Abstract

In recent years with the mechanisation of the extractive industry, the pace of archaeological destruction has quickened but that of chance archaeological recovery has slowed to a near stand-still. In the last decade or so, much attention has been paid in archaeological circles to this problem and reports have been published clearly setting out the extent of the threat to our reserves of archaeological evidence. It is now possible to add to these an assessment of the position in north-west Surrey.

This north-western district is now the only important gravel extraction area in the county. Fresh attention has been drawn to the area by the work carried out in advance of the construction of the M25 and M23 motorways by Bernard Johnson for the Surrey Archaeological Society. Although excavation on a major scale was not possible during this work, Mr Johnson was able to show that, while new archaeological sites were not numerous on the clays of SW surrey, the gravels of NW Surrey were probably as densely occupied in prehistoric and Romano-British times as those of Oxfordshire. In the light of this, a survey of the overall situation was carried out which determined that a more detailed examination of the position was called for.

North-west surrey is an area dominated by a prospect of reservoirs and the products of urbanisation. The elevation is low and the landscape is predominantly flat, rising gently from the basin of the Thames. Open spaces are few in the north, which encompasses the fringe of suburban London, becoming more frequent towards the south and west.

The present survey is an attempt to correlate the archaeological evidence and to set against this back-cloth a pattern of new archaeological sites located primarily through the medium of aerial photography.

Abstract

Montague Close is a general name for the whole area lying between Southwark Cathedral and the River Thames which, although it has roads through it, has from the Middle Ages been closed off from the rest of Southwark for at least some of the year. Since the 19th century it has been entirely occupied by wharves, warehouses and roads but, due to the decline of river­side commerce in London, it was realised in 1968 that they were likely to become redundant in the near future and it was therefore decided to undertake an excavation in one of the roadways in 1969 before the warehouses actually closed down, to test the possibi­lities of the site and the feasibility of digging in roadways between high buildings. The principal results can be summarised as follows:

• Roman. A substantial and hitherto unsuspected road leading to the bridge was found with a complex sequence of structures on either side, all built of timber or clay, no stone buildings being found at all.
• Early Saxon. Thick black layer, probably river deposited and with no features in it.
• Late Saxon. A series of very substantial pits were found, probably belonging to this period plus a slot and possibly a later stone phase. Possibly connected with Saxon Minster.
• Medieval. A number of graves from an intra-mural cemetery, structural evidence for the development of the Priory of St Mary Overie, and evidence for a very destructive flood at the end of the 13th century.
• Post-Medieval. Substantial parts of three 17th-18th century delftware kilns with numerous re-builds and vast quantities of associated waste material.

Abstract

The excavation of one of the group of four barrows on Banstead Downs, known as The Gally Hills, was completed in 1972. The primary burial was that of a Saxon warrior of considerable stature, buried with full military regalia. Fragments of textiles and footwear have been retrieved from the lower end of the burial. The scraped up barrow which had been erected over the primary grave was later used as the site of a gallows, occasioning considerable disturbance to the primary burial. The site of the gallows, it is believed, is the factor responsible for the total removal of the upper half of the Saxon burial, together with the additional interment of at least five bodies in the periphery of the barrow which appear by their condition to have been victims of hanging. Later disturbance was confined to an 18th century pit on the side of the monument, of unknown origin, and to considerable modern destruction caused by earth removal.

Abstract

The material presented in this paper is in three sec­tions. In the first of these the site itself is described with its location in geological and topographical con­text. The material from the site is analysed, with all retouched implements described and illustrated, attention being paid to technology as well as typology. Indices of the various implement forms and by­products are given.

In the second part of the paper, comparisons are made between the material from St. Catherine’s Hill and that of Farnham. The results of the comparative study are then looked at within the context of other Lower Greensand Mesolithic sites, and of the Horsham industry.

The final section deals with the problem presented by the patinated condition of the St Catherine’s Hill material. It is of interest that these flints are patinated to various degrees, predominantly to an opaque white. Such patination of flint lying sealed within the acidic Lower Greensand soil should be a physical impossibility. The problem is explored, and a solution suggested.

Abstract

The following report on the Mesolithic flints from Weston Wood has been prepared by Mrs Machin at the request of the Director of the excavation, Miss Joan Harding, who has agreed to its publication in advance of the final report on the site. An interim report was published in 1964 in Surrey Archaeological Collections, Vol 61. The site is in the parish of Albury (TQ 053 485) on the Lower Greensand near the North Downs trackway. A Mesolithic occupation level was found 0.60m below the Late Bronze Age levels and Mesolithic type flints occurred both in this occupation level and mixed with the Bronze Age material above. The present report, however, includes only flints from the clearly stratified Mesolithic levels.