Series: Urban Archaeology unpublished report series

Watching brief on construction of a domestic extension at 1 Park View, Woodchester

On 28th and 29th November 2022 Urban Archaeology carried out an archaeological watching brief on excavation for a new French Drain on behalf of Antony Feltham-King of St Ann’s Gate Architects for the Dean and Chapter of Gloucester Cathedral, at 3 Millers Green, Gloucester Cathedral, Gloucestershire, SO 83090 18861. The watching brief on the excavation of the French Drain has, despite the extreme narrowness of the trench, provided a window onto the foundations of 3 Millers Green. The trench was excavated entirely within ground that has been disturbed in relatively recent times, probably excavated to install the drainage and address issues of damp through the application of the bitumen-based paint to the foundation. The foundations of the south elevation of 3 Millers Green were exposed along the trench. It is not clear whether there are separate builds for the foundations of the eastern and western piles as this area was not excavated due to the presence of modern drainage at that point. The stone foundations were rebuilt in brick, presumably at the same time as the rebuild of the south elevation observed during stripping of the render and which has been dated to the early 18th century. Concrete underpinning may have been inserted in response to decay of bricks at ground level. The results of the watching brief have met the aims of ensuring that an adequate archaeological record has been made of the remains disturbed, exposed or destroyed by the groundworks. Although the results of the watching brief add to the corpus of information on the development of 3 Millers Green, the results are of local significance only and no further work is recommended on the site archive.

Archaeological watching brief on the construction of an extension to domestic property

Archaeological evaluation at Holy Trinity Church, Minchinhampton, Gloucestershire. Nine test pits were excavated to inform a proposed reordering of the interior of the church. The interior of the nave and aisles was shown to have been largely truncated during the 1840s when the nave and aisles were rebuilt by Teulon. No trace of the original external walls of the aisles were located, nor of any internal definite pre-Victorian stratigraphy within the nave and aisles. A column base in the south arcade is probably from the 1840s rebuild. A grid of Victorian sleeper walls were shown to criss-cross the nave and aisles and support timber pew platforms and stone flags. Substantial voids were found beneath all the pew blocks and the space between the sleeper walls had been partially infilled with rubble, presumably left over from the rebuild. Externally no evidence was found for the medieval north wall, with natural limestone found beneath the 1840s wall. A drain had been built to the north of the north wall, presumably to aid drainage around the north of the church. The graveyard had been retained by a large wall, which underpinned existing chest tombs. The gap between north wall and graveyard retaining wall was paved with limestone slabs, probably sealing the drain. The drain was disturbed, probably in the 20th century, and infilled and a concrete surface laid over. Within the south transept the foundations of the 14th century Lady Chapel and tower crossing were exposed, with mortar and clay trampled construction layers, and an internal limestone wall. The external foundation of the Lady Chapel was also exposed. No traces of any pre-Victorian floor levels was found and the Lady Chapel appears to have been cleared down to the medieval construction level. The limestone capping of a probable post-medieval tomb was exposed under a concrete sub-base which had been lain across the Lady Chapel.

Three evaluation test pits were excavated by hand On September 27th and 29th and October 17th 2022 Urban Archaeology carried out an archaeological evaluation for Ellie Atherton on behalf of Dean and Chapter, Winchester Cathedral at 6A Dome Alley, Winchester, SU 48072 29199. Scheduled Monument Consent was granted for the work. Three evaluation test pits were excavated. The south wall of Cheyney Court was exposed below ground level where it projected out from the upper wall by 0.12m. The date of this masonry is unclear, however in the medieval period the cathedral priory was responsible for the stretch of wall between Wolvesey and King’s Gate and would have carried out the major 13th century rebuilding of the Roman wall. The lower section of wall had been horizontally truncated before the superstructure was rebuilt in Quarr stone and faced flint, set back from the earlier wall, with a basal course of brick and a possible slate damp course. The remodelling of the superstructure probably dates from the late Victorian/Edwardian refurbishment works that are seen inside Cheyney Court. The threshold of the south door is also from this phase and the entire doorway may be an insertion, added along with the remodelled ground floor windows, and giving access through to the south and the garden. Dumped soils found in the external test pits are potentially the latest in a long, and very deep, sequence of infilling and levelling dumps over the former ditch. The evaluation was designed to evaluate the proposed scheme and inform the design and potential mitigation; the evaluation has not investigated archaeological deposits predating the construction of Cheyney Court which are likely to be of considerable significance and complexity.

