Surrey Archaeological Society

Evaluation and subsequent excavation of four areas by S Wilson of COT. Evidence was revealed for a small rural settlement dating from the Middle–Late Iron Age that comprised at least two roundhouses with associated four-post structures. The site appeared to be unenclosed but ditches and trackways suggest that it was sited in a managed landscape. Charred plant assemblages indicate a rural settlement with domestic activities, including a small amount of crop processing taking place in the vicinity.

Evaluation by R King of FA revealed no finds or features of archaeological interest.

Two phases of archaeological evaluation by J Clutterbuck of COT. No finds, features or deposits of archaeological significance were found pre-dating the modern era. Some linear features were identified, likely to be modern ditches associated with military training activities.

Second phase of evaluation, by H Nicholls and J Cook of ASE following an initial evaluation in 2015 (SyAC 100, 287). No archaeological finds or features were revealed as a sequence of contaminated modern made-ground deposits, directly overlying truncated natural geology, was present across this area of the site.

Evaluation by M Saywood of SCAU recorded no finds or features of archaeological interest.

Watching brief by W Weller and M Saywood of SCAU during ground level reductions for the installation of an anaerobic digestion facility revealed that the area was deeply disturbed, with made-ground comprising large amounts of 20th century waste. No finds or features of archaeological interest were revealed.

Watching brief by W Weller of SCAU conducted in 2016 during the replacement of the school swimming pool building and within the boundary of the Scheduled Monument, failed to expose the archaeological horizon. No finds or features of archaeological interest were revealed.

Strip, map and record excavation by T Collie of SCAU, undertaken in 2016, revealed a complex, Middle–Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age system of ditches across the east of the site. Oriented north–south/east–west and in places formed of a double ditch, it extended to the centre of the site, where the principal ditch turned west towards the river Ash. The ditches may represent a domestic enclosure, although their generally shallow nature suggests they form part of the wider Bronze Age field system known to extend across a large area of the river Thames gravels both north and south of the river.

Evaluation and excavation by M Edmunds, A Haslam and P Jorgenson of PCA carried out prior to and following the demolition of the former shops and residences fronting the High Street (Historic Building Recording: SyAC 101, 222). Staines-upon-Thames is located above a series of low-lying gravel islands within the flood plain of the middle Thames valley, on the north bank of the river Thames at its confluence with the braided tributary channels of the rivers Colne and Wraysbury.

Evaluation by T Hayes of PCA revealed no significant archaeological deposits and indicated that modern disturbance is likely to have removed any potential archaeological material across much of the area investigated.