| Abstract: |
An archaeologist monitored the course of the groundwork, which involved the
excavation of foundations trenches and service trenches for an extension to Hill
Cottage. The fieldwork by John Moore Heritage Services determined that there was medieval archaeology on the site of the extension of Hill Cottage. The earliest find was a piece
of St Neots ware pottery dated broadly to the 11th-12th centuries in date, and therefore, associated with the later Anglo-Saxon period and the Norman transition. The later
pottery associated with the mid 13th century also came from the same fill. The large cut feature would seem to be a pond of medieval date, such features associated with locations of abbeys and priories are invariably millponds or fishponds. The Taxatio Ecclesiastica of 1291 refers to the revenue of a mill and an annual payment from it, but topographically the site would seem unsuitable as a millpond due to the required
flow of water to power a wheel. It is highly likely, therefore, that this is one of a number of fishponds, the others perhaps surviving as earthworks (see figure 1). An estate map of 1795-8 shows a pond on the rectory land abutting School Lane (WRO Z532 (sm/1-3)) thus implying a larger group of water features. The ponds are located just below a break in the geology, while in School Lane water flows along the road
even when not raining suggesting that there may be a spring in the area, which would be required to fill the ponds. These possible fisheries are not mentioned in the Domesday Book, so they presumably post-date 1086. No reference has been found to them as yet but the Taxatio Ecclesiastica is late 13th century a date after which this feature is believed to have silted up. The silting process of the pond, if uncleaned,
would be relatively fast. However, if the pond was regularly cleaned out then this would take longer to occur and a pottery assemblage covering a longer period (11th13th century) would occur.
The nature of the building partially overlying the pond has not been determined, however, the building was constructed at sometime between the date of the silting of the main pond and the layer that overlay the walls (108). This gives a date range between the 13th and 19th centuries. The width of one of the walls, 1.2m, would indicate that the building may well be of a medieval date rather than post-medieval.
The building style of the structure matches that found in excavations on the priory building (HER 610), thick limestone walls and rammed cobbled floors. The date attributed to these monastic developments is the 14th-15th centuries, while the development of the rectory is placed 15th-16th centuries (the Valor Ecclesiasticus refers to a rector and glebeland in 1535). Though there seems to be a hiatus of pottery for this date, apart from the Brill/Boarstall ware, in the wider historical context this would seem to be the most plausible date for the structure. The other pottery from
context (108) is post-dissolution of the monasteries when such structures were sold off by the state and in many cases systematically robbed.
The exact use of the building has not been ascertained, but was almost certainly a building associated with the priory. From the present plan it would not seem to be part of the principal structures around a church or cloister. The only possibility is that it represents an isolated structure, however, the small size of the building would also have to be taken into account. There are two possibilities considered here, although another structure may be possible.
Stone structures associated with medieval fishponds are known in Britain. The only extant example is the Abbot of Glastonbury’s Fish House or the Meare Fish House
(EH Pastscape no. 194144, 1059645). Here a group of fishponds were created measuring some 30 to 20m in length and 5m across, which were interconnected by drains and gullies. |
