Series: AD Archaeology Ltd unpublished report series

Desk based study and site visit Desk top assessment located within 19th Century Walled Garden. Site lies in immediate vicinity of former medieval village of Lee.

Documentary and cartographic search Desk based assessment established that 2 former waggonways cross line of site

4 trenches 2 - 15m x 1.8m 2 - 10m x 1.8m The most significant archaeological features encountered during the evaluation were two sections of ditch in Trenches 2 and 3. Projecting the line of the two sections suggest that this is probably one continuous feature running northeast-southwest across the development site. Both sections dug through this feature produced sherds of green-glazed pottery of medieval date from secure contexts within the middle fill of the feature; as such a probable medieval date can be surmised. This feature therefore clearly pre-dates the construction of the current Beauclerc House and the walled gardens, though its alignment roughly parallel to the main road through the village to the north of the walled garden suggests that this may also follow the route of a medieval feature. Whilst the ditch itself is not immediately suggestive of a settlement in itself, and probably represents a boundary demarcation, the presence of pottery within its fill suggests relatively close proximity to a settlement. The well preserved and unabraded nature of the pottery and its position securely within the fill of a cut-feature also suggests it was not moved onto the site through ploughing. A gully found in Trench 2 immediately to the north of the ditch does not have any direct relationship to the ditch and no dating evidence was produced from the section dug through the feature. However its alignment closely matches that of the ditch and the similarity of the material filling the gully to that of the ditch suggests that this is also likely to be a feature of medieval date.

Trial trenching following on from a desk-top assessment No significant archaeological features were located

Sample trial trenching subsequent to geophysical survey No significant archaeological features were found

Evaluation trenching subsequent to geophysical survey No significant archaeological features were located.

Phase 1 trial trenching on fields to east of college buildings subsequent to geophys Mgajority of trenches were devoid of significant archaeological features. However in one trench the eastern wall of a late-Victorian lodge was found

Evaluation trenching prior to proposed housing development

The magnetometer survey was carried out using a Bartington Grad 601-2 fluxgate gradiometer, which scanned and stored all magnetic data. The sample interval was set at 0.25m and the traverse interval at 1m using a north and east traverse direction in a zigzag scheme. The data was downloaded onto a laptop computer on site for assessment, and later processed. The survey did not detect any anomalies of likely archaeological origin. All the anomalies detected were almost certainly associated with the school and its playing field. The survey detected a network of ground drainage, as well as more general strong magnetic disturbance that probably originated from the playing field’s construction. Its creation must have involved considerable groundworks and the deposition of made ground for levelling, judging from the difference in ground heights particularly evident along the eastern edge of the playing field (plate 1). It is possible that any anomalies associated with archaeological features if present in these localities may lie undetected, masked by overlying areas of made ground.