Surrey Archaeological Society

Resistivity survey by A and D Graham of SyAS located a linear area of high resistance that is probably the remains of the Roman road known to pass through the site. The feature had a central c 5m-wide band of highest resistance, with a c 5m-wide band of lower resistance readings either side – probably the result of ploughing having scattered the road metalling.

Evaluation by J Lowe of TVAS prior to submission of an application for redevelopment. The remains of the former manor (demolished in c 1988 following an earlier fire) were found to be in a relatively poor condition, with large areas apparently having been completely robbed and only fragmentary rubble remaining. Sufficient remains were encountered to establish the accuracy of known plans of the site however. The remains of the Elizabethan core of the building were particularly poorly represented.

Excavation of Area ‘A’ by G Hayman of SCAU prior to residential development following a series of evaluations in 2002. A number of Mesolithic or Neolithic struck flints recovered attest to occupation in the area for a considerable period. However, the main period of occupation on the site appears to have begun around the middle of the 1st century AD (although some residual pottery fragments of a potentially earlier date were recovered) and to have continued until the late 2nd/early 3rd centuries. A ring gully appeared to be one of the earliest features in the area.

Watching brief by C Currie of CKCA during the breaching of the dam of Phillimore Lake found evidence for what is thought to have been the rare survival of a timber revetment facing the medieval mill dam. The timbers were sampled for dendrochronological dating. In the 1880s the Phillimore Lake dam had been rebuilt and enlarged to create a much larger lake, and the rebuilt dam was about 1.8m higher than the original and had a thin clay core. A few years later, in 1896, a second lake was created at Rowe’s Flash, and draining of this revealed a similar dam with a thin clay core.

Evaluation by D Britchfield of AOC revealed no features pre-dating the post-medieval period

Historic landscape survey commissioned by SCC and SyAS, as part of the Community Archaeology Project, and undertaken under the direction of C Currie of CKCA, to assess whether the study area was suitable for designation as an ASHLV. The survey included recording the three barrows and looking at the ponds in the Cosford and Witley Park stream valleys. A scatter of Mesolithic flint work and a bank (possibly a prehistoric land division) located close to the main barrow concentration on Witley Common were also revealed.

Repair works involving the cutting of a slit trench for a short distance along the dam starting at the south edge of the sluice. The work was monitored by D Graham and D Attryde of SyAS. No finds were recovered, but the west section of the trench was recorded.

Topographic survey and watching brief by M Nicholls and M Williams of LPA prior to and during the construction of a slip road and bridge over the A3, and the erection of temporary buildings. The topographic survey recorded the remains of probable post-medieval ironstone quarries. No finds were recovered from these features during the subsequent watching brief.

Photographic recording by T Howe of SCC during remedial works. Parts of the reinforcing iron superstructure of the wall had become dangerous through erosion to the concrete fabric and ongoing military use of the site. These were removed for health and safety reasons, with a basic record compiled to add to the SMR. Military use of the site has since ceased in order to protect the historic fabric and wider ecological balance of the feature and its surrounding landscape.