Proc. Hampsh. Field Club Archaeol. Soc. 39, 1983, 77-109 77
THE HISTORY, ARCHITECTURE AND ARCHAEOLOGY OF JOHNSON'S CORNER, ALTON
By MARTIN MILLETT With contributions from: Christopher Catling, Geoffrey H Cole, Jennie Coy, David Crowther, .Francis J Green, Jennifer Hillam, R A, Merson, Katherine Owen and Georgia Smith
ABSTRACT Excavations, and associated documentary and archi and two smaller trenches were opened. The tectural studies are used to examine an area in the disadvantages of working within the buildings centre of Alton including High Street and Market were outweighed by the advantages of being Street frontages. It is shown that major late medieval able to study the standing buildings in the con rebuilding truncated earlier deposits and the principal text of the. strata beneath. A detailed survey evidence presented is thus post-medieval. The stand of the standing buildings was produced largely ing buildings are dated by a combination of archaeo as a result of the work of local volunteers. logy and dendrochronology with documentary Together with the excavations, historical evidence. The latter also provides information relating research and finds analysis, this has enabled us to the functions and ownership of the properties. Conclusions are drawn concerning the medieval and to produce a more comprehensive picture of the post-medieval development of the town. Important development of this part of the town than would specialist studies of pottery, botanical material and have been possible from excavation alone. The animal bones are included in microfiche, 48-95. finds and site records have been deposited with the Hampshire County Museum Service (Accession No. A. 1979.3). A copy of the build INTRODUCTION ings survey is deposited with the Royal Towards the end of 1976 it became clear that Commission on Historical Monuments a major site in the centre of Alton was to be (England). redeveloped. As a result of discussions with the developer, Longley Ltd, the County Planning Local and Archaeological Background Archaeologist, Mr M F Hughes, and the then Alton has not been the subject of any archaeo land-owner, F W Woolworth Ltd, it was agreed logical study although the Anglo-Saxon that access could be given to allow excavation cemetery was partially excavated in 1959—61 prior to the development. The author was (Wilson and Hurst 1960, 134; 1961, 309), and approached and excavations organised under the nearby Romano-British town at Neatham the aegis of the newly formed Alton Archaeo has been partially excavated (Millett and logical Committee with finance from the Graham forthcoming). Finds from the town, Department of the Environment. These exca and the relevant historical evidence have recendy vations were carried out during March and been summarised (Hughes 1976) and discussed April 1977 with a small nucleus of students (Millett 1977). The only previous archaeological helped by members of the Alton History and work in the town consisted of observation of the Archaeology Society and the Farnham and Police Station site (Millett 1978): Thus this site District Museum Society. provided the first opportunity for a controlled The phasing of the excavation with the excavation. development meant that excavations had to be The site occupies a substantial part of the done within the standing buildings. This re block bounded by the High Street, Market stricted the area available and determined the Street, the Market Square and Loe's Alley (Figs locations of the trenches. Thus only three areas 1 and 3). The High Street is the main thorough- 78 HAMPSHIRE FIELD CLUB AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY
Fig 1. Location of Johnson's Corner in relation to Alton Town Centre. M MILLETT: JOHNSON'S CORNER, ALTON 79 fare today and was probably the main focus of The Site the medieval town. Market Street (the The site contained several buildings on differ Baskingstoke Road) connects the High Street ent alignments (Fig 3, centred on SU 718395), with the Market Square. The Square itself forming nine properties. To make their descrip stands on flat ground while Market Street cuts tion consistent and understandable to those who diagonally down the slope towards the river. do not know the town, house numbers in the two The importance of the excavation site lay in its streets have been used, together with 'Unit' potential for investigating whether the High letters for the buildings in the High Street where Street or the Market Square developed first as a properties have been amalgamated. Since the commercial centre, and this was the primary series of properties need not have been con objective of the excavation. nected, each is described in turn with successive sections concerning documentary, architectural Topography and Geology and archaeological evidence. The topography of the site was much altered in the medieval and post-medieval periods, by the progressive terracing of the hillside for 50-52 HIGH STREET building. The present slope is gentle with the These buildings (Site C = AC77) faced onto highest point on Loe's Alley at c 107 m OD and the High Street and incorporated 2 Market the lowest on the corner of Market Street and Street (unit E), the frontage of which was not the High Street at c 104 m OD. The terracing utilised in the buildings' final form (Figs 3 and makes it difficult to estimate the original slope. 4). Before demolition the structure was a single The general form of this slope has been recon shop consisting of five units which had been structed by interpolating contours between amalgamated. These are referred to as units A, the highest points of the undisturbed natural B (52 High Street); C, D (50 High Street); and E surface. There remain some uncertainties, (2 Market Street). especially at the top of the slope, but the general form shown in Fig 2 indicates the problem faced Documentary Summary (by Georgia Smith) by those originally building on the steep slope. 50-52 High Street lies at a seemingly impor The site lies on Lower Chalk but over most of tant location in the economic and social life of a the area this is masked by alluvial gravel which market town. The neighbouring properties, reaches a maximum thickness of 3m at the top of Monks Place and Bulbecks, are easily identified the slope. in the first surviving rental of 1398 (BL Add Ch
CONTOURS IN METRES 00
Fig 2. Plan of Johnson's Corner showing the surface geology and reconstructed contours of the valley slope. North is to the bottom of the plan. s
Fig 3. Plan of Johnson's Corner showing the buildings as standing in 1977, and the trenches excavated. M MILLETT: JOHNSON'S CORNER, ALTON 81
1 2 3
UNIT A '«-— UNITD
Fig 4. Johnson's Corner: plan of nos 50-52 High Street and no 2 Market Street showing the unit numbers used in the description of the buildings, and the areas excavated. See Fig 3 for orientation. 82 HAMPSHIRE FIELD CLUB AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY
27820) as 'of Thomas Thorp for one tenement inherited by his eldest son Richard, a butcher, lately Robert Monk's . . . 7
Building 1 Building 2 > (jilt 3 x hmi IT Utir UUr.
