The Gables, Churt Place Nursery, Churt, Surrey
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The Gables, Churt Place Nursery, Churt, Surrey Archaeological Evaluation For Mulberry Homes (Churt) Ltd CA Project: AN0037 CA Report: AN0037_1 November 2019 The Gables, Churt Place Nursery, Churt, Surrey Archaeological Evaluation CA Project: AN0037 CA Report: AN0037_1 Document Control Grid Revision Date Author Checked by Status Reasons for Approved revision by A 25/10/19 Adam Oliver Good Internal General Edit Richard Howard Review Greatorex B 14/11/19 Oliver Good Richard External Curatorial Edits Nick Greatorex Review Truckle This report is confidential to the client. Cotswold Archaeology accepts no responsibility or liability to any third party to whom this report, or any part of it, is made known. Any such party relies upon this report entirely at their own risk. No part of this report may be reproduced by any means without permission. © Cotswold Archaeology © Cotswold Archaeology The Gables, Churt Place Nursery, Churt, Surrey: Archaeological Evaluation CONTENTS SUMMARY ..................................................................................................................... 2 1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................ 3 2. ARCHAEOLOGICAL BACKGROUND ................................................................ 3 3. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES ................................................................................... 6 4. METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................... 6 5. RESULTS (FIGS 2-5) ......................................................................................... 7 6. DISCUSSION ..................................................................................................... 8 7. CA PROJECT TEAM .......................................................................................... 8 8. REFERENCES ................................................................................................... 8 APPENDIX A: CONTEXT DESCRIPTIONS ................................................................... 10 APPENDIX B: OASIS REPORT FORM .......................................................................... 11 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Figure 1 Site location plan (1:25,000) Figure 2 Trench location plan 1:750) Figure 3 Pre-development photographs of site Figure 3 Photographs of trenches and representative sections 1 © Cotswold Archaeology The Gables, Churt Place Nursery, Churt, Surrey: Archaeological Evaluation SUMMARY Project Name: The Gables, Churt Place Nursery Location: Churt Place Nursery, Surry NGR: 487320 138850 Type: Evaluation Date: 16th of September 2019 Planning Reference: WA/2017/1962 Location of Archive: Adam Howard Site Code: GBLS19 An archaeological evaluation was undertaken by Cotswold Archaeology in September 2019 at The Gables, Churt Place Nursery, Churt, Surrey. Three of the planned ten trenches were excavated. No archaeological finds, features or deposits were noted during the course of the evaluation. The evaluation was able to demonstrate that the construction of the modern buildings that had formally occupied the site, had truncated the ground level of the site substantially. Following the completion of Phase 1 (Trenches 1-3), and due to the degree of truncation seen across the site, the Archaeological Advisor to Waverley Council decided that Phase 2 (Trenches 4-10) was not necessary. 2 © Cotswold Archaeology The Gables, Churt Place Nursery, Churt, Surrey: Archaeological Evaluation 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 In September 2019 Cotswold Archaeology (CA) carried out an archaeological evaluation at The Gables, Churt Place Nursery, Churt, Surrey (centred at NGR: 487320 138850, Fig. 1) on behalf of Mulberry Homes (Churt) Ltd. The archaeological evaluation was undertaken as a condition of planning permission (ref: WA/2017/1962) for the construction of 18 dwellings with new access, closure of existing access and associated works following the demolition of existing buildings which was granted by Waverley Borough Council (WBC). 1.2 The evaluation was carried out in accordance with a detailed Written Scheme of Investigation (WSI) produced by CA (2019) and approved by Nick Truckle, Archaeological Advisor to Waverley Council. The fieldwork also followed Standard and guidance: Archaeological field evaluation (CIfA 2014). The site 1.3 The proposed development area is approximately 1.6ha, and comprises of a collection of buildings and greenhouses associated with a former nursery now used as a salvage yard. The site appears to a have been subject to terracing and landscaping probably as an attempt to level the site prior to the construction of greenhouses and nursery buildings. Tilford Road is on the western boundary, whilst cottages and a farm form the other boundaries. The site lies at approximately 92m above Ordnance Datum (aOD), rising to the south east. 1.5 The underlying bedrock geology of the area is mapped as Bargate Sandstone Member - Sandstone. This was confirmed during this evaluation which also recorded a superficial geology of silty-sand. 2. ARCHAEOLOGICAL BACKGROUND 2.1 The site has previously been the subject of an Archaeological Desk-Based Assessment (CA 2017). Reference should be made to this document for detailed background information; the below is a summary of the Assessment’s findings. 