Surrey Archaeological Society

Two seasons of excavation were directed by G H Cole for SHAHT. There was evidence for earlier prehistoric occupation (worked flints) and late Iron Age occupation and possibly related iron working (pottery and slag). Parts of possible buildings of the 2nd/3rd centuries were identified and there was late RB material including part of a jet finger ring with a monogrammed cross. No evidence was found for medieval occupation but the site had evidence for a post-medieval tanning industry known from documents to date c l596-1851.

A watching brief on topsoil stripping in advance of mineral extraction, by Rob Poulton of SCAU for Alfred McAlpine Construction Ltd, revealed only a concentration of 18th century pottery.

Evaluation trial trenching carried out by S P Dyer for SCAU and Thames Waste Management Ltd failed to locate anything of archaeological significance. (279)

Evaluation trial trenching by S P Dyer for SCAU and Thameswey Homes Ltd revealed probably BA features including pits and a ditch. (278) The subsequent excavation by Graham Hayman of SCAU, for Thameswey Homes Ltd, produced evidence for more than one phase of use in the early-middle Bronze Age. Excavated features included two large pits, identified as waterholes, which were waterlogged, preserving organic materials not normally found on archaeological sites. One piece of preserved wood is thought to have been the base of a bucket.

Evaluation by trial trenching in advance of tree planting was carried out by P M G Jones of SCAU for SCC. The site lay on the projected alignment of the prehistoric pit rows excavated at Staines Road Farm in 1989, but no archaeological features were observed.

Evaluation trial trenching carried out by S P Dyer for SCAU and Tarmac Ltd located a number of buried stream and river channels but no artefacts were found. (279) Subsequent observation of gravel extraction located much animal bone, including aurochs. Some of the bone, particularly antler, showed evidence for human working. Two human skulls were also found in the buried channels. (282)

A watching brief during redevelopment, by Rob Poulton of SCAU for Wimpey Homes Holding Ltd, produced no evidence of archaeological features.

Observation by S P Dyer for SCAU and Reservoir Aggregates Ltd of topsoil and subsoil removal failed to reveal anything of archaeological significance. (278)

Field walking in advance of gravel extraction, by Graham Hayman of SCAU for Greenham Construction Materials Ltd and Tarmac Roadstone Ltd, revealed concentrations of struck flint of Neolithic or Bronze Age date. A wide variety of tools was represented, including scrapers, awls, burins and arrowheads, and the presence of cores and hammerstones, as well as a large number of waste flakes, indicated that flint working was taking place in the vicinity.

Evaluation trial trenching carried out by S P Dyer for SCAU and the National Rivers Authority located a silted up stream channel, possibly a former course of the Colne, but no artefacts of archaeological interest were found. (279)