September 1899 – 29 September 1971
Guy Mainwaring Knocker was a very young Sopwith Camel pilot in the First World War, serving with No 65 Squadron Royal Flying Corps in France. He was wounded in action in April 1918 but served in the RAF until 1947.
On leaving the military, he joined the Ancient Monuments team in the Ministry of Works, digging a number of sites in East Anglia in the 1940s. In May 1950 he found himself at Doles Wood, near Hurstbourne Tarrant, excavating a Bronze Age barrow. Subsequent work in Hampshire involved Saxon cemeteries at Snell’s Corner, Horndean and on Portsdown Hill.
Knocker lived in Wessex but does not seem to have been absorbed into the Crawford-Keiller circle. He had, of necessity, a more direct and financially limited approach to excavation, which drew some criticism from his peers. Nevertheless, he was described by those who knew and worked with him as unflappable and courteous, with a ‘not inconsiderable acquaintance with Old English literature which, rather than field-studies, may have been the deepest spring of his enthusiasm.’
Sources
- Rigold, S (1984) East Anglian Archaeology, 22, xi
Portrait
G. M. Knocker (on right) with excavators
Contribution to county’s history
Excavation on three sites, including two with Saxon cemeteries.
Relevant published works
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Knocker G M (1956) Early Burials and an Anglo-Saxon Cemetery at Snell’s Corner, Horndean, Hampshire, Proc Hants Field Club & Archaeol Soc 19, 117-170
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Knocker G M (1963) Excavation of a Round Barrow in Rag Copse, Hurstbourne Tarrant, Hampshire, Proc Hants Field Club & Archaeol Soc 22, 125-150
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Corney et al (1967) A Prehistoric and Anglo-Saxon Burial Ground at Ports Down, Portsmouth, Proc Hants Field Club & Archaeol Soc 24, 20-41
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Burgess C (2008) The Diary and Letters of a World War I Fighter Pilot, Pen & Sword.
Critical Comments
Other Comments
Contributor
Dave Allen February 2022
Key Words
Ancient Monuments, anglo-saxon burials, barrows, prehistoric burials
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