Victoria Methodist Church, High Street, Keynsham, Bath and North-East Somerset
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VICTORIA METHODIST CHURCH, HIGH STREET, KEYNSHAM, BATH AND NORTH-EAST SOMERSET POST EXCAVATION ASSESSMENT C.A.T JOB: 0693 C.A.T REPORT: 98872 MARCH 1998 This report has been researched and compiled with all reasonable skill, care, and attention to detail within the terms of the project as specified by the Client and within the general terms and conditions of Cotswold Archaeological Trust Ltd. The Trust shall not be liable for any inaccuracy, error or omission in the report or other documents produced as part of the Consultancy and no liability is accepted for any claim, loss or damage howsoever arising from any opinion stated or conclusion or other material contained in this report or other documents supplied as part of the Consultancy. This report is confidential to the Client. Cotswold Archaeological Trust Ltd accept no responsibility whatsoever to third parties to whom this report, or any part of it is made known. Any such party relies upon this report entirely at their own risk. © Cotswold Archaeological Trust Headquarters Building, Kemble Business Park, Cirencester, Gloucestershire, GL7 6BQ Tel. 01285 771022 Fax. 01285 771033 Victoria Methodist Church, High Street, Keynsham: Post Excavation Assessment CONTENTS CONTENTS ..................................................................................................................... 1 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ........................................................................................... 3 GLOSSARY .................................................................................................................... 4 SUMMARY ..................................................................................................................... 5 1. INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................... 6 2. LOCATION ................................................................................................................ 6 3. CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE EXCAVATION ......................................................... 6 4. ORIGINAL OBJECTIVES AND METHODOLOGIES ............................................ 8 5. MITIGATION RESULTS .......................................................................................... 10 5.1 Introduction ................................................................................................... 10 5.2 Romano-British period. ................................................................................. 10 5.3 Anglo-Saxon period ....................................................................................... 10 5.4 Medieval period (Phase 1) ........................................................................... 10 5.5 Post-medieval period (Phase 2) ................................................................... 11 5.6 Construction of present church (1887) to date (phase 3) ........................... 12 5.7 Discussion ..................................................................................................... 12 6. NATURE OF THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL ARCHIVE ............................................. 13 7. ARTEFACTUAL EVIDENCE ................................................................................... 14 7.1 General ......................................................................................................... 14 7.3 Clay Tobacco Pipes by Marek Lewcun ........................................................ 16 7.4 Animal Bone by Mark Maltby ....................................................................... 18 7.5 Metal by Emma Harrison .............................................................................. 20 7.6 Glass by Emma Harrison .............................................................................. 21 7.7 Shell by Emma Harrison ............................................................................... 23 8. STATEMENT OF POTENTIAL ................................................................................ 24 1 Victoria Methodist Church, High Street, Keynsham: Post Excavation Assessment 9. BIBLIOGRAPHY ....................................................................................................... 24 10. PROPOSALS FOR POST-EXCAVATION ANALYSIS ........................................ 25 11. SYNOPSIS FOR PROPOSED REPORT ................................................................. 27 10.1 Title: .............................................................................................................. 27 10.2 Summary Composition of Report: ................................................................. 27 2 Victoria Methodist Church, High Street, Keynsham: Post Excavation Assessment LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Fig. 1 Location plan ................................................................................................. 29 Fig. 2 Phase 1 (medieval) ........................................................................................ 30 Fig. 3 Phase 2 (post-medieval) ................................................................................ 31 Fig. 4 Phase 3 (construction of church - to date) ..................................................... 32 Fig. 5 Section ........................................................................................................... 33 Fig. 6 Plan of evaluation test-pit ............................................................................. 34 3 Victoria Methodist Church, High Street, Keynsham: Post Excavation Assessment GLOSSARY ARCHAEOLOGY For the purposes of this project, archaeology is taken to mean the study of past human societies through their material remains, from prehistoric times to the modern era. No rigid upper date limit has been set, but AD 1900 is used as a general cut-off point. MEDIEVAL Taken here as the period from the Norman invasion in AD 1066 to approximately AD 1500. NATURAL Defined in archaeological terms this refers to the undisturbed natural geology of a site, e.g. Lower Lias clay, river terrace gravels etc. NGR National Grid Reference given from the Ordnance Survey Grid. OD Ordnance Datum; used to express a given height above mean sea level. POST-MEDIEVAL The period following the medieval period, from AD1500 to the Industrial Revolution. PRN Principal Record Number (used for entries on the County SMR) ROMANO-BRITISH Term used to describe a fusion of indigenous late Iron Age traditions with Roman culture, often abbreviated as `R-B.' SMR Sites and Monument Record. 4 Victoria Methodist Church, High Street, Keynsham: Post Excavation Assessment SUMMARY In November 1997 Cotswold Archaeological Trust was commissioned by Wainscot Associates, on behalf of the Trustees of the Victoria Methodist Church, to undertake a programme of archaeological mitigation recording in advance of construction work to extend the Victoria Methodist Church, Keynsham, Bath and North East Somerset. Evidence was retrieved to suggest an outer wall of a medieval building and its associated tenement boundary survive within the study area. An internal division identified within the property suggests this outer wall represents the rear of the medieval building which fronted the High Street. The medieval building continues in use throughout the post-medieval period. Clay surfacing, superseded by sandstone flagstones are interpreted as internal floor surfaces. Stonelined drainage runs were established to the rear of the property. All archaeological deposits were sealed by demolition and construction debris associated with the building of the present church which opened in 1887. 5 Victoria Methodist Church, High Street, Keynsham: Post Excavation Assessment 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 In November 1997 Cotswold Archaeological Trust (CAT) was commissioned by Wainscot Associates, on behalf of the Trustees of the Victoria Methodist Church, to undertake a programme of archaeological mitigation recording in advance of construction work to extend the Victoria Methodist Church, Keynsham, Bath and North East Somerset (Fig. 1). 1.2 This document provides an assessment of the evidence recovered from the excavation and watching brief and proposes a programme of post-excavation analysis to bring the site to publication. 2. LOCATION 2.1 The study area lies within the property boundary of the Victoria Methodist Church, on the corner of High Street and Charlton Road (NGR ST 6539 6868). The modern ground surface lies at approximately 26m OD. 2.2 The underlying solid geology of the site consists of Blue and White Lias of the Lower Jurassic period. 3. CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE EXCAVATION 3.1 The development site lies within an area of high archaeological importance. Keynsham was an important medieval market town believed to have been founded in the ninth century. It is thought the original Saxon settlement may represent some continuity with the Roman occupation, evidenced by the large 6 Victoria Methodist Church, High Street, Keynsham: Post Excavation Assessment number of Roman buildings, immediately to the north of the town at NGR ST 6450 6925. 3.2 There is little surviving archaeological or documentary evidence of the Saxon settlement, although it is thought a Saxon church or Minster was founded in Keynsham. Keynsham is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086. 3.3 The Augustinian Abbey of Keynsham was founded in 1166, the Abbey precinct encompassed much of the north-eastern quarter of the medieval town (centred on NGR ST 6558 6879). In 1539 the Abbey was dissolved. It remains unresolved whether the parish church of St John Baptist was already in existence at the