St Peter's Hospital, Holloway Hill, Chertsey, Surrey

T H A M E S V A L L E Y ARCHAEOLOGICAL S E R V I C E S

Phase 1 Area A

Archaeological Evaluation

by Pierre-Damien Manisse and Anne-Michelle Huvig

Site Code: PHC19/133

(TQ 0222 6512) St Peter's Hospital, Holloway Hill, Chertsey, Surrey Phase 1 Area A

An Archaeological Evaluation

for CALA Homes (Thames) Ltd

by Pierre-Damien Manisse and Anne-Michelle Huvig

Thames Valley Archaeological Services Ltd

Site Code PHC19/133

November 2019 Summary

Site name: St Peter's Hospital, Holloway Hill, Chertsey, Surrey - Phase 1 Area A

Grid reference: TQ 0222 6512

Site activity: Evaluation

Date and duration of project: 25th - 27th November 2019

Project coordinator: Tim Dawson

Site supervisor: Anne-Michelle Huvig

Site code: PHC 19/133

Area of site: c. 2.66 Ha

Summary of results: The evaluation was not carried out entirely as intended with a number of unexpected environmental and site constraints both reducing the number of locations that could be examined and causing adjustments to the disposition of the trench layout. The planned 11 trenches were reduced to a total of 7 trenches excavated. None of the trenches revealed any deposits nor artefacts of archaeological interest and many were extensively disturbed by modern building foundations or services. The site is therefore considered to have a very low archaeological potential.

Location and reference of archive: The archive is presently held at Thames Valley Archaeological Services, Reading and will be deposited at Elmbridge Museum in due course.

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 All TVAS unpublished fieldwork reports are available on our website: www.tvas.co.uk/reports/reports.asp.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 Ford 02.12.19 Steve Preston 02.12.19

Thames Valley Archaeological Services Ltd, 47–49 De Beauvoir Road, Reading RG1 5NR

Tel. (0118) 926 0552; email [email protected]; website: www.tvas.co.uk St Peter's Hospital, Holloway Hill, Chertsey, Surrey - Phase 1 Area A An Archaeological Evaluation

by Pierre-Damien Manisse and Anne-Michelle Huvig

Report 19/133

Introduction

This report documents the results of an archaeological field evaluation carried out at St Peter's Hospital,

Holloway Hill, Chertsey, Surrey, KT16 0QA (TQ 0222 6512) (Fig. 1). The work was commissioned by Ms

Laura Powell, of CALA Homes (Thames) Ltd, CALA House, 54 The Causeway, Staines-Upon-Thames, Surrey,

TW18 3AX.

Planning permission (RU.17/1815) has been granted by Runnymede Borough Council to demolish existing buildings and erect 212 new houses or flats and 116 retirement apartments on the western half of St Peter's hospital. The consent is subject to a condition (7), pertaining to archaeology, requiring the implementation of a programme of archaeological investigation. This is in accordance with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government’s National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF 2012) and the Borough Council’s policies on archaeology. This was to take the form, initially, of evaluation by means of trial trenching, based on the results of which further fieldwork might be required. This field investigation, concerning the first area to be re- developed, was carried out to a specification approved by Mr Nick Truckle, Archaeological Officer at Surrey

County Council, the archaeological adviser of the Borough. The fieldwork was undertaken by Anne-Michelle

Huvig between 25th and 27th November 2019. The site code is PHC19/133. The archive is presently held at

Thames Valley Archaeological Services, Reading and will be deposited at Elmbridge Museum in due course.

Location, topography and geology

The site is located south-west of Chertsey, Surrey, within St Peter's hospital compound (Fig. 1). This first phase of work targeted an area of about 2.66ha. It is an irregular, roughly L-shaped, plot of land, bordered to the north- west by Holloway Hill road, south and south-west by Homewood Park and in the east by other hospital buildings

(Fig. 2). Its former use was woodland and modern brick buildings related to the hospital complex and associated infrastructure. A few derelict cottages are also situated in the north-western part of the site. It is a relatively flat area, at an elevation of between 34m and 37m above Ordnance Datum, slightly rising towards the west. The underlying geology as recorded on maps (BGS 1999) belongs to the Bagshot Formation, a sandy deposit.

