Series: Pre-Construct Archaeology Ltd (London) unpublished report series

An archaeological investigation, a Watching Brief and Historic Building Recording, was undertaken by Pre-Construct Archaeology Ltd at Fort Nelson near Fareham, Hampshire. The watching brief recorded a modern topsoil layer sealing subsoil overlying natural chalk and re-deposited chalk layers. The majority of the study area outside the curtilage of the fort revealed no significant archaeological deposits and only a negligible amount of 20th century finds. The exception was the area of a new septic tank trench, sited in the staff car park, where a large, deep linear feature was revealed, cut down into the natural chalk; it's thought to be associated with the quarrying of chalk blocks to complete the building of the fort in the 1860s. Within the curtilage of the fort, in the area of the East Gate, a large 19th century water reservoir was partially exposed and two ground anchors, associated with the draw bridge to the East Gate were revealed during the watching brief. The Historic Building Recording program recorded external and internal features of the Fort directly impacted upon by the development, principally in the area of the Redan gallery rooms. Some external features not directly part of the building's structure, but nonetheless covered by the scheduling, were also recorded; these include a short section of 20th century narrow-gauge railway and 19th century railings.

The investigation recorded the Lambeth stratigraphic group from a depth of 20.50m BGL, bedrock London clays from a depth of 5m BGL and natural gravels from a depth of 0.80m BGL in all the boreholes, and natural gravels and sands in all the trenches from a depth of 0.60m BGL. None of the test pits were deep enough to reach the natural deposits. Late post-medieval levelling and modern made ground completed the sequence in all locations.

An archaeological watching brief was carried out on underpinning at 1 Ashtead Road, Clapton, London Borough of Hackney, E5 9BJ. No archaeological features or horizons were identified. Modern made ground was observed to directly overlie natural horizons.

During the watching brief a layer of natural Taplow Gravel was revealed between 45.46m and 45.60m OD which is part of the terrace system of the River Wandle. The natural was sealed by a layer of post-medieval ploughsoil. Next in sequence was a process of ground-raising which supported several 19th century structures, which included a boundary wall with associated brick floor and a further brick and chalk boundary wall with an associated flint yard surface. A brick soakaway and fireplace were also found. These features are correlated to structures which can be seen on 19th century historical maps of the area. The flint yard had been resurfaced with a gravel layer which is thought to have been either late 19th or early 20th century in date. A storage building was constructed in the 20th century, which contained a basement which had completely truncated the archaeological sequence within the southwest area of the site. Part of a boundary wall and a paved surface thought to be associated with this phase of construction were also seen.

The potential for survival of ancient ground surfaces (horizontal archaeological stratification) on site was not present as natural showed evidence of been severely truncated. The surviving natural consisted of firm brownish orange clay with frequent small rounded and angular flints were encountered in the centre of the site and to the eastern side of the development site. The natural horizon within the western area of the development comprised of loose brownish orange sandy gravel. These natural clays and gravels were interpreted as the overlaying Quaternary sands and gravels of the Hackney Gravel Terrace as defined by Soil Survey of England and Wales (1983 and the British Geological Survey (1979). The evaluation also produced a partially exposed southwest corner of a 19th century cellar to former terraced houses that once fronted the north side of Lamb Lane. The height of these structural remains stands at a height of 16.45m OD. A thick layer of demolition rubble backfilled the cellar to a height of 16.66m OD, with mixed soil deposits directly overlaying the natural were recorded at a height of 17.19m OD and 16.81m OD. All three trenches clearly showed the underlying natural has been truncated down to between 15.25m OD (east of the site), 15.27m OD (west of the site) with the highest point at 15.49m OD in the centre of the site.

