Continuation of work led by Steve Dyer and Judie English for the SyAS Surrey Historic Landscapes Project Team. A floated meadow system has been recorded. (255)

Rapid walkover survey directed by J English of SyAS as part of the SCC heathland project. Two areas were examined. In the northern area, close to Mytchett Gate, a series of small banks were identified, which may be the remains of a field system, potentially of some antiquity. Other identified features included possible tracks or tree lines, a number of banks and lynchetts, and two parish boundaries. The southern area at Wyke Common also contained a number of banks, together with an earthwork “fort” of modern date, and evidence for gravel quarrying.

Fieldwork by C Currie and members of the Frensham Community Archaeology Project to determine if the pond had once been two ponds. No evidence of a bank or dam dividing the pond was revealed, although it is possible that recent dredging had removed any evidence that may once have existed. (364)

Continuation of survey work carried out under the direction of C Currie of CKCA, as part of the Community Archaeology Project for SCC and SyAS, to assess whether the study area was suitable for designation as an ASHLV. The survey examined a large expanse of heathland that appears to have seen little change since the Bronze Age. The poor sandy soils seem to have been abandoned late in this period, and the area subsequently became a heathland pasture, with little evidence of occupation.

The fourth season of excavation by D G Bird for SCC and SyAS completed the plan of the 16th century brick building — a rectangle c 4 by 3 metres — and further examined the medieval ditches, whose purpose and plan remained unclear. (175)

Fieldwork and excavation by Ann Watson and D G Bird for SCC and SyAS examined a number of parallel ridges; one was, sectioned where it had previously been cut by a sand pit. There was no evidence for iron-winning as has been suggested in the past, but a series of parallel grooves in the ditch between the ridges might have been made by cart ruts or plough marks. (177)

Training excavation by T Howe of SCC and R Savage of SyAS. Two trenches were excavated in an attempt to both locate the former dwelling of Alexander Raby (who ran an iron and copper manufacturing business on the mill site between 1770 and 1809) and better characterise the oldest of the former mills shown on a detailed map of 1798 before it was demolished around 1820. Raby’s house could not be definitely located, but a number of features were revealed on the former mill site, including two filled-in millraces and evidence for internal structures.

Excavation by D Bird of SCC in the garden of Vine Cottage to test the results of geophysical survey undertaken by A and D Graham of SyAS and locate a buried stone wall reportedly found in 1832; this was thought possibly to be the chapel mentioned in medieval documents, associated with Sutton manor. A recorded anomaly was found to be a recent garden path and no medieval finds were made. This accords with the results of the excavations of 1978–86, in that there is very little evidence to suggest medieval activity near Vine Cottage (381)

Archaeological recording by T Howe of SCC and A Norris of SyAS during drainage ditch clearance works. Two sections across a former watercourse shown on a 1701 estate map of Albury Park as ‘Henry Howards Watercourse’ were examined. The watercourse appears to have been constructed as part of the extensive water management improvements in the area, undertaken by Howard (later the 6th Duke of Norfolk) and diarist John Evelyn in the late 17th century. No evidence for the original date of the feature was found.