Abstract :
This paper uses original documentary evidence held in the archives of the Wiltshire Archaeological
and Natural History Society in Devizes to reassess the work of William Cunnington,
FSA, carried out on behalf of Sir Richard Colt Hoare, and the contribution of his two principal
excavators, Stephen and John Parker, of Heytesbury, in Wiltshire. Previously the Parkers have
been regarded as little more than regular labourers on Cunnington’s pioneering excavations; the
evidence now suggests that they (and in particular John) were, in fact, key to the success of
Cunnington’s work. By the time of Cunnington’s death in 1810, John Parker was identifying new
sites on the Wiltshire Downs and, on occasion, taking sole responsibility for excavating and
interpreting them. After 1810 Hoare sponsored few further excavations and, though John was
employed on at least one occasion, in 1814, the Parkers dropped back into obscurity and poverty
without the regular employment, and perhaps protection, provided by Cunnington. Although
John’s obituary in 1867 described him as Cunnington’s ‘principal pioneer’, no research has
previously been undertaken that specifically considers the contribution of the Parkers in those early
British excavations. This paper seeks to redress that oversight