<$° r O o Oiss eiw mfl > z i r ~r o PERIODS III °t o X Building 3 > T 6
8
PERIOD III
Fig 5. Johnson's Corner: phase plans of Trench C, beneath nos 50-52 High Street. Periods I—111 (for location see Fig 4). Building 6 Alley Building 4 Building 5
PERIOD IV K r r pi I Building 7 Building 6 Building 9 Building 8
1 McKIM
firuUw. PERIOD V VI
Fig 6. Johnson's Corner: phase plans of Trench C, beneath nos 50-52 High Street. Periods IV-VI (for location see Fig 4).
oo 86 HAMPSHIRE FIELD CLUB AND ARCHAEOLOCICAL SOCIETY wall 4 were both built in Upper Greensand and timber framed building (building 7) known from flint, and their location suggests that they were the building, survey, represented in the trenches part of the jettied timber framed building which by the remains of a sandstone block wall on the survived in the fabric of the existing buildings. line of the rear of the building (Fig 4). This wall No floor levels survived, but pottery from con was stratigraphically later than building 6. The struction. levels suggests a sixteenth century date major alterations in this period concern units B consistent with the architectural evidence. The and C. The alley between building 6 and 8 was stone walls probably extended to the first floor built over with building 9. As a result the first as the foundation excavated seems too substan floor wall between building 6 and the alley was tial simply to support a frame. Building 6 seems rebuilt. It was probably at this time that the to have been altered in this phase with the jetty at the front of building 6 was infilled. insertion of a post hole (74) adjacent to wall 2 to The floor of cellar 1 in building 6 was relaid in strengthen the insubstantial wall which had brick and the walls rebuilt in two places. This previously been only a partition. may have been made necessary by a partial Period V (Fig 6). The sequence representing collapse of the cellar wall between Units A and Period V and VI is complex and there are B during the period when unit A was vacant several uncertainties resulting from the absence perhaps allowing water in behind the walls. The of stratigraphic connections between different brick floor is stratigraphically later than the parts of the site. The simplest interpretation is alterations to the wall, although this probably presented here, in which all the changes are represents only a sequence within the same interpreted as part of the same sequence of renovation. The rebuilt walls incorporated a alterations. number of shaped Greensand blocks. These Building 6 and the adjacent alley on unit C mostly derive from window and door frames, continued in use during this period. The alley although two very large blocks were found, was widened over part of the plot previously which appear to be the bases of a large arch, occupied by building 4, which together with probably from the entrance to an alley such as building 5 was demolished. A single building that on unit C in Periods IV and V. The earth constructed to replace them occupied unit D behind the rebuilt cellar wall contained a and part of the land previously occupied by farthing token of mid-seventeenth century date building 4, implying common ownership. The which gives a terminus post quern for the alter absence of recobbling in the alley suggests that ations. The continuous frontage shown on the these alterations were not completed before the 1666 map (Fig 17) indicates that the rebuilding next phase of activity began,. was complete by then. This dates the Period VI On unit A the previous building (building alterations to c 1652-1666 although the doubts 'O') known only from the buildings survey, was about the continuous frontage expressed by Mrs demolished at this time, and the site remained Smith must be borne in mind. vacant while the ground level was lowered by up The pits and well on unit A (Fig 7). A group of six to c 1.3m (the difference between Period VI pits and a well were located behind the frontage ground level and the base of the frame of on unit A. These were truncated by the Period V building 'O'). This reduced the slope of the levelling and thus stratigraphically isolated. street to its present gentle incline. Their sequence has been established on the Dating evidence for this phase is poor, as basis of their inter-relations and of the pottery there is little pottery from occupation levels. that they contained. The earliest pits dated to However, the levelling of unit A ends the use of the late thirteenth century and the sequence the pits and well behind it. The latest pottery continued to the early seventeenth century. from these features is early seventeenth century. They are assumed to have belonged to the Period VI (Fig 6). On unit A, the Period V property on unit A, and functioned as cess and levelling was followed by the construction of a rubbish pits, although pit C5 was revetted by a M MILLETT: JOHNSON'S CORNER, ALTON 87
PERIODS IVI
Fig 7. Johnson's Corner: plan of pits and well at the rear of unit A in Trench C, beneath nos 50-52 High Street (for location see Fig 4). 88 HAMPSHIRE FIELD CLUB AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY
