Series: Sutton Archaeological Services unpublished report series

The evaluation only revealed debris, possibly demolition material from the 19th century houses that once stood on the site, garden deposits again from the 19th century houses, over the clay and sand natural.

All intrusive operations were observed across the site revealing made ground, a sandy silt above the natural sand and gravel. Looking at the evidence from all four archaeological investigations, this site has been more or less destroyed, particularly in the eastern side. The concrete stanchion found by the DGLA would not have been an isolated structure. There would have been others though no trace was found in any of the subsequent investigations. This implies the site had been partially 'de-bouldered', that is turned over to remove any intrusive structures. This probably happened in the 1990s. This conclusion is confirmed by the later SAS observations, which shows deep made ground over natural in most of the eastern part of the site, evidence seen in the strip and sewer trenches. The western side appears to have suffered less with the silty sand deposit surviving along the western and southern edges. The deposit appeared to be waterlain and only contained 17th and 18th century CBM and a single abraded sherd of Roman Greyware. It was probably a cultivated soil and may represent the remains of the orchard shown on Rocque's map.

The development area is a Scheduled Ancient Monument (L0163) under the provisions of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 and consisted of a wooded area to the east of the school. The development involved replacing an electricity cable to the school, but leaving the old cable in situ. The watching brief only revealed topsoil, tarmac and made ground deposits. It is presumed these deposits covered the natural Greensand, which was only exposed in one section of the cable trench. The finds were 20th century CBM, except for two small sherds of Late Bronze Age pottery and a piece of burnt flint.

Two trenches were excavated across the site, revealing concrete and tarmac over made ground above the natural gravel. A number of pits were found in Trench 2 and an 18th century brick pit in Trench 1. There was no evidence for archaeology (other than modern) and the only finds were fragments of modern CBM and other modern items, along with some Medieval and Post-Medieval pottery.

One trench was excavated and a watching brief was maintained on other parts of the site. The archaeological work only revealed made ground or tarmac, over sub-soil and the natural chalk. There was no evidence for archaeology and the only finds were fragments of modern CBM and other modern items.

The site lay in an area of archaeological importance as defined in London Borough of Croydon's Unitary Development Plan. Research by Sutton Archaeological Services for the research design indicated that there was Prehistoric archaeology in the surrounding area. Two trenches were excavated revealing topsoil/made ground above the sub-soil which overlaid the natural chalk. No Prehistoric archaeology was found and the only finds were modern Ceramic Building Materials (CBM).

One trench was excavated across the site revealing tarmac, made ground, sub-soil and the natural sand and gravel. No archaeology of any period was found other than 19th to 20th century. Our findings set out above lead us to conclude that the proposed development did not threaten to destroy any archaeological remains of national, regional or local importance, deserving further investigation or preservation.

The evidence from the SAS preliminary research indicated that there was Prehistoric archaeology and/or activity in the surrounding area. One trench was excavated across the site revealing Tarmac, top and sub-soil and the natural sand and gravel. Except for one late Neolithic to Bronze Age blade, the only archaeology found was dated to the 19th to 20th century. The blade is consistent with other struck flints found on a previous archaeological evaluation at the school. No sign of settlement was found in either evaluation, so the struck flints represent stray finds, possibly washed down the dip slope.

The evaluation and watching brief only revealed turf and topsoil, made ground, demolition deposits, as well as the remains of 18th and 19th century occupation. These remains covered the natural brickearth and gravels. No Roman to Medieval archaeology was found and the finds range from 18th to 20th century Ceramic Building Materials (CBM), pottery, bone, glass, metal and clay pipes. A single residual sherd of Roman pottery was found in trench 1.

Two evaluation trenches were excavated across the site revealing modern concrete and fill deposits over an alluvial deposits. Pottery was recovered from the 19th century. [Au(abr)]