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T H A M E S V A L L E Y AARRCCHHAAEEOOLLOOGGIICCAALL S E R V I C E S Former Hatcham Liberal Club, 367-9 Queen's Road, New Cross, London Borough of Lewisham Archaeological Evaluation by Andrew Weale Site Code: HLC11 (TQ 3566 7685) Former Hatcham Liberal Club, 367–9 Queen’s Road, New Cross, London Borough of Lewisham An Archaeological Evaluation for REIS Construct by Andrew Weale Thames Valley Archaeological Services Ltd Site Code HLC11 March 2011 Summary Site name: Former Hatcham Liberal Club, 367–9 Queen’s Road, New Cross, London Borough of Lewisham Grid reference: TQ 3566 7685 Site activity: Evaluation Date and duration of project: 3rd–11th February 2011 Project manager: Steve Ford Site supervisor: Andrew Weale Site code: HLC 11 Area of site: c. 0.13ha Summary of results: The evaluation revealed a shallow pit of probable later post-medieval date beneath the foundations and floors of various 19th century buildings. The site is not considered to have any archaeological potential. Location and reference of archive: The archive is presently held at Thames Valley Archaeological Services, Reading and will be deposited at The Museum of London in due course, with accession code HLC11. This report may be copied for bona fide research or planning purposes without the explicit permission of the copyright holder. All TVAS unpublished fieldwork reports are available on our website: www.tvas.co.uk/reports/reports.asp. Report edited/checked by: Steve Ford9 15.03.11 Steve Preston9 15.03.11 i Thames Valley Archaeological Services Ltd, 47–49 De Beauvoir Road, Reading RG1 5NR Tel. (0118) 926 0552; Fax (0118) 926 0553; email [email protected]; website: www.tvas.co.uk Hatcham Liberal Club, 367–9 Queen’s Road, New Cross, London Borough of Lewisham An Archaeological Evaluation by Andrew Weale Report 11/03 Introduction This report documents the results of an archaeological field evaluation carried out at the Former Hatcham Liberal Club, 367–9 Queen’s Road, New Cross, London Borough of Lewisham ( TQ 3566 7685) (Fig. 1). The work was commissioned by Mr Kalpesh Ladwa of Reis Construct, 103 Union Street, London SE1 0LA. Planning permission and listed building consent (DC/10/75383) have been granted by the London Borough of Lewisham for the demolition of the existing buildings at the rear of 367–9 Queen’s Road SE14 and the construction of a new building together with alterations to the upper part of the existing Hatcham Liberal Club. The consent is subjected to a condition (1) relating to archaeology This is in accordance with the Department for Communities and Local Government’s Planning Policy Statement, Planning for the Historic Environment (PPS5 2010), the Town and Country Planning Act (1990)and the Borough Council’s policies on archaeology. The field investigation was carried out to a specification approved by Mr Mark Stevenson, Archaeological Adviser, London Region of English Heritage, the Borough Council’s archaeological advisers. The fieldwork was undertaken by Andrew Weale, James Earley and Tim Dawson between 3rd and 11th of February 2011 and the site code is HLC11. The archive is presently held at Thames Valley Archaeological Services, Reading and will be deposited at The Museum of London in due course with accession code HLC11. The TVAS project number is 11/03. Location, topography and geology The site is located within New Cross Gate (the ancient manor of Hatcham) on the north side of Queen’s Road (Fig. 1). To the north of the site is the New Cross Road (A2) which was the main road from Dover and Kent to London via London Bridge. Some 2km to the east of the site is Greenwich, 0.5km beyond the Ravensbourne River which enters the River Thames to the north-east. The site is currently occupied by the former Hatcham Liberal Club buildings which are in the process of renovation with some demolition of modern buildings, and is surrounded to the north, east and west by residential development (Fig. 2). The site is generally flat at around 6m above Ordnance Datum with steps across it from former building footprints. The underlying geology is shown as 1 River Brickearth overlying Cretaceous Upper Chalk (BGS 1981) close to the junction with Woolwich and Reading Beds; a silty clay with gravel (Brickearth) was observed in all the trenches. Archaeological background The site lies within an archaeological priority area defined in the Borough Unitary Development Plan, which is centred on the historic core of New Cross Gate (Hatcham). Hatcham is first mentioned in Domesday Book of AD1086 (Williams and Martin 2002) as a very insignificant manor with land for