wicker fence where it cut pit C1 and may have logical sequence has been used and extended for been a well. Their dates based on pottery the later phases. The detailed survey plan is not evidence are: published, but has been deposited with the Royal Commission on Historical Monuments Pit CI - late 13th to early 14th century and the Hampshire County Museum Service. Pit C2 - late 13th to early 14th century The main periods are summarised on Fig 8 and Pit C3 - 14th to late 15th century the buildings planned in Fig 4. Dendrochrono- Pit C4 - late 15th to 16th century logical samples proved too small for dating Pit C5 - late 15th to 16th century with the exception of those from buildings 8 and Pit C6 - 16th century 9 which gave a terminus post quern much earlier Well 1 - late 16th to early 17th century than the remainder of the evidence, suggesting These features contained some of the best re-use of timbers. groups of pottery from the site together with Period IV (Fig 8). The earliest parts of the organic material consistent with their use as cess buildings were of this date, surviving in two pits. areas on units A and B. On unit B, building 6 The seeds, dated by the pottery, are discussed was constructed in this period some time in the by Frank Green who shows that the differences sixteenth century. Building 'O' on unit A had its seem to be mainly chronological rather than of foundations removed by subsequent activity and high and low status (cf pits from Trench A). as it is isolated in the building sequence it can Period VII (Fig 6). This period is the last from only be said that it predates Period V. which archaeological deposits survived and it is Building '0'. Surviving remains consisted of a clear from the buildings survey that they did not single frame with rear wall post, wall and basal relate to the whole complex sequence. The main plates, and roof truss, preserved in the party deposit was demolition rubble derived from the wall between 52 and 54 High Street. The roof rebuilding of wall 5. This covered the area of was a butt-purlin, collar and tie. beam' truss, buildings 8 and 9 on units C and D and repre with lower king and queen struts (Cordingly sented the rebuilding of these structures, which 1961, 90, fig 11, type Vd, 4c). were presumably under common ownership. Building 6. Surviving parts were, the cellar and Other alterations to the structure included the walls of the ground floor, two plates, a spine and construction of a cellar behind unit A, and the diagonal beam on the first floor, and wall plate amalgamation first of units A and B and then of at the rear. The location of the front wall showed A to D. These are later than this period, and that it had been jettied over the High Street. their sequence can only be established on the The function of the diagonal beam is not clear, basis of the buildings survey (below). A coin of aithough it may have been placed to allow George II or III confirms the general date range access by ladder from the passage to the first of 'seventeenth century and later'. floor. The cellar continued behind the front bay of the building. Two reconstructions are Buildings Survey (by Christopher Catling, possible: (1) a lean-to structure at the back Geoffrey Cole and Martin Millett) covering the entrance to the cellar; (2) alterna The sequence of buildings on the site was tively there may have been a second bay at the complex because the buildings had been altered rear. We have no evidence to support either piecemeal since the sixteenth century and not alternative. It is possible that the passage indi redeveloped as a whole. As time and resources cates a building with a hall at the rear, behind were limited, the buildings survey was concen the shop. trated on the earlier phases and the whole Period V (Fig 8). Building 'O' was demolished sequence was worked out in outline only. The and building 6 continued in use. On unit C and survey plans were produced by Geoffrey Cole, D the previous structures were replaced by whose drawings have formed the basis for those building 8. This survived in the standing build published. In the following report the archaeo ing as a spine beam and plate perpendicular to M MILLETT: JOHNSON'S CORNER, ALTON 89 it. The spine beam and joists were well carpen ownership is inescapable: tered and had chamfered edges suggesting a 2 Market Street unit E (Fig 4). This building, ceiling of exposed beams which is consistent which also appears on the 1666 map (Fig 17), with the Jacobean date suggested above. was not surveyed because of its dangerous Period VI (Fig 8). Two buildings are datable to condition. Some general conclusions can how Period VI, building 7 inserted on unit A, and ever be drawn. building 9 on unit C. Building 7 consisted of a The ground floor walls and the chimney of an plate, built against the wall between 52 and 54 older dwelling survived in the structure of an High Street, into which were housed a pair of otherwise nineteenth century workshop. These spine beams. These were also housed into the walls were coursed in English bond, which already existing wall plate of building 6. The became obsolete