Surrey Archaeological Collections 88

The results of episodic fieldwork conducted just over fifty years ago on a dip-slope spur of North Downs chalk two kilometres south-south-east of Ewell are described. The spur had witnessed intermittent activity in the Mesolithic, Neolithic and Bronze Age periods, which intensified from the middle of the first millennium BC and culminated in the establishment of a farming settlement occupied in the decades either side of the Roman conquest. A number of pits and deeper shafts were excavated, which produced a wide range of finds, including: an assemblage of Late Iron Age/Romano-British pottery; fragments of greensand rotary querns; and several objects associated with weaving (some triangular clay loomweights, chalk spindlewhorls and a bone gouge). The remains of a human infant and parts of several articulated and semi-articulated animal carcasses were located together with a late-first- or early-second-century urned cremation burial of a young man accompanied by nine inscribed bone gaming counters and a tenth made of pottery. Graffiti lightly scratched on the plain reverses of six of the bone counters appear to denote ownership by one `Remus', a personal name attested in Gaul. A second, separate cremation comprised bones of sheep/goat placed in a complete greyware jar. Later Roman activity is evinced by the presence of quantities of mainly unstratified pottery, building material and small finds of iron and copper alloy including a second-century plate brooch of shoe-sole form and a small quantity of third- and fourth-century coins. Includes separately authored reports on:

which notes some fifty bones including horse, cow, pig, goat and sheep/goat (most of the bones from the original assemblage were discarded following identification)

which records two dog mandibles from the same animal

Excavations revealed rare evidence for Middle Saxon and medieval rural settlements in London's hinterland. Saxon activity was represented by a number of small gullies and other linear features dated by pottery and other artefacts to the second half of the eighth century AD, when Barking Abbey probably owned Battersea. Some imported pottery was found dating from this period. It is suggested that occupation at Battersea ceased temporarily during the Norse invasions in the second half of the ninth 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 twelfth century. Other features including structural remains, perhaps representing part of a farm building, and a number of gullies and pits are dated to the twelfth or thirteenth centuries. 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 site was occupied by the kitchen gardens of the later Battersea manor house. Traces of prehistoric and Roman activity were also recorded. See also 2002/990. Includes two separately authored reports on:

which reports 979 fragments of animal bone, 188 of which were recovered from Middle Saxon or medieval features. Cattle is the most abundant species followed by sheep/goat. Of interest is the presence of a butchered pilot whale vertebra

Excavations by Wessex Archaeology in advance of redevelopment on the site of the former Battersea Flour Mills, revealed traces of medieval and early post-medieval structures likely to represent outbuildings of the manor of Battersea, which is thought to have been located nearby. The principal discovery was the truncated remains of the post-medieval manor house, a substantial building built in an H-plan of the late-sixteenth or early-seventeenth century. The structural remains included a well-preserved portion of brick-built cellar in the south wing and the ground plan of much of the north wing of the building. Subsequent additions included the construction of a new wing in the late-seventeenth century and the riverside wall which was faced with fine ashlar blocks, which were re-used from a high status medieval or early post-medieval structure. Much of the post-medieval manor house complex was demolished in the late-eighteenth century, and the site occupied by malthouses and a mill complex. See also 2002/950. Includes separately authored reports on:

which reports a small quantity of medieval and post-medieval pottery (87 sherds)

which notes a section of leaded window with a diamond glazing pattern

which reports that the major component of the samples was wheat, with barley, oats, rye and chaff in decreasing proportions

which documents the history of the site from the Saxon period to modern developments

Excavations revealed a variety of features of prehistoric, Romano-British, medieval and post-medieval date. Settlement on the site probably began in the Late Iron Age, but is more certainly attested in the Early Romano-British period by various features including a possible enclosure ditch. Settlement of a similar, rural nature appears to have continued into the third--fourth centuries AD. The earliest medieval activity has been assigned to the eleventh-- twelfth centuries with Malden developing as a linear settlement. Subsequent medieval activity comprised two phases of shallow ditches and other features assigned to between the twelfth and fifteenth centuries AD. No contemporaneous buildings were identified, but a vicarage is known to have existed in 1279. Medieval finds and features later than the early-fifteenth century were almost entirely absent, possibly reflecting a decline in the settlement (which is also indicated by documentary sources). Substantial remains of the early-seventeenth to early-twentieth century vicarage(s) survived, along with various horticultural features related to the associated pleasure gardens and orchard. Includes specialist reports on:

which records a total of 1,955 sherds ranging in date from prehistory to the post-medieval period

which documents 1,026 animal bones. Identified taxa include cattle (12.7%), sheep/goat (10.1%), horse (4.9%), pig (4.2%) dog, hare, fowl, goose and a fragment of fish

which records a consistent dependence on, or preference for, oak wood fuels throughout the site's history. Oak is supplemented with maple, hazel, ash, hawthorn, blackthorn and elm

Reports a series of excavations at three locations, undertaken in advance of the construction of the New Addington branch line of the Croydon Tramlink. The excavation at Lodge Lane revealed pits and postholes associated with Saxo-Norman occupation and earthworks connected with later medieval cultivation. In addition a series of ditches, perhaps forming part of a field system, and several pits were discovered containing Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age pottery and worked flints. The trench excavated in the grounds of the eighteenth-century Geoffrey Harris House revealed a series of flint and brick wall foundations of a sixteenth--eighteenth-century building. A small trench located in the adjacent Lloyd Park uncovered several ditches associated with Roman settlement and a cremation burial. Includes specialist reports on:

which notes fourteen sherds

notes seventy-one pieces, mostly post-medieval roof tile

notes sixty-six bone fragments, dominated by cattle

records seventy-nine pieces of brick and tile

which documents twenty-four pieces of worked flint redeposited within Roman ditches

which reports 469 fragments of bone. In the Early Roman ditches horse bones dominate, although most of these appear to be parts of partially articulated skeletons, thus representing fewer individual animals than sheep or cattle bones

oak charcoal from the cremation pyre

which records 194 sherds of pottery of medieval and post-medieval date. Reports other finds including ceramic building materials, a worked antler stamp, bottle/window glass, iron and plain pipe stems

which reports on the surviving architecture of the structures

Excavations revealed evidence of prehistoric activity dating from the Mesolithic through to the Late Bronze Age. The earliest activity took the form of three amorphous pits, apparently utilized for the extraction of knappable flint nodules during the Mesolithic period. Also identified were a Late Neolithic--Early Bronze Age flint scatter and at least two phases of Late Bronze Age activity comprising three post-built structures and an associated cluster of rubbish pits, enclosed within an area defined by a boundary ditch. A subsequent phase of Late Bronze Age activity saw settlements being abandoned and the area being utilized possibly for the extraction of workable flint. The prehistoric features were sealed by agricultural ploughsoil, from which further prehistoric finds were recovered. The archaeological evidence recovered from the site adds significantly to the large body of evidence for Late Bronze Age settlement and agricultural practice in the Beddington area, while the recovery of struck flint assemblages from the Mesolithic and Late Bronze Age allows for the comparison and contrast of two distinct technological styles.

which includes a note on

Notes the discovery of several oak timbers (radiocarbon dated to cal 670--1010 AD). It is postulated that the timbers represent part of a Late Saxon water management device, perhaps to assist water meadows.

Documents chance finds and organised archaeological fieldwork undertaken in the county and parts of Greater London during the year. Notes are divided into sections for each District or Borough and therein ordered by national grid reference firstly by kilometre squares and then within those squares.