The Old Chapel Off High Street Newport Pagnell Milton Keynes

Home , Milton Keynes, Newport Pagnell

Archaeological Watching Brief

MKHER event number: EMK1201

for RXC Properties

CA Project: 660212 CA Report: 14047

April 2014

The Old Chapel Off High Street Newport Pagnell Milton Keynes

Archaeological Watching Brief

CA Project: 660212 CA Report: 14047

prepared by Paulo Clemente, Archaeologist

date 17 April 2014

approved by Derek Evans, Project Manager

date 22 April 2014

issue 01

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.

Cirencester Milton Keynes Andover Building 11 Unit 4 Stanley House Kemble Enterprise Park Cromwell Business Centre Walworth Road Kemble, Cirencester Howard Way, Newport Pagnell Andover, Hampshire Gloucestershire, GL7 6BQ MK16 9QS SP10 5LH t. 01285 771022 t. 01908 218320 t. 01264 347630 f. 01285 771033 e. [email protected] © Cotswold Archaeology The Old Chapel, Newport Pagnell: Archaeological Watching Brief

CONTENTS

SUMMARY ...... 2

1. INTRODUCTION ...... 3

The site ...... 3 Archaeological background ...... 4 Archaeological objectives ...... 5 Methodology...... 5

2. RESULTS ...... 6

3. DISCUSSION ...... 7

4. CA PROJECT TEAM ...... 7

5. REFERENCES ...... 8

APPENDIX A: CONTEXT DESCRIPTIONS ...... 9

APPENDIX B: OASIS REPORT FORM...... 10

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Fig. 1 Site location plan (1:25,000) Fig. 2 The site, showing monitored groundworks (1:250) Fig. 3 Surface water drain 117 (photograph)

1 © Cotswold Archaeology The Old Chapel, Newport Pagnell: Archaeological Watching Brief

SUMMARY

Project Name: The Old Chapel, off High Street Location: Newport Pagnell, Milton Keynes NGR: SP 8758 4383 Type: Watching brief Date: 5 February 2014 Planning Reference: 13/01920/FUL Location of Archive: To be deposited with Buckinghamshire County Museum Site Code: OCN 14 MKHER event number: EMK1201

An archaeological watching brief was undertaken by Cotswold Archaeology during groundworks associated with the residential redevelopment of the Old Chapel, off High Street, Newport Pagnell, Milton Keynes.

The watching brief identified the remains of a possible post-medieval/modern brick wall to the north-east of the standing Old Chapel building. This wall was on the same alignment as the north-eastern wall of the standing building, and may be part of the now-demolished main body of the chapel building. There were no remains associated with the former burial ground at the site. It is likely that the development groundworks were not deep enough to expose any inhumations.

2 © Cotswold Archaeology The Old Chapel, Newport Pagnell: Archaeological Watching Brief

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 In February 2014, Cotswold Archaeology (CA) carried out an archaeological watching brief for RXC Properties at the Old Chapel, off High Street, Newport Pagnell, Milton Keynes (centred at NGR: SP 8758 4383; Fig. 1).

1.2 Planning permission for residential redevelopment of the Old Chapel building and the development of associated gardens and car parking facilities was granted on appeal by Milton Keynes Council (MKC, the local planning authority), conditional on a programme of archaeological work (Planning Application Number: 13/01920/FUL; Condition 5). The scope of the watching brief was set out subsequently by Nick Crank, Senior Archaeological Officer for MKC. The objective of the watching brief was to record any archaeological remains exposed during the monitored groundworks.

1.3 The watching brief was carried out in accordance with a detailed written scheme of investigation (WSI) produced by CA (2014) and approved by MKC acting on the advice of Nick Crank. The fieldwork also followed the Standard and Guidance for an Archaeological Watching Brief (IfA 2009), the Management of Archaeological Projects 2 (English Heritage 1991) and the Management of Research Projects in the Historic Environment (MORPHE): Project Manager’s Guide (English Heritage 2006). It was monitored by Nick Crank.

The site

1.4 The Old Chapel building is currently empty and dilapidated. It sits within the southernmost corner of the same plot as the present United Reformed Church (constructed in 1881) and its church hall. This plot is accessed via an alleyway from the High Street. The plot boundaries are marked by brick walls (Fig. 2).

1.5 The ground surrounding the Old Chapel is generally tarmacked over and used for car parking, although the land to the immediate south-west and south-east of the building is grassed.