with the introduction- of remainder of this structure had been destroyed Flemish bond in the early to mid-seventeenth by subsequent building, except for the remains century (Cruickshahk and Wyld 1975, 178). of the truss at the back of the building adjacent The thinness of the bricks and their irregularity to building 6. The chimney in this structure, in size further indicates a pre-eighteenth century removed on the ground floor but surviving on date (dimensions vary from 8.1/4 to 8.1/2 inches the first, was probably original. long and from 4 to 4.3/8 inches wide, with an Building 9 was inserted between buildings 6 unvarying depth of 2.1/4 inches). In plan the and 8. The only structural timber surviving was building consisted of a large axially placed a spine beam which ran at a slight angle to the double-sided chimney, with one heated room side of building 6. To facilitate the insertion of either side, and a further unheated room leading this new building the first floor wall of building 6 off the westernmost of the two. The sole was rebuilt in timber and brick and it is pre entrance to the house was into a small lobby sumed that on the High street frontage the consisting of the space between the flank of the building was refronted and the jetty bricked-in. chimney, and the southern side of. the building. The joists of the first floor of building 9 were According to Mercer (1974, 60—61) this 'lobby housed into a new wall plate on the first floor entrance plan' was ubiquitous in south-eastern of building 6. On the other side, the joists of England from the end of the sixteenth century building 9 rested on dentilations on the wall onwards. The evidence therefore suggests that plate of building 8. The top of diis frame was no. 2 Market Street was an early- to mid- housed into a new truss which indicates that seventeenth century dwelling of timber and building 6 was re-roofed. The refurbishment of brick, whose upper storey was rebuilt in the building 6 in this phase included work on the nineteenth century. cellar (above, 86). The nature of the alterations Period VII. This marks the beginning of a suggests joint ownership of buildings 6 and 9. series of alterations to the buildings which are The buildings appear on the 1666 map (Fig 17) only listed in outline, as they have little bearing as a pair of two-bay structures suggesting the on the overall development of the site. pairing of buildings 6 and 7, and buildings 8 and a) The wall between building 8 and 9 was re 9. This therefore suggests that the whole set of built in brick, but incorporated the timber properties may have had the same owner, and surviving on the first floor, that the Period V alterations were part of the b) Lean-to structures were added behind units same programme as the period VI alterations. It A to D, joining them to unit E. may be no coincidence that during the Period V Period VIII. When the buildings on the plot and VI alterations there can have been only one were amalgamated into a single unit in the nine building fit for occupation at any one time (ie, teenth century, a series of alterations were building 6 in V; building 8 in VI). If periods V made: and VI are taken as two parts of the same a) The frontage was changed so that windows redevelopment, as the chronology outlined were equally spaced on the first floor, above suggests, the conclusion about common b) Internal walls were demolished and a 90 HAMPSHIRE FIELD CLUB AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY
50-52 HIGH STREET
PERIOD IV
Fig 8a. Johnson's Corner: isometric reconstruction drawing of nos 50-52 High Street in Period IV. Surviving timbers are shown with solid black on one. side. See Fig 8b for scale. common stairway inserted in the interior with These three changes were probably all part of consequent changes in other rooms. the same phase of alteration. Period IX. a) Between c 1863 and c 1880 the facade of the structure was altered by the Summary addition of a third storey. This had a timber The wealth of information available for the frame with lathe and plaster infill. The interior site presents problems in synthesis. The was fitted out with stained pine panelling, sequence is clear, with a series of four late b) In the 1890s planning consent was granted medieval properties being rebuilt and the site for the extension of the shop frontage on the terraced in the sixteenth.century.These buildings ground floor across units C and D, were then successively amalgamated until they c) Consent was also granted in the 1890s for eventually became a single unit. Alterations to the addition of a second storey to unit E. the buildings were piecemeal, and the remains M MILLETT: JOHNSON'S CORNER, ALTON 91
PERIOD V
Fig 8b. Johnson's Corner: isometric reconstruction drawings of nos 50-52 High Street in Periods V and VI. Surviving timbers are shown with solid black on one side. 92 HAMPSHIRE FIELD CLUB AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY
Trench Al Trench A2
2m
Trench Al
NCTURAL PrrP2 PrrPl
Trench A2
Fig 9. Johnson's Corner: plan and sections of Trenches Al and A2 beneath no 4 Market Street (for location see Fig 3).