1 Archaeological background

The site’s archaeological potential has been considered in an initial desk-based assessment (Payne 2017). and can be summarized as follows. No archaeological evidence is known on the site itself. Scarce stray finds indicative of prehistoric activity have been recovered by fieldwalking (Neolithic flints) to the north. Bronze Age and Iron Age occupation is located further away from the site (barrows to the west and St Ann's Hill hillfort to the north, both about 3km distant). Similarly for the Roman and Saxon periods, no evidence has been found in the vicinity of the hospital and has to be sought in Chertsey. In the historic record, the site was associated with

Botleys Manor (not precisely located) in the 14th century as a pasture. Buildings appear on maps around the site in the late 18th century. In 1934 the site acquired its function as a mental hospital.

Objectives and methodology

The purpose of the evaluation was to determine the presence/absence, extent, condition, character, quality and date of any archaeological or palaeoenvironmental deposits within the area of development.

The specific research aims of this project are:

to determine if archaeologically relevant levels have survived on this site;

to determine if archaeological deposits of any period are present;

to determine if any medieval deposits are located on the site; and

to allow the preparation of a mitigation strategy if necessary.

It was proposed to dig 11 trenches, each 25m long and 1.6-2m wide, with a contingency for an extra 25m if required. The trenches were to be dug by a machine fitted with a toothless bucket, under constant archaeological supervision. Spoilheaps were to be monitored for finds. Any archaeological features revealed were to be hand cleaned and a sufficient sample excavated so as to satisfy the aims outlined above. This work was to be carried out in a manner which would not compromise the integrity of archaeological features or deposits which might warrant preservation in situ, or might better be excavated under conditions pertaining to full excavation.

Results

The proposed eleven trench evaluation could not be carried out as intended due to a series of unexpected environmental and site constraints, namely a badger set, live services, tree protection zones and massive foundations. This reduced the number of locations that could be examined though the layout of the trenches to

2 sample a representative a coverage of the area to be developed was maintained. Some 7 trenches were eventually excavated using a combination of JCB-type and 3600 . machines, both equipped with ditching buckets. In the area intended for Trenches 5 and 6, Tarmac overlay hard concrete which could not be penetrated.

The heavy concrete foundations had also been encountered by the demolition team dismantling the existing building in the south-west corner of the site, causing massive truncation to the underlying layers (all topsoil and subsoil had been ripped off) to allow the removal of the footings. Trench 10 was necessarily shortened too, as the machine proved not powerful enough to cut through a dense array of tree roots and stumps. Both were equipped with a ditching bucket, 1.60m wide. The excavated trenches are shown on Figure 3.

A complete list of trenches giving lengths, breadths, depths and a description of sections and geology is given in Appendix 1. The lowest deposit encountered was a soft brownish yellow fine sand and gravel that turns more pebbly with depth. This matches the Bagshot Beds recorded by the BGS (1990).

Trench 1 (Fig. 3; Pl. 1) Trench 1 was aligned SE-NW and was 31m long and 0.55m deep. A test pit was taken to 1.05m to confirm the interpretation of the geological horizon. The stratigraphy consisted for the first half of demolition overburden

(mostly bricks), about 0.55m deep, directly overlying natural geology. There was a former building that had been demolished to allow the placement of a trench here. The other half had a reduced topsoil (0.15-0.20m), over subsoil (0.35-40m) and geology below. Topsoil was a soft dark grey loamy silt while the subsoil was a mid grey brown sandy silt with rare to occasional pebbles. A water pipe was running through the trench a few metres from the south end. No archaeological deposits were encountered and no finds were recovered.

Trench 2 (Figs 3 and 4; Pl. 2) Trench 2 was aligned SE-NW and was 20m long and between 0.50-0.70m deep. The stratigraphy consisted of a disturbed topsoil, 0.20-0.25m deep, overlying a mid brown sandy silt subsoil, 0.30m thick and natural geology.

No finds were recovered and no features of archaeological interest revealed. A disused pipe and a modern service pit were noted.

Trench 3 (Fig. 3) Trench 3 was aligned SW–NE and was 20m long and between 0.50-0.85m deep. The stratigraphy consisted of topsoil, about 0.50m deep, overlying a mid greyish brown clayey silt subsoil, 0.30m thick above natural geology

(soft yellow sandy clay). No archaeological deposits were encountered nor finds recovered.

3 Trenches 4, 5 and 6 As noted above these trenches could not be excavated.

Trench 7 (Fig. 3; Pl. 3) Trench 7 was aligned SE-NW and was 7.80m long and 0.70m deep. The stratigraphy consisted of a topsoil, about 0.20-0.25m deep, overlying a mid brown clayey silt subsoil, 0.35m thick above natural geology. No finds were recovered. A pipe and an electric cable were observed but no features of archaeological interest.

