Mole Valley

14 The Park, Great Bookham

Excavation by L Spencer of SyAS. Following the observations of archaeological deposits in construction trenches, a series of at least three tile-on-edge hearths were revealed. The tiles of the main hearth were laid in a north–south orientation and were bounded to the east by a single course of bricks, to the north by a line of retaining tiles and had clearly defined southern and western edges, but with no retaining structures. Further evidence of burning below the upper main hearth, two insubstantial walls and floor levels comprising packed chalk and clay were also revealed.

16 The Park, Great Bookham

A third season of excavation by L Spencer of SyAS on the postulated site of Bookham Courte revealed an extension to the demolition layer initially uncovered in 2014 (SyAC 99, 224). It was found to overlay a succession of sterile layers above the remnants of a packed chalk floor, itself partially overlying an extensive area of flint cobbles that may relate to the ‘Great Yarde’ referred to in a 1616 description of Bookham Courte.

Cocks Farm villa, Abinger

Further excavation by the Roman Studies Group of SyAS, directed by D Bird and E Corke, in the field to the north-east of the Scheduled villa, exposed the north-east corner of a Roman enclosure. Its east–west oriented boundary consisted of substantial ditches, while there were seven successive parallel north–south boundaries, spaced 1–2m apart. They included palisades, a beamslot and posthole arrangement, ditches and probable hedges.

Excavations at Cocks Farm Abinger 2014

First of all, a big thank you to everyone who helped to make the latest season at Abinger such a success. It may seem odd to say that in view of our failure to finish the trench, but this was a result of finding that there was more surviving archaeology than anticipated. Much of this must be down to your hard work in tackling the difficulties of finding archaeological features in sand. As a result we have a much better understanding of the site and how to approach it in future.

2013 Excavations at Ashtead Roman Villa and Tileworks

The final main season of excavation on Ashtead Common was undertaken by the Society’s Roman Studies Group in August and September this year. The ground was very dry at first at the end of the long dry spell, making excavation difficult, but it did allow work in places that would usually have been under water (and indeed were at the end of the dig). The excavation was aimed principally at completing work on the area of the newly discovered building, the Lowther villa and the tile kiln(s).

Charlwood Excavation 2019

In November 2019 the final season at this muddy site took place. The intention was only to complete excavating a few features which had been left unfinished in 2018 when the team had to leave the site due to the deeply unpleasant conditions caused by the ‘Beast from the East’. Fortunately November 2019 was rather kinder and in spite of some rainy days there were enough dry ones for the work to take place within few days. In November 2019 the final season at this muddy site took place.

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