of several of the earlier buildings were therefore 1551 and 1633, the date of his inventory. incorporated in the latest structure. Because building 6 was structurally earlier than In the present stage of documentary research, building 7, which can be identified as Hugh it is difficult to relate known persons to the Gander's house of 1622, this date range can be known buildings, particularly in die earlier narrowed to 1551 to 1622. Richard Fielder periods. The rental of 1499 probably refers to probably built building 8 in the mid-seventeenth units B, C and D, and this same area was century, whilst his widowed mother continued referred to as a garden in 1550. This may indi to occupy building 6. Before 1694 the properties cate that the buildings of this period were un passed to William Gill, and it was probably he occupied or derelict. The construction of build who constructed building 9 and undertook the ing 6 by John Fielder therefore dates to between renovation of building 6. M MILLETT: JOHNSON'S CORNER, ALTON 93
4 MARKET STREET: THE PLOUGH INN Archaeological Evidence (Fig 9) In both trenches the ground surface had been This building was obviously timber framed considerably lowered during alterations in the and was surveyed by Christopher Catling at the 1920s. This had truncated a series of intersect beginning of the excavation. Whilst this survey ing medieval pits (PI—P4). In trench Al the was in progress, two small trenches (Al and A2: sequence is PI (undated); P2 (late fifteenth^ Figs 3 and 9) were excavated beneath the floor early sixteenth century); and P3 (mid to late of the two rooms within the timber framed sixteenth century). The isolated pit, P4, in building. trench A2 is dated to the late-thirteenth- fourteenth centuries. It contained a complete Documentary Summary (by Georgia Smith) pot and substantial portions of two others (Figs This building was a public house known as 21—23). Their completeness suggests that they 'The Plough' from about 1840. As parcel No. may have been dumped during clearing-up 191 on the Tithe Map (Fig 17) it was listed as a operations prior to the construction of the shop and premises owned by Francis Little and present building on site. The pits give a terminus occupied by William Alderslade, described as a post quern of the late sixteenth century for the publican, in the census of 1841. It had been construction of the building. This is consistent erected on land belonging to Monk Place in the with the date given to the architecture, the doc early seventeenth century. However its rent was umentary evidence, and the dendrochonological not charged separately until 1694 (HRO study. 63M48/671) and ever afterwards it was gener ally paid by the owner of Monk Place until the nineteenth century. The building is depicted on Buildings Survey (by Christopher Catling) the 1666 map at which time it must have The building on this site was a two-bay, belonged to Robert Lamport, variously timber-framed structure, consisting of six princi described as a yeoman and a' miller. The pal posts, tie beams and wall braces (Fig 10). Lamports lived in the town from the sixteenth to The roof consisted of a butt-purlin, collar and the nineteenth century and owned several of the tie-beam truss, with queen struts and the prin mills along the Wey, in particular Spittal Mills. cipal rafters and diminishing common rafters Later owners of Monk Place were generally above the collar'(Cordingley 1961, 91, fig 12, ironmongers, another trade likely ' to employ type Ve, 3b). The roof frame was strengthened assistant labour who could have been housed in by single, large, concave wind-braces, and one this small building. gable was hipped. The main timbers were sub stantial but the rafters were thin, of uneven At the time that the Tithe Map was drawn shape and bore an inconsistent series of car there was a small area, Plot No 192, next to the penter's marks suggesting re-use. Wattle and Plough, which belonged to a cowkeeper who daub remained in one internal wall but nothing lived in the Market Place. It consisted of a survived to indicate the nature of the external cowshed and yard which extended to the front wall frame infilling. Contemporaneous with this building line of the Plough. Earlier it had been a building was a brick chimney with a wide stable and garden, but it is not possible to trace breast, recessed in raking tiers, projecting from this odd piece of land very far back. From its the western wall and gable. position however, it seems likely that it had been the back access to Monk Place. In 1898 James A mansard-roofed extension of the late eigh Allen was given planning approval to build a teenth century was built against the rear of the loft over the then existing stable, and eventually western bay, and there was a contemporaneous the whole strip of land was taken into the yard of cellar beneath this extension. In the nineteenth the Plough. century major alterations gave it a new brick facade and destroyed most of the eastern bay and ground floor frame. The floors were lowered 94 HAMPSHIRE FIELD CLUB AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY
4 MARKET STREET 'THE PLOUGH'
Fig 10. Johnson's Corner: isometric reconstruction drawing of no 4 Market Street. Surviving timbers are shown with solid black on one side. M MILLETT: JOHNSON'S CORNER, ALTON 95 in the 1930s. The remaining building on the site, Market. No record of the lease has yet been consisting of bathrooms, kitchen and public found in any rental to resolve the question. It dining room were granted planning consent for appears to have been built on by the time the construction in 1928. 