of wood structures at Chapeltump where initial investigations by Stephen Green in 1980 led to a late Bronze Age radiocarbon date for one of the timbers and the association with prehistoric pottery was confirmed (Whittle 1989). By the mid 1980s some of his discoveries were being documented by a Manpower Services Commission project administered by Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust and based in Newport Museum, where it was run by Bob Trett and Stephen Parry. They recorded his 1985 find of the Upton Trackway dated to the early Iron Age (Trett and Parry 1986). An important factor in gaining acceptance for the prehistoric date of many of Derek’s finds was the establishment by Professor J.R.L. Allen in the 1980s of an estuary-wide sedimentary sequence which clearly demonstrated that the sediments containing Derek’s sites were not recent, as some had suggested, but prehistoric.

In 1985 the wealth of his discoveries led to the establishment of the Severn Estuary Levels Research Committee, at first mainly comprising researchers based in Cardiff University and the National Museum of Wales. Around this time he introduced the leading palaeobotanist Professor Alan Smith to the peats exposed on the estuary foreshore. Smith went on to produce a pioneering paper on the Mesolithic to Bronze Age peat sequence in the embayment we now call Goldcliff East, comparing it to the much better known peat sequences of the Somerset Levels (Smith and Morgan 1989).

A factor which gave particular urgency to research at this time were proposals for a Severn Tidal Barrage. This led to a survey of the archaeological potential of the estuary which provided the opportunity to make rapid preliminary records of a number of Upton’s archaeological finds (Whittle and Green 1988). Some of the most important were later published by Green (1989) and Whittle (1989). In December 1986 Derek made the remarkable discovery of human footprints at Uskmouth, which were shown by the subsequent research of Aldhouse-Green et al (1992) to date to the late Mesolithic. He went on to find a perforated antler mattock of similar date at Uskmouth and other late Mesolithic human footprints at Magor Pill.

In April 1987 Derek Upton observed wood posts and other finds in an excavation being made for a lake at Caldicot Castle. This led to a major campaign of excavation of a Bronze Age site in 1987-1991 which was brought to monograph publication by Nigel Nayling and Astrid Caseldine (1997). In the same year Derek and Bob Trett discovered the Mesolithic site immediately west of the headland at Goldcliff. Later on 31st October 1990 Upton, Trett and others visited Goldcliff after a storm had removed the mud discovering the complex of rectangular structures and trackways of Iron Age date which was subject to a major campaign of excavations between 1991-1994 and published as a monograph (Bell et al 2000). During that campaign Derek worked relentlessly as the project scout, searching out new structures as the survey and excavation teams tried frantically to keep pace with his finds. So it was that following a major storm on 30th August 1992 he went west of Goldcliff Pill and discovered three more Iron Age structures. Derek Upton’s annual talk on his discoveries to the excavation team at Goldcliff was an inspiration to all. He was the guest of honour at annual dig parties at the Community Hall at Witson most years between 1991 and 2004 when excavations took place successively at Goldcliff, Redwick and Goldcliff East.

During 1991 Derek was responsible for the initial finding of many of the wood structures (Figure 1) along the line of the Second Severn Crossing which led to an important paper on medieval fishing structures by Steve Godbold and Rick Turner (1994).

One of his greatest discoveries was on 23rd August 1994. Leading German wetland archaeologists Dr Helmut Schlichtherle and Dr Bodo Dieckmann from the Landesdenkmalamt Baden-Wurttemburg were on a study visit to the Severn Estuary and Rick Turner had arranged a tour of the intertidal zone at Magor Pill (Figure 6). There, in a palaeochannel of the pill, Derek spotted a substantial timber which turned out to be the thirteenth century AD Magor Pill boat, excavated and published in monograph form by Nigel Nayling (1998).

As excavations at Goldcliiff proceeded so, often on days off, Derek Upton introduced the team to more and more sites in the intertidal zone of the wider estuary which he had found over many years. At the time the pressures to make a thorough record of what was eroding at Goldcliff made it impossible to divert time and resources to the other sites. Later, however, the Board of Celtic Studies of the University of Wales agreed to fund the Severn Estuary Intertidal Survey. The key objective of this survey was to create a permanent record of the many discoveries made by Derek and to investigate the context and date of the sites he had found. The project was directed by the writer with the support of an advisory committee and employed Dr Heike Neumann as Research Assistant in 1995-6. In February and March 1996 Upton and Neumann together walked all 30km of the Welsh intertidal zone between Cardiff and the Second Severn Crossing, Neumann (2000) mapped all the finds and produced a database and synthesis of his discoveries. A number of the sites investigated by the intertidal survey were subject to small-scale excavation, often to obtain samples for radiocarbon dating.

