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t:Herr[ordshireArchaeological Tnul 1998 I I I I I I I FORMER NURSES HOME, LAND NORTH OF OXFORD ROAD, I STONE, AYLESBURY I AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL I EVALUATION I I I I I I I Hertfordshire Archaeological Trust I I 1 I t:lfert[onflhireArchae<>logical 1',,'" /998 I ******** •••• *.*.******* ••• ********* •••••• *** •• ********************* •• I HERTFORDSlllRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL 1RUST REPORT NO. 513 I I I FORMER NURSES HOME, LAND NORTH OF OXFORD ROAD, I STONE, AYLESBURY I I AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL EV ALUA TION I Jonathan Last PhD Tom McDonald MIF A I May 1999 Parish: Stone I NGR: SP 778 123 I I I I I THE SEED WAREHOUSE, MAIDENHEAD YARD THE WASH, HERTFORD SGl4 IPX TEL (01992) 558170 I FAX (01992) 553359 *****************.******* •••• **** •• ***** ••• ****** ••••• ***** •• ******** I I 2 I I fliHert[ord,/rireArchaeo/oglca1 rr." 1998 LAND TO THE NORm, OF OXFORD ROAD, STONE, I BUCKINGHAMSHIRE I AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVALUATION I SUMMARY During May 1999, HAT carried Ollt an archaeological evaluation of land to the north I of Oxford Road in Stone, Buckinghamshire. The evaluation revealed a diffuse spread ofLate Bronze Age features - ditches, pits and post holes - across the site. I 1 INTRODUCTION I 1.1 During May 1999, Hertfordshire Archaeological Trust (HAT) carried out an archaeological evaluation of land to the north of Oxford Road, Stone, Bucks. (NGR SP 778 123) (Figs. 1-2). The work was undertaken on behalf of Crest Homes I (Eastern) Ltd in advance of the redevelopment of the site. An archaeological evaluation was required as part of a planning condition issued by the Local Planning Authority, Aylesbury Vale District Council (Ref: N9711676/AOP), based on advice I from the County Archaeological Service of Buckinghamshire County Council Environmental Services (CAS BCe ES). It is proposed to construct new dwellings on I the site. 1.2 The evaluation was conducted according to a brief prepared by CAS BCC ES I (1. Wise, dated 01104/99) and a specification compiled by HAT (dated 4/99). It also complied with the Institute of Field Archaeologists' Standard and Guidance for I Archaeological Field Evaluations. 1.3 A desk-based assessment was commissioned by Crest Homes and prepared by HAT (Dr L Prosser, March 1999, Land to the North of Oxford Road, Stone, I Buckinghamshire: An Archaeological Desk-Based Assessment, HAT Report No.486). I 2 DESCRIPTION OF THE SITE 2.1 The site is located 0.5 km to the west of the village centre of Stone, and I approximately 4 km south-west of Aylesbury (Figs. 1-2). It extends northwards from the main A418 road from Aylesbury to Thame at a height of 112 m AOD, rising gently to 115 m at the north and east. The site covers approximately 2.1 hectares and is I bounded to the north by a pasture which rises to the apex of a low hill. To the east it I is delineated by a green lane, and to the west by modem residential development. 2.2 The solid geology of Stone comprises a gently sloping ridge of Portland deposits, characteristic of the land to the north of the Chilterns, and in the Vale of I Aylesbury. A geological survey (EnviroClean 1997, 6) revealed the site to be composed of two halves: the south-western part consists of Portland Stone and Sand I 3 I t:Herr[ordshJrsArchaeological Tnut / 998 I overlying Kimmeridge Clay; the north-eastern part is formed of Lower Cretaceous Whitchurch Sands overlying Purbeck Limestone, Marl and Clay, which itself overlies strata of Portland formation. Whitchurch Sand has a fineness which made it attractive I for extraction and use in the glass-making industry, known in Stone from the 1840' s. I 3 ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL BACKGROUND 3.1 The area of the Vale of Aylesbury has been settled since early times, and long I term occupation is attested at Stone by the discovery of evidence for activity from all periods. Unfortunately much of this evidence was uncovered by chance during the th I construction of the vicarage and asylum, and extensive sand extraction in the 19 century. This has led to the destruction of the sites, the loss of much of the original material, and confusion of interpretation by the antiquarian diggers of the time (HAT I Report No. 486). 