1666 map was drawn. A sample of oak from the central frame (sample IV) was submitted for dendrochono- Archaeological Evidence logical dating. The date given is 1608±9. As the In the yard east of no 6 sufficient space was building appears on the 1666 map, and time available to excavate a single trench 6m X 3m should be allowed for seasoning, the structure extending to the yard wall on the eastern side. was probably built between c 1630 and 1666. Although thin, the archaeological deposit was sealed by a clinker yard surface which had pro Summary tected it from recent disturbance. The following The site was part of the Monk Place property periods of occupation were recognised. and was used only as a backyard and cess pit Period I. The natural gravel of the site had area until the early seventeenth century. Their originally sloped steeply towards Market Street location suggests that the cess pits may have (Fig 2). This slope was terraced in Period I been associated with the High Street buildings. removing any evidence of previous activity on the site. The terrace had cut into the slope by about 0.6m; on the top of die slope were a series of 6-8 MARKET STREET AND THE stake holes which are interpreted as a hurdle ADJACENT YARD (Fig 3) fence. No evidence of structures had survived The imposing structure of the late Victorian the later disturbance at the front of the terrace. Loe's Bakery (built c 1900) which occupied this There was no datable material from this period, site (Site A = AA77) was surveyed by Geoffrey although the earliest of the pits (see below) is Cole but is not discussed here. late fifteenth century. Since there is also an absence of build-up on the terrace surface it was Documentary Evidence (by Georgia Smith) probably constructed in die fifteenth century not Although eventually belonging to the Go- long before the pits. operative Stores, the three storey building with Period II. On the terrace was a series of cess oversailing sack hoist is best remembered locally pits, filled with domestic refuse. The sequence of as Loe's Bakery, completed in 1900. The Tithe pits was established stratigraphically and they Map (Fig 17) reveals that Plot No 193 had been can be individually dated on the basis of the the site of two houses owned by Jane Alderslade. pottery: pit A1 late fifteenth century; pit A2 late They were still in existence when the Ordnance fifteenth century; pit A3 late fifteenth-early Survey Plan of 1870 was drawn and may have sixteenth century; and pit A4 first half of the survived until c 1896. They can be traced back sixteenth century. These pits may have formed through Land Tax and Poor Rate Assessments part of the same series as Pl-4 in trenches Al to 1731 and John Hulett, sieve maker, to whom and A2 (above, 92). Wheuier or not they did, they were probably first leased. In his will their location adjacent to the street suggests that (proved Archdeacon's Court 1731) Hulett left it was not of importance at this time. his 'leasehold messuage on the south-west side Period III. The use of the area for cess pits of the street leading out of the High Street seems to have ceased in the mid-sixteenth cen towards the Market Place' to his son John, a tury although rubbish continued to accumulate baker who was living on the other side of the on the terrace. On the top of this refuse, Period street. Before being built on, the site could have III is represented by a series of irregularly been yet another part of the Monk Place placed post holes. They do not make any readily holding, as the boundaries on the Tithe Map recognisable pattern and are interpreted either suggest, or still part of the waste of Alton as outbuildings or as other features of the yard. Westbrook within the loosely defined area of the The pottery from these and the rubbish layer PERIOD I PERIOD II I
1r •**-k ®
«7J
2
PERIOD III PERIOD IV o X 2; 1ST 8 8
> 3 « m*
Fig 11. Johnson's Corner: phase plans of Trench A {for location see Fig 3). M MILLETT: JOHNSON'S CORNER, ALTON 97
a in '2zzzi=*zz2h.
CtlUr PWC
•U«U<(«1W - s&
- tb.12 -
Uwof (>wUg» No.10
HNIKET STREET E2 frraund (U nlU.
Fig 12. Johnson's Corner: plan of nos 10 and 12 Market Street showing the cellars and other features discussed in the text (for location see Fig 3).
(Layer 73) beneath, gave a sixteenth—seven Summary teenth century date for the period. There is no evidence for occupation until the Period IV. After accumulation of rubbish on fifteenth century and since that date the plot has top of the Period III post holes a chalk wall was been a yard and cess pit/latrine area. The fron built between the yards of 4 and 6-8 Market tage of the street cannot therefore have been Street on the eastern side of trench A. At the continuously built up at any time since then. same time a brick structure, later used as a latrine, was built over the Period II pits, trun cating the Period III deposits in that area. 10-12 MARKET STREET Three post holes, two obviously associated with the boundary wall also date-to. this period. The The western part of the building complex pottery suggests an (eighteenth-century date. which included 6-8 Market Street was earlier Period V. The brick building was converted than the bakery mentioned above. Part of it was into a latrine, connected to the main sewer in a dangerous state and it proved impossible which.crosses the site. Deposits built up in the either to survey it completely or to excavate yard to the south of this structure until they within it. were sealed by the clinker deposit early in this century. These deposits contained a consider Documentary Evidence (by Georgia Smith) able amount of nineteenth century pottery The facade of the block now lcnowri as no including stoneware jars bearing the inscription 10—12 Market Street has been altered several LOE ALTON, the wine merchant owner of 10 times in the last hundred years to meet the needs Market Street. of the grocery trade. Inside was a timber framed 98 HAMPSHIRE FIELD CLUB AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY structure of probably sixteenth century date. with a complex series of relationships which The, ownership of the building can be traced were not completely elucidated, although a sub back through the Alton Westbrook rentals to stantially complete survey was produced. The Christopher Walliston who died in 1563. The main elements were (Fig 12): brass to his memory in St Lawrence's Church a) No 10, frontage, which consisted of a long throws some light on this interesting man who warehouse with a large open loft which had been was a Groom to the Chamber and a Yostregere used as a grain and flour store for the bakery (Keeper of Goshawks) to the sovereigns from which occupied the rear of no 10. Henry VIII to Elizabeth I. He was also overseer b) No 10, rear. A