Much of the fieldwork for that project was done at a time when Derek was recovering from a serious foot injury sustained in the steelworks and he never fully recovered his mobility. The injury had a significant impact on the quality of his life in his last decade, leading to his early retirement from Llanwern. It is characteristic of Derek’s determination to help and support others that, notwithstanding his injury, and sometimes in significant pain, he participated actively in this survey. He was saddened as well to see the gradual winding down and eventual earmarking for closure of Llanwern which had dominated his working life, just as its great glowing pyres and dramatic bangs dominated the night sky of the estuary.

One of the sites looked at by the Intertidal Survey was the Bronze Age settlement at Redwick. This had originally been found by Derek sometime between 1980-5, when he reported that it was much better preserved than when first seen by the writer in the early 1990s. This settlement of four rectangular buildings was excavated between 1999 and 2001 (Bell and Neumann 1999, Bell 2001). Although Derek did not himself find the Mesolithic sites east of Goldcliff which were excavated between 2001-4 (Bell forthcoming), he was responsible for the discovery of many key artefacts that had eroded from the site and were scattered on the foreshore, including axe-adzes and an antler mattock-hammer. He was, as ever, a help and inspiration to the team engaged on that project. One of the many students he helped and encouraged was Rachel Scales whose PhD thesis on the fauna and footprint-tracks is dedicated to his memory (Scales 2006). His contribution goes on. This volume of Archaeology in the Severn Estuary contains an account of renewed fieldwork on the palaeochannels at Peterstone Great Wharf, a site he first discovered (Bell and Brown 2005).

The foregoing outline of the major projects and excavations which grew out of Derek Upton’s discoveries by no means represents the full extent of his contribution. He also contributed to the sedimentary and footprint-track research of Professor John Allen, the landscape research of Dr Stephen Rippon and that of many other researchers. Derek’s discoveries were of course influential well beyond the Severn Estuary and Wales. What he discovered was one of the greatest and now one of the most thoroughly investigated concentrations of intertidal archaeology in the world. The sites he discovered have been presented by others at conferences in Britain, Ireland, America, Denmark, Germany the Netherlands and elsewhere. These finds have been influential in stimulating research in other countries, most notably the pioneering work of Dr Aidan O’Sullivan on the Shannon Estuary in Ireland whose fine monograph acknowledges the inspiration of Derek Upton who showed him the intertidal sites of the Severn in 1992 (O’Sullivan 2001).

His contribution was not restricted to archaeology. Indeed, in the 1960s and 1970s natural history was probably his main leisure activity. He had a great knowledge of plants and animals, a strong commitment to nature conservation and an infectious ability to interest others in what he saw around him (Figure 5). This knowledge was important in informing his interest in the combined archaeology and environments of the Severn Estuary. He was heavily involved in the work of the Gwent Wildlife Trust from its formation in 1963, and when the trust acquired the Magor Marsh Nature Reserve in 1964, he became the Reserve’s honorary warden. In 2003 the Trust’s education centre at Magor Marsh was named in his honour ‘The Derek Upton Centre’ when it was opened by the botanist and television presenter Professor David Bellamy (Figure 4). In 2004 Derek was awarded a Vice-Presidency of the Gwent Wildlife Trust (Branscombe 2006).

During his life Derek also received recognition for his archaeological achievements, although perhaps less than he deserved. His great contribution to archaeology in Wales was recognised by conferment of an Honorary Degree of the University of Wales on 18th April 1998. That was a great day. Derek sat on the platform, along with recipients of honorary degrees: Archbishop Desmond Tutu from South Africa; the late Michael Aris, husband of Aung San Suu Kyi, elected president of Burma, then as now under house arrest by an unelected military government; Sir Glanmor Williams the distinguished Welsh historian; Sir Bernard Knight the forensic pathologist; Lord Bingham the lawyer; John Humphreys, the distinguished broadcaster; and other eminent figures. In the front row of the audience sat Peter Hain the politician, there to support his friend Desmond Tutu. It would be fair to say that Derek was more than a little overwhelmed and daunted by the gravitas of that occasion, but greatly pleased by the recognition that it brought for his life’s work. The citation about Derek’s achievements was read by Professor Alasdair Whittle, whose own work in the Estuary was the result of Derek’s discoveries (Figure 3). In 1997 the Severn Estuary Levels Research Committee dedicated its annual volume to Derek and the frontispiece is an excellent portrait of him accompanied by a brief appreciation (SELRC 1997). He was also given an Honorary Fellowship by, what was then, the University College of Newport through the good offices of Professor Stephen Aldhouse-Green, whose own work in the estuary resulted from his discoveries. The monograph on Prehistoric Intertidal Archaeology (Bell et al 2000) was also dedicated to Derek. As the acknowledgements say ‘we are grateful to Derek for generously sharing his discoveries and his help and companionship in the field’.