3.2 The desk-based assessment states that the parish of Stone emerges in the I historical record at the time of the Domesday Book assessment of 1086. In the late Saxon period the parish (quite literally 'stones') was the head settlement of an administrative unit known as a hundred. The evaluation site is first documented in the I 18th century, when an estate map compiled at the time of the large-scale enclosure of the old medieval fields shows that it belonged to the Earl of Chesterfield. Unfortunately the early maps do not give a field name for the site, and the area is not I included on the tithe map of 1847. It may be that the land was newly enclosed by the late 18th century, though it was not part of the area earmarked for parliamentary enclosure in 1776. In the late 1840' s, the vicar of Stone volunteered to sell part of his I land to the south of Oxford Road for the construction of a county lunatic asylum, and this was built in the early 1850' s. In its day it was at the forefront of modern hospital design, providing accommodation for 260 patients. During the later 19th century, the I principal occupations at Stone were market gardening and pillow lace manufacture. This was supplemented by sand extraction for glass manufacture, and major sand pits I were opened to the east of the site and near the vicarage on the opposite side of the road. I 4 ARCHAEOLOGICAL MEmODOLOGY I 4.1 The principal aim of the evaluation (trial trenching) was to determine the location, extent, date, character, significance and quality of any surviving archaeological remains liable to be threatened by the proposed development (believed I to be of possible Iron Age date) (Section 1 of the brief). 4.2 The archaeological evaluation was carried out in accordance with the brief and I specification. It also complied with the relevant IF A guidelines. 4.3 The trenches followed the proposed trench plan approved by CAS BCC ES. I The majority of the trenches were 30 m in length, and all were 1.8 m wide. I 4 I - I I t:lfertfonhhire Archae%gical Tnul J998 4.4 Eleven trial trenches were excavated across the site using a JeB mechanical excavator fitted with a toothless bucket (Fig.3). Exposed surfaces of the trenches I were cleaned by hand, and all further excavation was undertaken by hand. Deposits revealed were recorded by means of pro forma recording sheets, drawn to scale and I photographed. I 5 DESCRIPTION OF RESULTS I Individual trench descriptions are presented below: 5.1 Trench 1 I Sample section: (0.00 = 115.27m AOD) 0.00 - 0.39 m LlOOO. Topsoil. Dark greyish brown moderately compact sandy loam with occasional flint pebbles/nodules. I 0.39 - O.72m LI002. Subsoil 0.72 m + LlOOI. Natural drift geology. Rounded terrace graveVsand I and orange-brown clay. I 5.1 .1 Two ditches and two pits were revealed in Trench 1. 5.1.2 FlO14 was a shallow, possibly linear ditch which was partially revealed traversing the northern edge of the trench on a WSW-ENE alignment (length 2.3 m+, I width I ID, depth 0.12 m). Its northern edge was steep, giving way to a flattish base. The southern edge was cut at a more gradual angle. Its fill comprised loose, dark I brown sandy clay with small rounded flint pebbles (LI015). No finds were present. 5.1.3 FI0l6 was a shallow, flat bottomed, circular pit which was partially overlain by the trench baulk. The pit (length 0.7 ID, width 0.78 ID, depth 0.15 m) contained a I single fill of compact, dark brown, sandy clay with small rounded flint pebbles (F 1017). It contained two sherds of Late Bronze Age (LBA) pottery (7 g) and fragments of I anirna1 bone (2, 2 g). 5.1.4 FlOI9 was a wide, shallow, flat-bottomed ditch which traversed the southern end of the trench on a WSW-ENE alignment (length 2.3 m+, width 4.7 ID, depth >0.12 I m). Its fill comprised compact, mid brown, mixed clayey sand with occasional flint and limestone pebble (Ll020). The finds comprise ten LBA pottery sherds (52 g), two I fragments of daub (21 g), and one struck flint (2 g). 5.1.5 Ditch FlO19 was cut by subcircular pit FI021 (length 0.85 ID, width 0.7 ID, I depth 0.33 m). Its sides were cut at 45-60° from the horizontal and the base was concave, The pit fill was a mixed mid-greylbrown and light buff to orange, sandy clay (L 1022). The deposit was poorly sorted, coarse, gritty and compacted. It contained I occasional inclusions of limestone and flint pebble. The finds comprise 21 sherds of LBA pottery (399 g), and fragments of daub (32 g) and animal bone (24, 273 g). I I 5 I C'IIertfonbhire An:haeologlcal Tnul J998 5.2 Trench 2 • Sample section: (0.00 = 115.94 m ADD) I 0.00 - 0.28 m LlOOO. Topsoil. Dark greyish brown moderately compact sandy loam with occasional flint pebbles/nodules. 0.28 - 0.55 m LlOO2. Subsoil 0.55m+ LlOO1. Natural drift geology. Rounded terrace graveVsand and orange-brown clay. • 5.2.1 Two shallow pits were revealed towards the eastern edge of Trench 2.