On June 24th and 25th 2021 Urban Archaeology carried out an archaeological evaluation for the Dean and Chapter of Gloucester, on the excavation of two test pits on the site of the proposed new font in the nave of Gloucester Cathedral. A complex sequence of levelling deposits, mortar and crushed stone floors, and occupation deposits were observed in both test pits, confirming previous excavation results at the south doorway. The deposits were not dated but can be presumed to date from between the early 12th century through to perhaps as late as the 18th century when the present floor is believed to have been laid down in c1741. There was no evidence for the 15th century pavement of reused medieval floor tiles that was excavated at the south doorway, and which has also been observed at many locations across the nave and aisles. This floor is known to have been set at two levels, the step up being immediately east of the test pits. It may be that within the test pits the tile floor has worn away locally. In the north of Test pit 1 a steep-sided cut had been made on an east-west alignment. The loose backfill of the cut was quite different to the layers it had been cut through, suggesting that material had been imported and contained a fragment of brick with Portland cement. The pit may be a backfilled tomb. On January 14th 2022 Urban Archaeology carried out an archaeological evaluation for Alison Evans on behalf of the Chapter, Winchester Cathedral involving the excavation of three test pits around the Tournai Marble font in the nave. The evaluation has largely confirmed and refined the results of the previous evaluation by Dr Crook (2012) and allowed the taking of moisture readings at various points beneath the Purbeck marble slabs which will be reported on separately by Odgers Conservation. The Romanesque floor bedding seen in 2012 was not reached as the test pits did not extend beyond the rubble and mortar plinth on which the font sits. The western side of the plinth was observed 450mm to the west of the font base, but the south side of the plinth appears to extend to the southern step, suggesting that the platform may extend across the width of the whole platform. There was no evidence for any decoration on the sides of the font base, and the base may have been intended to be partially sunken below floor level. Within the area of the new platform building rubble was dumped and levelled to form a rough base for the finished surface of Purbeck marble pavers. The infill included Beer stone and flint, the former indicating a 14th or 15th century date. The south step had been replaced with Purbeck/Portland stone blocks. The Purbeck marble pavers could conceivably include original 14th century pavers, whilst others are later. All pavers, whether original or not, may have been reset several times. The bedding joints were generally extremely tight and were pointed in Portland cement, probably in the repair programme of 1905-12. There was additional Portland cement around the base of the font and between the font and adjacent pavers. The sequence and dating suggested by Dr Crook is confirmed: the font was probably moved to this site soon after the completion of Wykeham’s remodelling of the nave arcade (Crook 2012). The font platform was constructed in the 14th century as a planned part of the remodelling, and the platform has significance as part of those works. Any further excavation of the sequence of structures and deposits has the potential to further demonstrate the relationships between the original floor bedding, the arcade remodelling, and the steps and platform. The removal of the infilling would expose the Romanesque floor bedding and may shed further light on the nature of the original floor surface and any repairs.

On the 4th and 5th July 2013 Urban Archaeology undertook an archaeological watching brief on groundworks required for a new composting toilet and store building at St Bartholomew's Church, Oakridge Lynch. The work was commissioned by Oakridge PCC following a condition in the Faculty issued by the Diocese of Gloucester. The works were located within the south-eastern corner of the graveyard on an area of raised ground and comprised a 5.0m by 4.0m foundation trench dug to a depth of 0.9m below present ground level, with further drainage trenches and a soakaway pit to the south. To the north of the raised area a cable trench and a shallow topsoil strip for a new path were also monitored. Within the foundation trench a buried soil horizon and subsoil was sealed by a series of dumps of limestone fragments containing lenses of ash, clinker, and building rubble. This material appears to be derived from gravedigging spoil and building rubble, possibly from renovation work. The dumps sealed a large in situ lime tree trunk which probably dates from the early 20th century. Within the cable trench modern topsoil overlay truncated natural limestone. No grave furniture, burials or articulated human remains were encountered during the watching brief. Several fragments of human bone were retrieved from the made ground deposits within the foundation trench, and these are probably derived from 20th century gravedigging, the bones were reinterred within the backfill of the cable trench. No further work is recommended.

Watching brief on emeregncy repair works to water pipes outside 11 The Close On September 2nd 2022 Urban Archaeology carried out an archaeological watching brief for Emily Hlavaty on behalf of Clancy Group on the repair of a leaking stopcock on the water main outside 11 The Close, Winchester, SU 48154 29253. Scheduled Monument Consent was granted for the work. The watching brief revealed surviving masonry remains which extended beyond the limit of excavation to the south, and below the base of the trench. Based on the known layout of the Great Cloister, the wall is interpreted as the east wall of the western, Cellarer’s or Hordarian’s, range of the medieval Great Cloister, with the cloister walkway lying immediately to the east. The masonry wall of the cloister is of high significance as evidential remains of the medieval cloister and adds to the known layout of this side of the cloister, confirming the line of the east wall of the western range, and suggesting the location of a doorway into the west range from the cloister. The interpretation of the toothing seen on the east face of the wall must remain uncertain given the limited exposure. The excavation was contained within the area that had been previously excavated for the installation of the stopcocks and water mains. The masonry remains were covered by geotextile to act as an indicator during any future excavation. The watching brief ensured no additional disturbance to the archaeological deposits of the Scheduled Monument.

Watching brief on repair to soil pipe outside 8A Dome Alley Watching brief on repair to soil pipe outside 8A Dome Alley, no significant archaeological remains were observed.

On 2-3rd August and 19-20th October 2017 Urban Archaeology carried out an archaeological watching brief on behalf of the Parochial Church Council of Lower Cam, at the church of St Bartholomew, Lower Cam, Gloucestershire, during the excavation of a service trench and the relaying of a stone slab path. The watching brief identified disturbed ground close to the south wall of the church, and extending up to the edge of the path. This is probably related to the excavation of graves within the churchyard. The planned works successfully avoided any damage to grave markers and the excavations were kept to a minimum depth which meant that no burials were disturbed during the works. A single human bone was recovered from made ground and was reburied on site. The results of the watching brief have met the aims of ensuring that an adequate archaeological record has been made of the groundworks. The results of the watching brief are of local significance and no further work is recommended.