3 © Cotswold Archaeology The Old Chapel, Newport Pagnell: Archaeological Watching Brief

1.6 The underlying solid geology of the area is mapped as Peterborough Member mudstone of the Jurassic Period. The site’s superficial deposits have not been mapped (BGS 2014).

Archaeological background

1.7 The site has previously been the subject of a heritage desk-based assessment (OTA 2013). The following text summarises data from this document, supplemented by information from the planning application.

1.8 The Old Chapel is within Newport Pagnell Conservation Area. It is a grade II listed building (List entry number: 1380135; listed as Newport Academy, which is how the building was known at the time of listing (February 2000)). The standing building represents an 1826/1827 extension to the south-western end of a now-demolished early 18th-century chapel. The original chapel extended north-eastwards from the standing building, continuing beyond the current north-eastern plot boundary.

1.9 The Old Chapel site lay just outside of the historic core of Newport Pagnell. The 1882 Ordnance Survey (OS) map shows the Old Chapel lying on the edge of 19th century urban expansion to the south-west of Newport Pagnell, with the area beyond remaining largely undeveloped until the 20th century.

1.10 A stone barn owned by a Mr Gibbs (a former minister of the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul in Newport Pagnell) stood on the site in the 17th century. The date of the barn’s construction is not known; blocked window openings within the standing remains of the barn may possibly indicate an earlier domestic function. The barn was described as adjoining Mr Gibbs’s house, which fronted onto the High Street. From c.1660, the barn served as an illicit non-conformist meeting house.

1.11 The Act of Toleration was passed in 1689, allowing freedom of worship for non- conformists. A purpose-built chapel was constructed on the site in 1702, incorporating the earlier stone barn. Substantial remains of the barn survive today in the north-eastern wall of the standing building.

1.12 The chapel underwent numerous rebuilds, extensions and renovations in the 18th and 19th centuries. The current standing building was constructed in 1826/1827 as an extension to the original chapel building and housed a ground-floor vestry and

4 © Cotswold Archaeology The Old Chapel, Newport Pagnell: Archaeological Watching Brief

first-floor schoolroom. Seven burial vaults were installed beneath this structure, and it is possible that these vaults extend beyond the building footprint.

1.13 A burial ground was established to the south-east of the chapel in 1790, in the area now occupied by grassland and proposed for development as gardens. There are displaced gravestones propped up against the standing building.

1.14 The current United Reformed Church, which lies to the immediate north of the Old Chapel, was constructed in 1881 as a replacement for the Old Chapel. The main, north-eastern body of the Old Chapel building was presumably demolished around the same time, and it is absent on the 1882 OS map. Subsequently, the north- eastern part of the remaining Old Chapel building was partially rebuilt using materials salvaged from the demolished structure.

1.15 In the 20th century, the Old Chapel building was used as a telephone exchange, and further renovations date to this period. The building was serving as an artists’ studio at the beginning of the 21st century, when it was known as Newport Academy (the name it is listed under). The building has now been vacant for several years.

Archaeological objectives

1.16 The objectives of the archaeological works were:

• to identify, investigate and record any significant buried archaeological deposits revealed at the site during the course of the development groundworks;

• at the conclusion of the project, to produce an integrated project archive, and a report setting out the results of the project and the archaeological conclusions that can be drawn from the recorded data.

Methodology

1.17 The fieldwork followed the methodology set out within the WSI (CA 2014). An archaeologist was present during intrusive groundworks external to the Old Chapel building. These groundworks comprised the machine excavation of four trenches for garden wall footings and new services (Fig. 2). As per Nick Crank’s requirements, groundworks inside the building were not included in the watching brief remit.

5 © Cotswold Archaeology The Old Chapel, Newport Pagnell: Archaeological Watching Brief

1.18 Written, graphic and photographic records were compiled in accordance with CA Technical Manual 1: Fieldwork Recording Manual (2013). Deposits were assessed for their environmental potential in accordance with CA Technical Manual 2: The Taking and Processing of Environmental and Other Samples from Archaeological Sites (2003); no deposits warranted sampling. No pre-modern artefacts were present.

1.19 The project archive is currently held by CA at their offices in Milton Keynes. Subject to the agreement of the legal landowner, the project archive will be deposited with the Buckinghamshire County Museum. A summary of information from this project, as set out within Appendix B, will be entered onto the OASIS online database of archaeological projects in Britain.

2. RESULTS

2.1 This section provides a summary of the evaluation results. See Appendix A for detailed descriptions of all recorded contexts. All features mentioned in the text are shown on Figure 2.