wing at the rear perpendicu of the will of Thomas Stephens (Hockey 1976) lar to a) with a lean-to to its west. This included last Abbot of Beaulieu, rector of Bentworth, the chimney of the former bakery ovens (Fig 12). Treasurer of Salisbury Cathedral, who had The end of the wing facing Loe's Alley (Fig 3) bought some land in Alton, probably on included a timber frame although its dangerous VValliston's advice. There is other land in the state prevented survey. town connected with his. name and it would be c) No 12 Market Street, frontage. This struc unwise to assume that VValliston lived in Market ture, which included a timber frame (below) had Street. Two or three generations of the family been substantially altered so that in its existing lived in the town and it appears that in the form it consisted' of a house with central course of time they acquired more land in this chimney stack, and two main rooms on each area of the Market as their rent from property floor, one on either side of it. had increased by 1622. By the mid-seventeenth d) Rear of no 12 Market Street. This con century the house had been sold to Christian sisted of two rooms on each floor. Bryant and land at the back had been sold to These elements were in their final form by the John Gill of Pithams for a slaughter house. By mid-seventeenth to early eighteenth century. 1694 John Gill had also bought Walliston's old The sequence is not certain although c) was house, but the Pithams and VValliston properties earliest, with a) and b) later and d) probably at remained separate in the rentals. The will of the end. The relationship between a) and b) was Thomas Gill, maltster,, of 17.19 (proved Arch not established although it is likely that b) deacon's Court 1731) makes it clear that he was preceded a). Within these buildings were the not living in VValliston's and that it was let to remains of at least two earlier structures, a cellar Amy Wheeler, a widow, who subsequently beneath no 10, and the much altered remains of bought it. Judged by the evidence of'the Poor a timber frame within no 12. Rate Assessments and Land Tax, the house These remains were from two different remained one dwelling, and in the early years of properties, so that relating one to the other the nineteenth century was the home of a presents great difficulties. The cellar showed succession of glaziers until it was enfranchised in three major structural periods (Fig 12). Phase 1827. In 1832 it was bought by Francis Little, a C was the latest, on the basis of its brickwork, grocer and corn factor, who had already and Phase A was stratigraphicaliy earlier than acquired the Plough (no 4) and a house on the it. Phase B was stratigraphically later than opposite side of the street. In 1846 he added Phase A, but appeared from its walls, which Bulbecks and Pithams to his small empire and it were of stone, to be earlier than the brickwork of was on this foundation that Edwin Loe built his Phase C. The timbers in the ceiling of Phase A extensive business as grocer, baker and wine were primary, as they were substantial and had merchant in the late nineteenth century. sequential carpenter's marks. Sections from two of these timbers were submitted for dendro- Buildings Survey (by Christopher Catling, chronological assessment and gave a felling date Geoffrey Cole and Martin Millett) off 1505. This suggests that the cellar was built The present building on the site consists of a in the early sixteenth century. The Phase B complex of structures (Fig 3) of various periods extension was later although there is no M MILLETT: JOHNSON'S CORNER, ALTON 99
12 MARKET STREET
, 2 metres
Fig 13. Johnson's Corner: isometric reconstruction of no 12 Market Street. Surviving timbers are shown with one side in solid black. The roof truss is reconstructed from surviving re-used timbers and joints in timbers in situ. 100 HAMPSHIRE FIELD CLUB AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY evidence to suggest how much. An examination primary door, opening onto the site of 14 of the infill behind the western wall of this phase Market Street. The phasing allows this, as no 12 B cellar extension, below the floor of no 10, was originally built in Period II of that site when showed that it had been builtwhilst the adjacent outbuildings stood there. site of 12 Market Street was vacant, since the The date of the primary structure of no 12 is construction trench went c lm to the west of difficult to assess as there is no excavated their common boundary. No 12 is therefore evidence, and dendrochronological samples , unlikely to be. earlier than the mid-sixteenth proved too small. Given its relationship to the century. Phase B cellar of no 10 and the fact that this was 12 Market Street had been considerably later than the Phase A cellar, which dated to just altered so that the final structure appeared to be after c AD 1505, a date before c 1550 seems an eighteenth century house of one build. difficult to accept. The historical evidence is of Within this several elements of a much earlier little more help, although the likelihood is that it timber frame survived. These were: was built before 1563 when Walliston died. A a) a substantial part of the timber frame date early in the third quarter of the sixteen within the western wall (ie, the party wall with century therefore seems likely. ' 14 Market Street); The alterations to this building seem to have b) a series of beams in the attic floor, with involved a single major refurbishment. The others re-used in the attic walls and roof; building was extended to the east and a chimney c) a spine beam on the first floor which had inserted in the centre. This required the removal been moved but which, on the basis of its of the original eastern wall, and the moving of dimensions, derived from the same structure as the first floor spine beam, which was turned a) and b). through 90° and had a short extra length bolted These features are shown in Fig 13 with the to its end so that it fitted between the front and roof and first floor spine beam replaced in their back walls. The roof was turned around so that original positions using the information pre the ridge was parallel to the