Trench 8 (Fig. 3; Pl. 4) Trench 8 was aligned SE-NW and was 9.80m long and between 0.60m deep. The stratigraphy consisted of a topsoil, about 0.30m deep, overlying a mid brown sandy silt subsoil, 0.25m thick above natural geology. No finds were recovered. Again a cable and manhole disturbance were noted, but no archaeological deposits.

Trench 9 (Fig. 3) Trench 9 was aligned SE-NW and was 6.80m long and between 0.50m deep. The stratigraphy consisted of a mid to dark grey silty clay topsoil, 0.20m deep, overlying a medium compacted mid brown silty clay subsoil, 0.18m thick above the natural geology. No finds were recovered. The area around this trench had seen much trampling by the demolition team machines and as a result was very soft and unsteady with lots of residual water, thus could not be extended further. A service cable was seen in this trench but no archaeological features.

Trench 10 (Fig. 3) Trench 10 was aligned S-N and was 17m long and between 0.60m deep. The stratigraphy consisted of a dark grey loamy clay topsoil, 0.50m deep, with lots of roots, directly overlying the natural geology, a yellow silty clay to clay. No finds or features of archaeological interest were encountered.

Finds

No finds of archaeological interest were recovered.

4 Conclusion

The evaluation had to be considerably modified compared to its original layout and just seven trenches were dug, most of them affected by intrusive modern disturbances and not revealing any archaeological features.

Nevertheless based on the results of this evaluation, it is considered that the site here has no archaeological potential

References

BGS, 1999, British Geological Survey, 1:50,000, Sheet 269 - Windsor, Solid and Drift Edition, Keyworth Cotton, J, Crocker, G and Graham, A, 2005, Aspects of Archaeology and History in Surrey: Towards a Research framework for the County Research framework for the County, Surrey Archaeol Soc, Guilford NPPF, 2012, National Planning Policy Framework, Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government, London Payne, J, 2017, ‘St Peter's Hospital, Chertsey, Surrey - Desk Based Archaeological Assessment’, Surrey County Archaeological Unit, Woking

5 APPENDIX 1: Trench details

Trench Length Breadth Depth (m) Comment (m) (m) 1 31.00 1.60 0.55-1.05 0–0.50m overburden, >0.50m natural geology for southern half. Northern half is composed of 0-0.20m topsoil and 0.20-0.50m subsoil, >0.50m natural geology. Pl.1 2 20.00 1.60 0.50-0.70 0-0.20m disturbed topsoil, 0.20-0.50 subsoil, >0.50m natural geology Pl.2 3 26.50 1.60 0.50-0.85 0-0.50m disturbed topsoil, 0.50-0.80 subsoil, >0.80m natural geology 7 7.80 1.60 0.70 0-0.20m topsoil, 0.20-0.55 subsoil, >0.55m natural geology Pl.3 8 9.80 1.60 0.60 0-0.30m topsoil, 0.30-0.55 subsoil, >0.55m natural geology Pl.4 9 6.80 1.60 0.50 0-0.20m topsoil, 0.20-0.38 subsoil, >0.38m natural geology 10 17.00 1.60 0.60 0-0.50m topsoil, >0.50m natural geology

6 OASIS DATA COLLECTION FORM: England

Printable version

OASIS ID: thamesva1-375988

Project details Project name St Peters Hospital, Holloway Hill, Chertsey Short description of the project An Archaeological Evaluation on western areas of the hospital. Project dates Start: 25-11-2019 End: 27-11-2019 Previous/future work No / Yes Any associated project reference codes PHC 19/133 - Sitecode Any associated project reference codes RU.17/1815 - Planning Application No. Type of project Field evaluation Site status None Site status (other) none Current Land use Community Service 1 - Community Buildings Monument type NONE None Monument type NONE None Significant Finds NONE None Significant Finds NONE None Methods & techniques ''Sample Trenches'' Development type Car park (flat) Prompt Planning condition Position in the planning process After full determination (eg. As a condition)

Project location Country England Site location SURREY RUNNYMEDE CHERTSEY St Peters Hospital Postcode KT16 0QA Study area 2.6 Hectares Site coordinates TQ 0222 6512 51.375417771247 -0.531183583095 51 22 31 N 000 31 52 W Point Height OD / Depth Min: 34m Max: 37m

Project creators Name of Organisation Thames Valley Archaeological Services Project brief originator Local Authority Archaeologist and/or Planning Authority/advisory body Project design originator Thames Valley Archaeological Services Project director/manager Tim Dawson Project supervisor Anne-Michelle Huvig Type of sponsor/funding body Developer Name of sponsor/funding body CALA Homes

