Surrey Archaeological Society

Watching brief by K Grant of ASE during upgrading works on or close to the postulated site of a Bronze Age cremation cemetery discovered towards the end of the 19th century revealed evidence of modern truncation and levelling, but no finds or features of archaeological interest.

Magnetometer survey by D Sabin of Archaeological Surveys Ltd revealed evidence of former field boundaries, together with some evidence of former agricultural activity, possibly ridge and furrow, and a number of anomalies that it was not possible to interpret with confidence.

Evaluation by K Anker of OA. Historic sources indicate that the house was once surrounded by a double moat in the medieval period, and evidence for the innermost of which was revealed in the form of a large, deep negative feature. The early deposits within the feature suggested that casual infilling began with the disposal of medieval material possibly related to a former property on the site, with the later sequence suggesting more concerted infilling from the 17th century onwards. The features were apparently finally filled and lost to view during works to extend the existing house in 1913.

xcavation by members of the Central South Eastern Young Archaeologists' Club, with the assistance of A Guinness of SCAU, of fifteen test pits within the historic settlement.

Watching brief by N Garland of ASE. No finds or features of archaeological significance, nor any evidence for burials, were revealed in an investigation of limited scope.

Second and third phase of an evaluation by J McNicoll-Norbury of TVAS, continuing from earlier works carried out in 2010. No finds or features of archaeological interest were revealed.

Evaluation by K Grant of ASE revealed evidence of demolished glasshouses constructed on the site in the late 19th century, and subsequent development in the 20th century, but no finds of features of archaeological significance.

Evaluation by J Powell of WA revealed features within twenty of the 54 trenches. The majority of the features were ditches and gullies, orientated predominantly on a north-west to south-east alignment, and forming part of widespread field systems. The features were generally shallow, which may suggest truncation from previous agricultural activity. A small number of possible pits and postholes were revealed, but no evidence to suggest the potential for settlement or significant levels of activity. Relatively little datable material was recovered.

Evaluation and watching brief by R Humphrey of PCA. The evaluation revealed a posthole, suggested to be post-medieval, and a shallow ditch. The ditch is considered to have existed as a property or field boundary during the 18th-20th centuries as it is visible on historic maps, but finds recovered from its fill could indicate that it was older. The watching brief revealed the continuation of the ditch, which contained ceramic building material dating from the late 17th to the 18th centuries.

Excavation by J Robertson of SCAU in advance of continuing mineral extraction following work undertaken on the quarry site between 1999 and 2006. The work produced features and finds of many periods. Three tree-throw holes were identified that included Mesolithic flintwork of primary deposition, while many of the other tree-throw holes produced pottery and flintwork of Neolithic date. A number of pits of Neolithic date were also excavated and, like the tree-throw holes, were quite widely scattered across the area.