Surrey Archaeological Collections
Surrey Archaeological Society, 2003. (updated 2023) https://doi.org/10.5284/1000221. How to cite using this DOI
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- ADS Collection: 379
- DOI:https://doi.org/10.5284/1000221
- How to cite using this DOI
SURREY ARCHAEOLOGICAL COLLECTIONS
Saxon and medieval Battersea: excavations at Althorpe Grove, 1975-8
In addition to traces of prehistoric and Roman activity, excavations undertaken at Althorpe Grove, Battersea, revealed rare evidence for Middle Saxon and medieval rural settlements in Londonâs hinterland. The main emphasis of this report is on the Saxon and medieval phases of occupation.
Saxon activity was represented by a number of small gullies and other linear features. Pottery and other artefacts suggest that the main period of Saxon activity was in the second half of the 8th century, when Barking Abbey probably owned Battersea. The link with Barking Abbey may explain the presence of imported pottery on the site; alternatively, the imports might be explained by the proximity of this riverside site to the major trading port of Lundenwic, just 6km downstream. A few features were of either Middle Saxon or medieval date. These included two parallel slots just over 2m apart, which may mark the position of fences. There were also a number of undated features that are thought to be early in the sequence. It is suggested that occupation at Battersea ceased temporarily during the Danish invasions in the second half of the 9th century, when Barking Abbey itself appears to have been abandoned.
Historical sources suggest that settlement had been re-established at Battersea by the mid-11th century. Among the earliest medieval features on the site were a pit, possibly of Saxo-Norman date, and a boundary ditch, which may have been infilled in the second half of the 12th century. Other features are dated to the 12th and 13th centuries and include structural remains, perhaps representing part of a farm building, and a number of gullies and pits. These might be related to the documented manor house at Battersea, but it is suggested that the main nucleus of occupation lay closer to the church.
In the post-medieval period a series of long, narrow bedding trenches, some with individual plant holes in their bases, shows that the northern part of the Althorpe Grove site was occupied by the kitchen gardens of the later Battersea manor house.
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