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Oxford Archaeology (South)
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This collection comprises site data (a report, images, CAD, spreadsheets and site records) from archaeological investigations at Bradenstoke Priory undertaken by Oxford Archaeology between November 2019 and January 2020.
The investigation involved three distinct elements:
The drainage trench was dug by hand by other contractors and the archaeological watching brief recorded all archaeological features exposed. The unstable section of wall was recorded by photography, measured sketches and analytical description. Sufficient photographs were also taken to allow the images to be stitched together by photogrammetry to form a scaled photographic elevation. The deposited fill from on top of the undercroft was spread using a mechanical excavator and a fork to help expose moulded stones and archaeological finds. The heap was also scanned with a metal detector. Bradenstoke Priory in Wiltshire comprises the scheduled remains of a 12th century Augustinian monastery. The main structure to survive today is the vaulted undercroft from the former west range of the cloister.
Various conservation works have been undertaken to the undercroft over the last 15 years and the most recent element has included some limited archaeological and building recording works. This has comprised an archaeological watching brief during the excavation of a shallow drainage trench to the west of the undercroft, the recording of an unstable section of wall that required rebuilding and the rapid assessment of a heap of spoil which had previously been removed from the top of the vaults. The main part of the drainage trench was through previously disturbed ground where a previous drain had been laid (probably 20th-century in date). Possible foundations for the range were also exposed where the trench adjoined the building immediately as well as a broadly east-to-west line of stones which probably formed part of a drainage channel to carry water away from the building.
The section of wall that has been recorded prior to dismantling formed part of the projection at the southern end of the West Range. This was the location of the Prior's Lodgings in the monastic complex although it is believed that the wall formed part of an early 19th-century reconstruction of the structure. One feature of interest is a small bread oven (post-medieval) on the east side of the wall. The assessment of the spoil identified a small number of fragments of moulded stonework, oyster shells and other minor features.