Project archives Physical Archive Exists? No

1 of 2 03/12/2019, 14:32 Digital Archive recipient Elmbridge Museum Digital Contents ''other'' Digital Media available ''Images raster / digital photography'' Paper Archive recipient Elmbridge Museum Paper Contents ''none'' Paper Media available ''Context sheet'',''Correspondence'',''Photograph'',''Report'',''Section''

Project bibliography 1 Grey literature (unpublished document/manuscript) Publication type Title St Peters Hospital, Holloway Hill, Chertsey, Surrey Author(s)/Editor(s) Anne-Michelle Huvig Date 2019 Issuer or publisher Thames Valley Archaeological Services Place of issue or publication Reading Description Grey literature client report A4 bound pages URL [email protected]

Entered by Andrew Mundin ([email protected]) Entered on 3 December 2019

Please e-mail Historic England for OASIS help and advice © ADS 1996-2012 Created by Jo Gilham and Jen Mitcham, email Last modified Wednesday 9 May 2012 OASIS: Cite only: http://www.oasis.ac.uk/form/print.cfm for this page

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Staines SITE

Egham

Woking Weybridge

Reigate Redhill Aldershot Guildford

Godalming Farnham 66

66 66000

SITE 65

65 65000

TQ02000 03000 PHC 19/133 St Peter's Hospital, Chertsey,

Surrey, 2019 64 64 Archaeological Evaluation Figure 1. Location of site within Chertsey and Surrey.

Reproduced under licence from Ordnance Survey Explorer Digital mapping at 1:12500 Crown Copyright reserved

1 2 3 65500

65250

65000 SITE

TQ02250 02500 02750

PHC 19/133 N St Peter's Hospital, Chertsey, Surrey, 2019 Archaeological Evaluaion Figure 2. Detailed location of site.

Reproduced from Ordnance Survey Digital Mapping under licence. Crown copyright reserved. Scale 1:5000

150593_STL_XX_00_DR_A_XXXX_PL_05 65300 Fairview Cottage Ivy Cottage Issues LB 5 Little 6 Orchard 32.5m

Carpenters Cottage

1 13

24 1 2

AD O R L IL EH 14 N 1 O ST 2

Botleys Cottages 17

The Gardens in Chapel ra D (private) 65200 10

tree badger protection 1 exclusion 2

3 tree protection 4

9 Mortuary

Car Parks Pond

Fountain

65100 Hayworth House 5 tree protection 6 tree protection tree 8 protection

Ward Bdy

65000

Botleys Mansion Homewood Park

64900 TQ02100 02200 02300 PHC 19/133

N St. Peter's Hospital, Chertsey, Surrey, 2019 Archaeological Evaluation

Figure 3. Location of trenches.

0 100m Trench 2

NW SE 23.32maOD

Disturbed ground

Subsoil

Disturbed natural

base of trench

Trench 7 NW SE 21.82m

Topsoil

Brown silt clay

Disturbed natural base of trench

PHC 19/133 St. Peter's Hospital, Chertsey, Surrey, 2019 Archaeological Evaluation

Figure 4. Representative section.

0 1m Plate 1. Trench 1, looking NNW, Scales: 2 x 1m. Plate 3. Trench 7, looking NW, Scales: 2 x 1m.

Plate 2. Trench 2, looking NW, Scales: 2 x 1m. Plate 4. Representative section in trench 8, looking NE, Scales: 1m and 0.5m.

PHC 19/133 St Peter's Hospital, Chertsey, Surrey, 2019 Archaeological Evaluation Plates 1 to 4. TIME CHART

Calendar Years

Modern AD 1901

Victorian AD 1837

Post Medieval AD 1500

Medieval AD 1066

Saxon AD 410

Roman AD 43 AD 0 BC Iron Age 750 BC

Bronze Age: Late 1300 BC

Bronze Age: Middle 1700 BC

Bronze Age: Early 2100 BC

Neolithic: Late 3300 BC

Neolithic: Early 4300 BC

Mesolithic: Late 6000 BC

Mesolithic: Early 10000 BC

Palaeolithic: Upper 30000 BC

Palaeolithic: Middle 70000 BC

Palaeolithic: Lower 2,000,000 BC Thames Valley Archaeological Services Ltd, 47-49 De Beauvoir Road, Reading RG1 5NR

Tel: 0118 9260552 Email: [email protected] Web: www.tvas.co.uk

Offices in: Brighton, Taunton, Stoke-on-Trent and Ennis (Ireland)