| Title: |
THE ORDER BEDS ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS KEW, TW9 3AB LONDON BOROUGH OF RICHMOND UPON THAMES AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL WATCHING BRIEF |
| Series: |
Compass Archaeology unpublished report series
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| Downloads: |
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compassa1-345481_1.pdf (8 MB)
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Download
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| Licence Type: |
ADS Terms of Use and Access
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| DOI |
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| Publication Type: |
Report (in Series)
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| Abstract: |
An archaeological watching brief was carried out between 7th and 15th of February 2019 during redevelopment of the Order Beds in the northeast of Royal Botanic Gardens Kew to form a new 'Evolution Garden'. The watching brief was commissioned by Royal Botanic Gardens Kew following advice from the Greater London Archaeological Advisory Service based on the findings of a Desk-based Assessment (DBA), produced in November 2018. The DBA showed that the site had once formed part of the 18th century Capel Estate; the forerunner to Kew Gardens, and then the royal kitchen gardens during the 19th century. The watching brief took place during installation of a new irrigation system for the Evolution Garden. This entailed recording over 900m of slit trenching on average 0.35m wide and between 0.60m and 0.80m deep. The exposed stratigraphy was broadly similar across the entire site; with natural sandy-silts being exposed at approximately 0.65m below ground overlain by thick deposits of reworked garden subsoils containing occasional small fragments of tile, brick, shell and pottery, all sealed below the existing dark-grey rooty topsoil. Only two instances of archaeological deposits were exposed. One was a thin spread of material alongside the western side of the central path which is interpreted as the result of clearance and preparation of the site in the 19th century when it was incorporated into the wider gardens site. The second occurrence was a robbed out wall footing towards the northeast of the site containing a mixture of brick and chalk rubble within a shallow flat-bottomed cut. The wall footing aligned with one of those shown on 19th century maps of the kitchen gardens. |
| Author: |
D Aaronson
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| Publisher: |
Compass Archaeology Ltd
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| Other Person/Org: |
Historic England (OASIS Reviewer)
Please note: this record has been validated by-proxy by Historic England.
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| Year of Publication: |
2019
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| Locations: |
| Site: |
The Order Beds, Royal Botanic Gardens |
| County: |
Greater London |
| District: |
Richmond upon Thames |
| Parish: |
RICHMOND AND KEW |
| Country: |
England |
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Grid Reference: 518910, 177180 (Easting, Northing)
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| Subjects / Periods: |
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| Identifiers: |
| OASIS Id: |
compassa1-345481 |
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| Note: |
A summary report of the observations made during a watching brief during redevelopment of the Order Beds. Includes project background including, site location, geology, topography, details of designated status, methodology employed, observations made and conclusions reached. Accompanied by site plans, sample sections, and illustrative photographs
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| Source: |
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| Created Date: |
11 Oct 2019 |
