Surrey Archaeological Society

Evaluation by J McNicoll-Norbury of TVAS. No finds or features of archaeological significance were revealed.

Evaluation by J Lewis of TVAS. Two small undated gullies and a single sherd of unabraded 12th–13th century pottery were revealed.

Watching brief by P Harp of Plateau. A small number of Neolithic flints and an adze of the same date were recovered from a pipeline trench.

Magnetometry survey by D Calow of SyAS, following the discovery of Roman and Iron Age coins during metal detecting and the subsequent discovery of small sherds of pottery of Late Iron Age and Early Roman date during fieldwalking by D Williams of SCC, suggests the presence of buried archaeological features. (431)

A test pit dug by L Smith of SyAS in the rear garden of the property revealed a packed flint floor, possibly a courtyard from the former Bookham Court. Various finds were recovered immediately above and between the flints. These included pottery sherds, butchered animal bones, teeth, iron nails, glass and a large quantity of broken clay tiles and building material. The pottery dated from the 13th to the 16th centuries. (Bulletin 426)

Historic building recording by R Harris of the Weald and Downland Open Air Museum of a late 18th century timber-framed shed prior to dismantling and its re-erection at the museum.

Further episodes of fieldwork co-ordinated by N Cowlard and directed by D Bird for the Roman Studies Group of SyAS to investigate the villa and its environs. Initial test-pitting was followed by excavation of features identified in a magnetometry survey carried out in 2008–9 and in a resistivity survey by D and A Graham of SyAS.

Landscape study by H Beamish of OAN, undertaken in 2009, and reported in 2010. Desk and topographical survey identified a wide range of features, many of which could be linked to the early use of the area as farmland prior to the creation of the park in the 19th century. These included ponds, quarries, boundaries and enclosures, a number of which were chosen for more detailed measured survey. Resistivity and magnetometry survey by M and A Roseveare of ArchaeoPhysica was also undertaken in an attempt to locate the remains of a Tudor property known from historic records.

Watching brief by S Hind of SCAU during the excavation of a pipe trench. No finds or features of archaeological significance were revealed.

Evaluation by N Randall of SCAU. Two ditches and a pit of Early Iron Age date were revealed, although the quantities of Late Bronze Age pottery within the features also suggested occupation of this date on the site. Some Late Iron Age pottery was also present, together with flintwork of possible Mesolithic/Neolithic–Iron Age date. Subsequent excavations on the site conducted by G Thacker of OAS revealed more of the ditches, together with an additional pit and a posthole of similar provenance.