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 St Peter's Hospital, Holloway Hill, Chertsey, Surrey 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 All TVAS unpublished fieldwork reports are available on our website: www.tvas.co.uk/reports/reports.asp.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 i 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.

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