So far his discoveries have led directly to three monographs in the Council for British Archaeology Research Report Series and (another is soon to be submitted), and dozens of articles in journals have also resulted. Coastal archaeology now enjoys a far higher profile and attracts greater support nationally and internationally partly thanks to the discoveries he made. The world of natural history and conservation has benefited greatly from his care and dedication. Few people can have been so universally liked and respected by all who knew him. Knowing and working with him was a truly life-enhancing experience for which all Severn Estuary archaeologists will be forever grateful.

Prof. Martin Bell

References

• Aldhouse-Green, S. H. R., Whittle, A., Allen, J. R. L., Caseldine, A. E., Culver, S. J., Day, M. H., Lundqvist, J. and Upton, D. 1992 Prehistoric human footprints from the Severn Estuary at Uskmouth and Magor Pill, Gwent, Wales. Archaeologia Cambrensis, CXLI (1992), 14-55.
• Bell, M. 2001 Interim report on the excavation of a middle Bronze Age settlement at Redwick 2000-1. Archaeology in the Severn Estuary, 12, 99-117.
• Bell, M. forthcoming Mesolithic Coastal Communities and their environment in Wales. York: Council for British Archaeology Research Report.
• Bell, M and Brown, A.D. 2005 Prehistoric activity in Peterstone Great Wharf Palaeochannels: Field Survey 2005-6. Archaeology in the Severn Estuary 16.
• Bell, M. and Neumann, H. 1999 Intertidal survey, assessment and excavation of a Bronze Age site at Redwick, Gwent 1999 Archaeology in the Severn Estuary, 10, 25-37.
• Bell, M., Caseldine, A. E. and Neumann, H. (ed) 2000 Prehistoric Intertidal Archaeology in the Welsh Severn Estuary. York: Council For British Archaeology, Research Report 120.
• Branscombe, J. 2006 Derek Upton: tribute to a great inspiration. Natural World Wales, Spring 2006, 24.
• Godbold, S. and Turner, R.C. 1994 Medieval fishtraps in the Severn Estuary. Medieval Archaeology 38, 19-54.
• Green, S. 1989 Some recent archaeological and faunal discoveries from the Severn Estuary Levels. Bulletin of the Board of Celtic Studies, 36, 187-99.
• Nayling, N. 1998 The Magor Pill Medieval Wreck. York: Council for British Archaeology Research Report 115.
• Nayling, N. and Caseldine, A. 1997 Excavations at Caldicot, Gwent: Bronze Age palaeochannels in the lower Nedern Valley. York: Council for British Archaeology Research Report 108.
• Neumann, H. 2000 The intertidal peat survey. In Bell, M., Caseldine, A. E. and Neumann, H. (ed) Prehistoric Intertidal Archaeology in the Welsh Severn Estuary York: Council for British Archaeology Research Report 120, 282-321.
• O’Sullivan, A. 2001 Foragers, Farmers and Fishers in a Coastal Landscape. Dublin: Discovery Programme Monograph 5
• Scales, R. 2006 Prehistoric Coastal Wetland Exploitation: the evidence of footprint-tracks and animal bones, with reference to the Severn Estuary. Department of Archaeology, University of Reading, Unpublished PhD.
• SELRC 1997 Derek Upton Archaeology in the Severn Estuary 8, iii-iv.
• Smith, A. G. and Morgan, L. A. 1989 A succession to ombrotrophic bog in the Gwent Levels, and its demise: a Welsh parallel to the peats of the Somerset Levels. New Phytologist, 112, 145-67.
• Trett, R. and Parry, S. 1986 Newport Museum, Gwent. Archaeology in Wales 26, 6-7.
• Whittle, A. 1989 Two later Bronze Age occupations and an Iron Age channel on the Gwent foreshore. Bulletin of the Board of Celtic Studies 36, 200-223.
• Whittle, A. and Green, S. 1988 The archaeological potential of the Severn Estuary: an initial assessment for STPG. Cardiff: Unpublished SELRC report.