2.2 The groundworks reached a maximum depth of 0.8m below the present ground level (BGL), although in some places they were as shallow as 0.5m BGL. The natural geological substrate was not exposed. The earliest layer uncovered was grey silty clay deposit 114, which lay 0.7m BGL. This was overlain by 0.18m of sandy clay subsoil 113. A series of features was exposed at the level of layer 113:

• the disturbed remnants of a possible red brick wall (108); • brick-lined surface water drains 117 (Fig. 3) and 118; • modern service trench 109; and • broad, shallow cut feature 111.

2.3 Possible wall 108 was aligned north-west/south-east. It was not uncovered fully by the groundworks, but it had a minimum width of 1.5m and was exposed to a depth of 0.56m without its base being visible. It was unclear if this structure was cut at the level of 113, or if it had been founded at a lower level. It was constructed of unfrogged, machine-made red bricks (each measuring 220mm x 110mm x 60mm), which were bonded stretcher style by yellow-brown sandy mortar.

6 © Cotswold Archaeology The Old Chapel, Newport Pagnell: Archaeological Watching Brief

2.4 Surface water drains 117 (Fig. 3) and 118 ran on north-west/south-east alignments. They were both lined with a single brick’s thickness of unfrogged, machine-made red bricks. Each brick measured 220mm x 110mm x 60mm. The brick linings in both drains were fairly loose and fragmentary. Drain 117 had a total width of 1.2m and its bricks were bonded by yellow-brown sandy mortar; drain 118 had a total width of 0.95m and its bricks were bonded by grey cement-style mortar. Both the drains had been infilled, primarily with grey sandy clay (105 and 107), although drain 117 also featured two thin layers overlying main fill 105; these comprised: tarmac fragments in a silty matrix (115) and sandy material (116).

2.5 The provenance of cut feature 111 is uncertain; it was 1.42m in width but only 0.16m in depth, and contained no artefactual material in its single silty sand infill (112). It may have been a linear feature aligned west-north-west/east-south-east, but only a small section of its length was exposed by the monitored groundworks.

2.6 Subsoil 113 and the features/structures described above were sealed by 0.23m of silty clay topsoil (102). The topsoil was overlain in the south-western corner of the site by the remnants of a gravel surface (100).

2.7 Despite visual scanning of spoil, no artefactual material pre-dating the modern period was observed.

3. DISCUSSION

3.1 The watching brief identified the remains of a possible post-medieval/modern brick wall to the north-east of the standing Old Chapel building. This wall was on the same alignment as the north-eastern wall of the standing building, and may represent part of the now-demolished main body of the chapel building. There were no remains associated with the former burial ground at the site. It is likely that the development groundworks were not deep enough to expose any inhumations.

4. CA PROJECT TEAM

Fieldwork was undertaken by Paulo Clemente, who also wrote this report. The illustrations were prepared by Jon Bennett. The archive has been compiled by Derek

Evans, and prepared for deposition by Nicola Powell. The project was managed for CA by Derek Evans.

5. REFERENCES

BGS (British Geological Survey) 2014 Geology of Britain Viewer http://maps.bgs.ac.uk/geology viewer_google/googleviewer.html Accessed 29 January 2014

CA (Cotswold Archaeology) 2014 The Old Chapel, Off High Street, Newport Pagnell, Milton Keynes: Written Scheme of Investigation for an Archaeological Watching Brief

OTA (One Ten Archaeology) 2013 The Old Chapel, Off High Street, Newport Pagnell, Buckinghamshire: Archaeological analysis of the site & building

APPENDIX A: CONTEXT DESCRIPTIONS

Features are shown on Figure 2, unless marked “NI” (“not illustrated”).