three ploughs, nine villans, two bordars, 6 acres of meadow and woodland for 3 pigs. The name ‘Hatcham’ is Anglo-Saxon in origin and could mean ‘Hacci’s Village’ or the ‘village in the clearing in the woods’ (Lewisham 2006). The moated manor house is thought to have occupied a site to the north-east of the site and developed into Hatcham Park. The course of Watling Street Roman road is thought to be to the north of the site, other recorded finds in the immediate area are few in number (MoLAS 2000), however a post-medieval brick kiln was recorded to the east on New Cross Road. A search of the Greater London Historic Environment Record (GLHER) for a 400m radius centred on the site was consulted. Only 6 entries were recorded within the search radius. Three of these were for archaeological interventions (watching briefs), but apart from 19th- and 20th-century services and foundations, no archaeological deposits were recorded. The other three entries were all for desk based assessments. The Liberal Club building itself (Pl 1) and Nos. 371-373 Queen’s Road are listed buildings. Cartographic and documentary sources Domesday Book lists the manor of Hatcham as belonging to the Bishop of Bayeux but held from the Bishop by the Bishop of Lisieux (Williams and Martin 2002, 75). Henry II granted land at Hatcham to Gilbert de Hatcham who built a moated manor house in the area which later evolved into Hatcham Park. The manor house and its environs were brought by the Worshipful Company of Haberdashers in 1614, to provide an endowment for William Jones’s school and almshouses in Monmouth. Jones was a successful haberdasher and merchant who left a large fortune to maintain his charitable foundations. Hatcham Park was leased for a time in the 17th century to Thomas Pepys, a cousin of Samuel. The Haberdashers set about a programme of urbanization which saw buildings erected along New Cross and Queen’s Roads with the creation of new housing estates and roads in the surrounding area with Hatcham Park itself being demolished and built on by 1869. 2 A range of historical and Ordnance Survey maps were consulted, as was the London Borough of Lewisham’s Hatcham conservation area character appraisal (LBL 2006) in order to ascertain what activity has taken place throughout the site’s later history. The first map to show the area in any detail is the Haberdashers’ map of 1619 which clearly shows New Cross Road (London Waye to Detford) and Queen’s Road (The Waye from Peckham to Detford). The area of Hatcham is mostly shown as agricultural land with a large area of woodland to the south. The manor house of Hatcham is shown together with a few other buildings. The area of the site is shown as a large field of agricultural land with no buildings within it. John Rocque’s map of 1745 shows the area shows Hatcham still principally agricultural with some development along New Cross Road to the north and east of the site. The Five Bells public house is shown to the north of the site and the manor house together with its gardens can be seen to the north-east. The New Cross Turnpike (built 1718) is also shown and the name New Cross Gate comes from the site of the toll gate. The site is shown again as a field which appears to have been subdivided since the Haberdashers’ map. There are no buildings shown within the area of the site. A map of 1835 shows more development along New Cross Road to the north of the site together with the creation of Pomeroy Street and Kender Street to the west of the site and Five Bell Lane (now Hatcham Park Road) to the north-east. The Grand Surrey Canal, The Croydon Canal and the railway to New Cross are also shown. Buildings are shown for the first time to the west of the site at the junction of Queen’s Road and Kender Street, as well as in the general area of the site. The First Edition Ordnance Survey map (Fig. 3) published in 1873 from an earlier survey, shows the process of urbanization continuing with the infilling of the area boarded by Pomeroy Street to the west, New Cross Road to the north and Queen’s Road to the south with housing and industrial buildings. Further development has taken place to the south-west of the site and north-east between Hatcham Park Road and New Cross Road. The railway has greatly expanded with the construction of carriage and engine sheds and a large workshop. Hatcham Park is still shown on this map although it was demolished in 1869. The area to the south and east of Queen’s and New Cross Roads is still undeveloped and occupied by four large properties (from west to east) Manor Farm, Hatcham Grove House, an unnamed property (later Fair Lawn) and Portland House.