Surrey Archaeological Society

A watching brief was maintained by J Stevenson of SCAU, for Epsom and Ewell Borough Council, during the construction of a new access road and car park for the Town Hall in Epsom. A post hole of possible medieval date was found, as well as chalk block foundations with remnants of the original mortared flint walling and associated mortared tile floor. Historical references show a cottage and barn on the site in 1680, which became known as Cromwell House in the 18th century. It seems likely that the remains encountered form part of the earliest phase of this building.

Watching brief carried out by G Pattison of SCAU on behalf of Victory Investments Ltd. The site was found to have been comprehensively disturbed to a depth of 1.4m in the 19th and 20th centuries, with no finds or features of archaeological interest being recorded.

Evaluation by S Stevens of ASE, for Taywood Homes Ltd and Alfred McAlpine Homes Ltd. No finds or features of archaeological interest were revealed.

A watching brief maintained by G Pattison of SCAU, for SCC and Taylor Woodrow Ltd, on road works in the area of the former settlement of Horton, revealed no significant finds or features, despite the area appearing not to have been greatly disturbed previously.

A watching brief on the redevelopment of this site was maintained by SCAU, for Beezer Homes, following on from the evaluation by TVAS 1996. The conditions of the watching brief were not ideal but seemed to confirm the results of the earlier evaluation that no evidence of a former moat around the manor house survives.

Evaluation by S Ford of TVAS, for St James’ Homes, of the only area of this redevelopment site apparently undisturbed. The results confirmed that the area tested had been largely undisturbed, but little of archaeological interest was revealed. One late post-medieval ditch was recorded and a few pieces of pottery were recovered, including a sherd from a late Medieval pitcher and a sherd from a 12th/13th century cooking pot. A rim sherd from a late 2nd to 3rd century Roman pot was also recovered.

Evaluation by G Brown of PCA, for Barratt Southern Counties, in advance of residential development, revealed only a linear feature containing brick fragments of post-medieval date.

Survey of the historical landscape of Claremont Park and its environs by C Currie of CKC Archaeology for the National Trust. The survey looked at both the development of the Claremont estate from the early 18th century, and the landscape of the area before this period. The estate is sited on sandy soils on marginal land on the northern edge of Esher Common. Early colonisation of the site would have been likely because of the initial ease of cultivation, but rapid leaching of the soils probably led to its abandonment.

Evaluation by K Ritchie of Wessex, for Frogmore Developments Ltd, in advance of redevelopment, revealed extensive modern disturbance and no finds or features of archaeological interest.

Evaluation by G Hayman of SCAU, for Burhill Estates, of land to be developed for a golf course. The results indicated surprisingly little evidence for previous activity in this area, but the water table was found to be high and the soil not well drained. A few features of possible archaeological interest were revealed; these are presumed to be former field boundaries, but no evidence was recovered from which to date them. A resultant watching brief conducted by R Poulton identified four ditches, only one of which was thought to be of ancient origin.