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
Analytical survey and excavation of earthworks in Albury Bottom, Chobham Common
ISABEL ELLIS and JUDIE ENGLISH
Analytical survey of the earthwork on Chobham Common known as the Bee Garden revealed a banked, trapezoidal enclosure, c 100m across, with an external ditch and, for most of the circuit, a slight external bank. A possible entrance was located at the north-west corner. An annexe at the southern end contained slight scarps that may represent the position of internal features. Excavation suggested a âdig and dumpâ construction of the main enclosure bank, but lack of organic survival in the palaeosol beneath the inner bank militated against palynological analysis or radiocarbon dating. On comparing the morphology of the site with other examples, and considering the place-name evidence, a prehistoric date is thought more likely than its identification as a bee garden although re-use either as a medieval sheepcote or a bee garden by tenants of Chertsey Abbey is not ruled out.
