Forbury Gardens and Abbey Ruins, Reading, Berkshire
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Forbury Gardens and Abbey Ruins, Reading, Berkshire An Archaeological Watching Brief For Reading Borough Council by Stephen Hammond Thames Valley Archaeological Services Ltd Site Code FGR 03/118 December 2003 Summary Site name: Forbury Gardens and Abbey Ruins, Reading, Berkshire Grid reference: SU 719 736 Site activity: Watching Brief Date and duration of project: 12th–16th December 2003 Project manager: Steve Ford Site supervisor: Stephen Hammond Site code: FGR 03/118 Area of site: c. 2ha Summary of results: No finds or archaeological features were revealed during the exercise Monuments identified: None Location and reference of archive: The archive is presently held at Thames Valley Archaeological Services, 47–49 De Beauvoir Road, Reading RG1 5NR, and will be deposited with Reading Museum in due course. This report may be copied for bona fide research or planning purposes without the explicit permission of the copyright holder Report edited/checked by: Steve Ford9 22.12.03 Steve Preston9 22.12.03 i Forbury Gardens and Abbey Ruins, Reading An Archaeological Watching Brief by Stephen Hammond Report 03/118 Introduction This report documents the results of an archaeological watching brief carried out at Forbury Gardens and Abbey Ruins, Reading, Berkshire (SU 719 736) (Fig. 1). The work was commissioned by Ms Rachel McCormack of Lanarca, Spencer House, 3 Spencer Parade, Northampton NN1 5AA on behalf of Reading Borough Council. Planning consent and Scheduled Monument consent have been gained by Reading Borough Council to refurbish Forbury Gardens and Abbey Ruins. As part of this work approximately 26 trees have been highlighted for removal to assist with the re-creation of the historic tree framework. Excluding one ash tree in the vicinity of the Abbey Ruins, all the trees are located within Forbury Gardens. The consents are subject to a condition relating to archaeology which requires a watching brief to be carried out during their removal. This is the first stage of archaeological monitoring to be undertaken during the restoration project with further phases to follow. This is in accordance with the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act (1979), the Department of the Environment’s Planning Policy Guidance, Archaeology and Planning (PPG16 1990), and the Borough’s policies on archaeology. The field investigation was carried out to a specification approved by Mr Kev Beachus of Babtie, archaeological advisers to Reading Borough Council. The fieldwork was undertaken by Stephen Hammond between the 12th-16th December 2003 and the site code is FGR 03/118. The archive is presently held at Thames Valley Archaeological Services, Reading and will be deposited with Reading Museum in due course. Location, topography and geology The site is located adjacent to Forbury Road, Reading at Forbury Gardens and Reading Abbey Ruins which are a Scheduled Ancient Monument. The site itself is a public space and a designated Historic Park and Garden. The underlying geology according to maps (BGS 1971) is gravel with the possibility of clay. This was not observed during the exercise as the monitored work failed to disturb ground levels deep enough to reveal any natural horizons. The site lies at a height of c. 43m above Ordnance Datum. 1 Archaeological background The site lies within the historic core of Reading in an area which contains elements of the medieval abbey and a castle mound (‘Forbury Hill’) (Astill 1978). The abbey, commissioned by Henry I was founded in 1121 and consecrated in 1164, housed over 100 monks and was a substantial and wealthy foundation before its dissolution in 1539. Parts of the complex were subsequently used as a royal palace but after 1549, the remains were systematically robbed until the 19th century. Much of the complex now survives only as below ground remains, a considerable proportion of which lies within the Forbury. However, there is evidence to suggest that these remains have been the subject of many disturbances, including the erection of civil war defences. In certain areas post-medieval buildings including a 19th-century school and the County Gaol, were erected on or utilized the remains of the abbey. The abbey complex itself has witnessed a variety of archaeological excavations which have examined both the religious, domestic, industrial and funerary components of the complex (Slade 2001). Objectives and methodology The purpose of the watching brief was to excavate and record any archaeological deposits affected by the tree removal work. This was to involve examination of areas affected by stump grinding or other methods of tree root removal. Sufficient time would be allowed in the groundworkers’ schedules to carry this out. The work was to be carried out such that a minimum of removal work would take place so as to limit any disturbance of archaeological remains. Results In total 22 trees were removed during the re-creation of the historic tree framework. All of these were investigated during an intensive watching brief, and the resulting spoilheaps checked for finds. All of the trees designated for removal were cut down and the stumps ground out. Very little ground around the stumps was affected as the stumps were removed and it was noted that the depths of disturbance varied depending on the size of the tree, with the larger more established trees requiring more work than the less established more recent additions to the site. Typically c. 0.10–0.15m of dark grey/brown clayey silt was removed from the areas directly around the stump’s circumference no further out than 0.10m from where the tree stump was located. On the largest tree to be removed, the ash tree located within the Abbey Ruins, the depth of disturbance was measured to a maximum depth of 0.23m. In all cases only the topsoil was affected during the work. 2 Finds No finds of an archaeological nature were revealed during the watching brief. Conclusion The watching brief failed to locate any finds or archaeological deposits. From the observations made it was noted that very little ground disturbance took place during the tree removal exercise. This is because typically only 0.15-0.20m of topsoil situated directly around any one tree stump was affected whilst being ground out and no lower stratigraphic horizons seen during the removal work. The programme therefore did not disturb any archaeologically relevant levels requiring further archaeological recording. References Astill, G G, 1978, Historic towns in Berkshire; an archaeological appraisal, Berkshire Archaeol Comm Publ 2 Reading BGS, 1971, British Geological Survey, 1:63360, Sheet 268, Drift Edition, Keyworth PPG 16, 1990, Archaeology and Planning, Dept of the Environment Planning Policy Guidance 16, HMSO Slade, C, 2001, The town of Reading and its abbey, Reading 3 SITE 75000 74000 SITE 73000 SU72000 73000 FGR03/118 Forbury Gardens and Abbey Ruins, Reading, Berkshire, 2003 Archaeological Watching Brief Figure 1. Location of site within Reading and Berkshire. Reproduced from Ordnance Survey Pathfinder 1172 SU67/77 at 1:12500. Ordnance Survey Licence AL52324A0001 74000 SITE 73000 SU72000 FGR03/118 Forbury Gardens and Abbey Ruins, Reading, Berkshire, 2003 Archaeological Watching Brief Figure 2. Detailed location of site within Reading. Reproduced from Ordnance Survey map, 1:10000, at 1:5000. Ordnance Survey Licence AL52324A0001 Forbury Gardens and Abbey Ruins, Reading, Berkshire, 2003 N Forbu ry Road Forbury Hill Rose Garden Maiwand Lion Bandstand Henry I Memorial lk Abbots Wa War Memorial Abbey Ruins 0 100m FGR 03/118 Figure 3. Plan of Forbury Gardens (trees highlighted in red where subject to the watching brief).