| Abstract: |
EvaluationThe works involved the excavation of seven trenches with a total area of 117m²Building survey The Drawn Record; Existing elevations and plans were provided by Surrey County Council. Thesedrawings (1:100) were used to add descriptive annotation to indicateconstruction, structural breaks, evidence relating to the structure’s use and other features of historical interest.Photographs were taken using 35mm film (black and white prints) and with a digital camera. The images included general shots of structures (external and internal) and specific details. Flash lighting was used to illuminate dark interiors and a scale was used where appropriate. Photographic record sheets where used to indicate the location and direction of each shot and any furtherdetail. Written descriptions of the structures were made as part of the annotated drawings. Additional analytical and descriptive notes were taken as appropriate to complement the other elements of the record.Excavation; excavation of a palaeolithic flint scatter by hand excavation. EvaluationBetween the 26th and the 28th February 2013 Oxford Archaeology (OA) undertookan archaeological evaluation on land adjoining Guildford Fire Station, Ladymead,Guildford (NGR SU 9965 5081). The work was commissioned by Jacobs UK Ltd onbehalf of Surrey County Council.A total of seven trial trenches were excavated, six measuring 10m by 1.6m and onemeasuring 5m by 1.6m. The evaluation uncovered a W-E orientated ditch which waspotentially present in two trenches, terminating in one. Struck flints of probableMesolithic or Early Neolithic date were recovered from the fills. A north-southorientated ditch, or former hedgeline was also uncovered, from which no finds wererecovered. Ceramic roof tile fragments of late medieval or post medieval date wererecovered from subsoil and may indicate that the site was occupied at this time.Other trenches revealed features of recent date including buried services, and awide shallow cut probably associated with the construction of an adjacent tarmacroadBuilding surveyOxford Archaeology (OA) has carried out a programme of Historic BuildingRecording at Guildford Fire Station, in Guildford, Surrey prior to the redevelopmentof the site. The main recording focussed on the principal fire station building,fronting onto the A25, but the work also included two other structures: a 'smokehouse'to the south-east and a multi-storey training tower to the south. At the time ofthe recording the buildings remained in their primary function.The main fire station building, which was constructed in c.1937, is a prominentstructure with a Neo-Georgian design typical for the inter-war period and althoughvarious changes have been made it remains relatively close to its original form.Three of the original doors for the fire engines have been replaced but one survivesin-situ and the first floor of one of the rear wings has been added. A number oforiginal features still remain such as windows, doors and the sliding pole. The'smoke-house' to the south has the appearance of a typical detached mid 20th centuryhouse, but is almost entirely constructed of concrete, as is the training tower to the west of this. Both are probably additions for training purposes, built in the later 20th century. This recording work was carried out ahead of demolition of the buildings,before the area is to incorporated into a new fire station complex.ExcavationExcavations carried out prior to the construction of a new fire station and housing in Guildford, Surrey, revealed a well preserved, in situ Late Upper Palaeolithic flint scatter. Both typological analysis of the flint and OSL dates suggest that the scatter dates from the first half of the Late Glacial (Windermere) interstadial (c 14-15KBP). |