3 © Cotswold Archaeology The Gables, Churt Place Nursery, Churt, Surrey: Archaeological Evaluation 2.2 Churt is located within an area on the borders of Hampshire, Surrey and West Sussex. A limited range of recorded archaeological sites and finds are known from the area (Bird and Bird, 1987; Cotton et al., 2004; Rudling 2003). However, the village lies on greensand, which is a geological outcrop particularly favoured by Mesolithic populations (hunter-gatherers). The areas where this geology outcrops in east Hampshire and west Surrey have long been known to be associated with the remains of these populations, predominantly from the presence of their stone tools (Rankine 1954). A small number of Mesolithic finds, including two possible camp sites, are recorded for the Churt area (Ellaby 1987, 62; Rankine 1946; Clark and Rankine 1939). Iron Age and Roman soils, which indicate agricultural use during those periods, and a possible ritual site have been investigated on Frensham Common to the north (Branch and Green 2004; Bird 2004). The medieval villages of the area are generally still occupied and therefore little investigated archaeologically. 2.3 A search was made on the Surrey Historic Environment Record (HER) on 13th April 2017 for a radius of 1km around the proposal site. This revealed 23 entries within the search radius. Palaeolithic 2.4 There are no HER entries definitively dated to this period within the study area. Mesolithic 2.5 A number of sites within the study area date to the Mesolithic period. Various archaeological investigations in the 20th century on Hankley Common, north-east of the site, uncovered an Early Mesolithic assemblage consisting of a large number of flints including Horsham points. Also nearby Mesolithic (Maglemosian) chipping floors were identified in the 20th century on a hillside on the northern slopes of the valley between Kettlebury Hill and the Farmham-Hindhead road. Finds included a large number of flints including triangles, Horsham points, an adze and fire-cracked flints. A sunken track was also discovered to the north east of site. Another Mesolithic site is also recorded from Churt Place Farm (Rankine 1946; Clark and Rankine 1939, 114) and, as it is noted that the findspot has since been covered by greenhouses, it is likely that it lies within the bounds of the proposal site. Horsham points were again amongst the finds recovered. At the western edge of the study area another chance find was made of a Mesolithic tranchet-derivative arrowhead to the. Fieldwalking carried out in the 1980s south-west of the site, encountered flint 4 © Cotswold Archaeology The Gables, Churt Place Nursery, Churt, Surrey: Archaeological Evaluation flakes listed in the HER as of unknown date, but are presumably prehistoric, and possibly also Mesolithic. Neolithic, Bronze Age, Iron Age 2.6 There are no HER entries definitively dated to these periods within the study area, although some of the flints mentioned above could belong to these periods. Roman 2.7 There are no HER entries dated to this period within the study area. Saxon 2.8 A field boundary south-east of the site was the subject of an archaeological investigation in the 1970s and interpreted as possibly Saxon in date. Medieval 2.9 There is only one HER entry potentially dating to this period within the study area. There are Tudor elements to the buildings at Hyde Farm, south-east of the site. A watching brief on works within the building recorded fragments of 13th-century coarse and whiteware pottery and ashlar masonry. These remains presumably relate to a medieval precursor of the farm. Post-medieval 2.10 Hyde Farm House is a Grade II listed building, with 16th- and 17th-century elements, refaced in the 18th century and restored in the modern era. The watching brief within the building recorded a Bargate stone-lined well, dating to at least 1700. To the north of the house is a Grade II listed granary, dating to the 18th century and also restored in the modern era. South-west of the site is the Grade II listed Outmoor, on Hale House Lane, a late 16th-century house. South-south-east of the site is the Grade II listed Marchant Farm House, located on Hyde Lane, a late 16th century house with