The mitigation watching brief was carried out intermittently between 24th October and 28th November 2017 and consisted of the archaeological monitoring of shallow ground excavation for the construction of a piling mat, localised excavations for the installation of new service runs, and excavations to construct new manholes and a lift pit and manholes, relating to a redevelopment of the site for new dwellings. The work was commissioned by CgMs Consulting on behalf of TLS (Mina Road) Ltd. The work was instigated in response to an archaeological planning condition attached to consent for the redevelopment; which in the first instance saw the execution of an evaluation at the site in March 2017. During that investigation, PCA found remains relating to the Roman period at the surface of the superficial geology, sealed by a post-medieval subsoil. Based on this archaeological presence, mitigation was required by the local planning authority, the London Borough of Southwark, and a watching brief during works which had the potential to reach the Roman horizon was agreed. The watching brief encountered natural deposits consistent with the evaluation, which was a brickearth cap to the underlying Kempton Park Gravel Terrace Sealing the natural deposits was a sequence of post-medieval deposits. Modern made ground and concrete sealed these and represented the current ground level. No archaeology was found within the deeper areas of impact, although at the implementation stage these were significantly less than envisaged and resulted in excavation to natural depth in only one manhole and the lift pit. The watching brief has illustrated that the known Roman activity on the site may be limited further to the south-east. Roman features will have undoubtedly survived in the surrounding area as an intact sequence of brickearth and plough soil consistent with the evaluation was observed during this investigation.

An archaeological watching brief during development groundworks in and around the former graving dock structure. No archaeological features or remains pre-dating the 19th century were observed. A sequence of post-medieval ground reclamation and consolidation was observed cut by the construction trench for the northerly extension of the graving dock in the late 19th century. Associated with the dock extension were found the remains of sleepers and concrete supporting the rails of a travelling crane which was in place by at least 1934. Within the northern end of the dock was found the remains of a staircase by which the dock was accessed. Evidence was also seen for the in-filling of the dock in in the 1980s. The watching brief did not expose any remains of the original graving dock structure, built in 1876-8.

An archaeological evaluation was conducted at 1 Varcoe Road, Southwark SE16 3DG on 21-22 and 28-29 of June, 2018. The initial proposed trench had to be abandoned due to hydrocarbon contamination, so two others were excavated in its stead. The excavated trenches revealed gravelly sand overlain by a lower alluvium, peat, and an upper alluvium; these layers were sealed by made ground and concrete. The layers sloped down and became thicker to the south, with the top of the peat at -0.58m OD in the north and -1.01m OD in the south. The natural gravelly sands were encountered at a height of -1.38m OD. No artefacts or dating evidence was recovered.

Two trenches were investigated during Phase 1 in the northeastern corner of the site, whilst three trenches were undertaken during Phase 2 in the southern and western area. The evaluation revealed natural terrace gravels across the site, cut by widespread but small-scale quarrying of the natural gravel in the 17th and 18th centuries. This activity must have been taking place within St. Georges Fields in which the site was located. Evidence for buried soil horizons above the pitting was seen in Trenches 1 to 4. The latter also showed an alluvial deposit which may represent a localised, undated flooding episode. Thereafter was found evidence for the urban development of the site which can be seen on historic maps by the 1790s and continuing through the 19th century. The evidence took the form of deep wells which would have served these properties; however no evidence was found for the structures themselves, and it is suspected that they have been truncated and demolished by redevelopment of the site through the 20th century. The finds assemblages recovered, particularly the pottery, are of interest and have significance at a local level.

An archaeological evaluation was undertaken by Pre-Construct Archaeology Limited at 1-3 Bellingham Road, Catford, London Borough of Lewisham, SE6 2PN. The site is centred at National Grid Reference TQ 37941 72404. Three trenches were excavated on the site, located within the central area of what was once a concrete car parking area flanked by workshops and a garage (now demolished). Three linear features [7], [10], [18] were excavated which were identified as being palaeochannels, each filled with a blueish-grey clay. They were recorded in Trench 2 at c.20.66m OD and in Trench 3 surviving at 20.27m OD. Height variation of the natural on site is due to truncation which occurred in the 20th century. A number of superficial features were identified which were dated to the Post medieval period. A thin layer of garden soil [4] survived at the south end of Trench 1 at 20.51m OD, measuring 0.17m thick. The fill [11] of a square-shaped post hole [12] produced a single sherd of glazed pottery dating it to the 18th/19th century. It was recorded at 20.86m OD. Layers of made ground [1], [15] and [19], sealed by the 20th century concrete pads, also appear to date to the 19th century. They were recorded at heights of 20.86m OD to 20.34m OD. No other archaeological features, deposits or finds were discovered during the evaluation.