Context Type Fill Context Description L (m) W Depth/ No. of interpretation (m) thickness (m) 100 deposit gravel surface gravel in a brown-grey silty sand >6 >4 0.31 matrix (NI) 101 structure drain red brick drain base; part of 0.35 0.22 0.31 standing building (NI) 102 deposit topsoil dark brown grey silty clay >15 >12 0.23 103 structure wall part of standing building (NI) 2.2 1.25 >0.38 104 structure 117 brick lining brick lining in surface water drain 117. Red bricks; unfrogged; machine-made; 220mm x 110mm x 60mm; bonded by yellow-brown sandy mortar 105 deposit 117 fill of drain mid brown-grey sandy clay 0.8 >0.54 106 structure 118 brick lining brick lining in surface water drain 117. Red bricks; unfrogged; machine-made; 220mm x 110mm x 60mm; bonded by grey cement- style mortar 107 deposit 118 fill of drain mid brown-grey silty clay 0.55 >0.32 108 structure wall fragmentary remains of possible >1.5 >0.56 wall. Red bricks; unfrogged; machine-made; 220mm x 110mm x 60mm; bonded by yellow-brown sandy mortar; stretcher style 109 cut service trench service trench 15 1.79 >0.42 110 deposit 109 fill of service mid yellow-brown silty sand 15 1.79 >0.42 trench 111 cut cut feature shallow cut feature of uncertain 1.42 0.16 provenance 112 deposit 111 fill of ditch mid yellow-brown silty sand 1.42 0.16 113 deposit subsoil mid brown-grey sandy clay >15 >12 0.18 114 deposit subsoil mid brown-grey silty clay >0.04 115 deposit 117 second fill of tarmac fragments in a brown-grey 0.08 drain clayey silt matric 116 deposit 117 third fill of yellow-brown silty sand 0.14 drain 117 cut surface water vertical-sided cut lined with bricks 1.2 >0.54 drain 104. Aligned north-west/south-east 118 cut surface water vertical-sided cut lined with bricks 0.95 >0.37 drain 106. Aligned north-west/south-east

APPENDIX B: OASIS REPORT FORM

PROJECT DETAILS

Project Name The Old Chapel off High Street, Newport Pagnell: archaeological watching brief OASIS ref. TBC HER event no. EMK1201 Planning app. ref. 13/01920/FUL Project no. 660212 Report no. 14047 Site code OCN 14 Accession no. TBC Site status Grade II listed NHLE no. 1380135 Short description (250 words maximum) An archaeological watching brief was undertaken by Cotswold Archaeology during groundworks associated with the residential redevelopment of the Old Chapel, off High Street, Newport Pagnell, Milton Keynes. The watching brief identified the remains of a possible post-medieval/modern brick wall to the north-east of the standing Old Chapel building. This wall was on the same alignment as the north-eastern wall of the standing building, and may represent part of the now-demolished main body of the chapel building. There were no remains associated with the former burial ground at the site. It is likely that the development groundworks were not deep enough to expose any inhumations. Project dates 5 February 2014 Project type Watching brief Previous work None Future work Unknown PROJECT LOCATION Site Location The Old Chapel off High Street, Newport Pagnell, Milton Keynes Study area (M2/ha) 0.02ha Site co-ordinates (8 Fig Grid Reference) SP 8758 4383

PROJECT CREATORS Name of organisation Cotswold Archaeology Project Brief originator Milton Keynes Council Project Design (WSI) originator Cotswold Archaeology Project Manager Derek Evans Project Supervisor Paulo Clemente MONUMENT TYPE None SIGNIFICANT FINDS None PROJECT ARCHIVES Intended final location of archive Content (e.g. pottery, (museum/Accession no.) animal bone, etc.) Physical N/A N/A Paper Buckinghamshire County Museum Context sheets, registers, etc. Digital Buckinghamshire County Museum Database, survey data, digital photos etc. BIBLIOGRAPHY CA (Cotswold Archaeology) 2014 The Old Chapel, Off High Street, Newport Pagnell, Milton Keynes: Archaeological Watching Brief CA typescript report 14047

10 site

N Cirencester 01285 771022 Milton Keynes 01908 218320 Cotswold Andover 01264 347630 Archaeology w www.cotswoldarchaeology.co.uk e [email protected]

Milton PROJECT TITLE Keynes The Old Chapel, Off High Street Newport Pagnell, Milton Keynes

FIGURE TITLE Site location plan

0 1km

FIGURE NO. Reproduced from the 1999 Ordnance Survey Explorer map with PROJECT NO. 660212 DATE 21-02-2014 the permission of Ordnance Survey on behalf of The Controller DRAWN BY JB REVISION 00 of Her Majesty's Stationery Office c Crown copyright Cotswold Archaeology Ltd 100002109 APPROVED BY LM SCALE@A4 1:25,000 1

Cirencester 01285 771022 Milton Keynes 01908 218320 Cotswold Andover 01264 347630 3 Brick-lined surface water drain 117 (scale 1m) Archaeology w www.cotswoldarchaeology.co.uk e [email protected]

PROJECT TITLE The Old Chapel, Off HIgh Street, Newport Pagnell, Milton Keynes FIGURE TITLE Photograph

PROJECT NO. 660212 DATE 21-02-2014 FIGURE NO. DRAWN BY JB REVISION 00 APPROVED BY LM SCALE@A4 N/A 3