street. Many of the served in the peg holes- and mortices of the in situ timbers from the original structure were re-used beams. This shows the building to have been a in the alterations which do not seem to have two-bay structure built gable end on to Market required the total demolition of the structure. Street. The roof had a butt-purlin, tie beam Dating evidence for these alterations is provided truss; the purlins being clasped against the by the 1666 map and a coin which was found principal rafters by curved angle braces. There below the attic floor. The map (Fig 17) shows is no exact parallel for this in Cordingley (1961), that the alteration in the roof line and the although compare his types Va-e (90-1, figs 11 insertion of the chimney took place before this and 12). date. An Alton token of 1652, of a class which Two features about the surviving structure of was in circulation until c 1670, was found the western wall are notable. Firstly, whereas beneath the attic floor on the ceiling of the the other buildings observed in the area seem to altered structure, and is consistent with a date have had their principal vertical posts housed in for the alterations some time before 1652—1666. a basal plate, this structure had a split plate The warehouse of No 10 Market Street (a, above with the post housed into it and resting on a 98) was stratigraphically later than these alter stone pad (cj below, no 14 Market Street, Period ations and of mid-seventeenth to early eight III) which formed part of the stone sleeper eenth century date on archaeological and arch wall. This seems to have been an early struc itectural grounds. tural feature retained for no obvious reason. Secondly, at the southern end of the stonework Summary in this wall, there was a large upright block This part of the site seems to have been built which coincided with the ends of two of the on by the early sixteenth century, earlier than beams in the-frame (Fig 13). This suggests a the area to the east, near to the High Street. The • M MILLETT: JOHNSON'S CORNER, ALTON 101 sequence suggests that the timber frame found more than a hundred years it was the home of within could be that of the building built for the the Clinker family of blacksmiths whose smithy courtier Christopher Walliston, although not was at the rear of the site, shown as Plot No 185 necessarily lived in by him. on the Tithe Map (Fig 17). For the last few years of its life the forge was in the hands of 14 MARKET STREET (Figs 3, 14, 15) Alfred Trimmer and a photograph taken in 1900 shows a brick and weatherboard shed opening This site (Site B = AB77), the nearest to the on to the alley where two blacksmiths are shoeing Market Square, occupied the end of the block horses on cobbles. In the background two of Mr bounded by Market Street, Loe's Alley and the Loe's carts stand in front of the open doors of the footpath joining the two. The house was cart house belonging to Bulbecke House in the demolished in 1904 and the plot had been High Street. vacant since then. Documentary Evidence (by Georgia Smith) Archaeological Evidence (Figs 14 and 15) Running through the series of rentals of this A trench 10m x 3m was excavated to estab site is the name Omydons which can be traced lish the relationship between Loe's Alley and back to the rental of c 1550 (BL Add Ch 27893) Market Street. The excavation was supervised which reads 'for four shammels late in the by David. Crowther who also prepared the holding of Roger Emyden, 8 PERIOD IIAC X V » if 5 » << ? i i "-- uw I I*--—=»-=.-. 0 * \_ / • '? •1 PERIOD III AB lit if * Fig 14.. Johnson's Corner: phase plans of Trench B, periods 0—III (for location see Fig 3). -1. - Later oil •or o First Blodumiih's ..7 Sfc* PERIOD IV V./.f i.'i.ljt±c: oo8i / \,7 &8" '" Second Blacksmith's Shop PERIOD VA-B Fig 15. Johnson's Corner: phase plans of Trench B, periods IV-V (for location see Fig 3). o 104 HAMPSHIRE FIELD CLUB AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY although there was little dating evidence. 1973, plate on cover). The mortar beam base Period III. The Period II structures were (59) at the rear was probably for a fence screen replaced, closer to Market Street, by a chalk ing the courtyard. The back door of the cellar floor (Fig 14, 65) cut by two stone sleeper walls opened on to the alley where the pump was which formed part of a structure facing Market located. Street and the alley to the west. There was little dating evidence but the pottery suggests a Summary sixteenth—seventeenth century date. A post pad This area was occupied before much of that (81) on the wall resembled that of no 12. The further down Market Street, probably because 1666 map shows a three storey building on this of its location on the gravel terrace, near to the site, and the depth of the building in comparison Market area. It is not certain whether the mid- with no 12 is consistent with the map. This to late-Saxon posthole was the beginning of a suggests that the Period III foundations are continuous sequence. The archaeological and those of the building shown. documentary evidence show that this was a Period IV. In Period IV the first of two phases thriving part of the Market until early in this of a blacksmith's shop was built facing Loe's century. Alley (Fig 15). At the same time the well was dug on the corner of the path and Loe's Alley. THE FINDS The blacksmith's shop floor consisted of sand Only summaries of the find reports are pre stone setts defined at the rear by a beam slot. sented below, with the full reports in the micro Towards the wall several posts indicated an fiche section attached (48-95). This contains extension. There was little datable pottery but the following: the documentary evidence (above) suggests that a) The coins and tokens - by R A Merson; it was built at the end of the eighteenth century. b) The small finds — by D R Crowther (includ Period V. Alterations to the blacksmith's shop ing Figs 19, 20); " and the construction of a house facing Market c) The Romano-British and Saxon pottery - Street marked the change from Period IV. The by M Millett; blacksmith's shop was rebuilt in Period VB with d) The medieval and post-medieval pottery - a brick floored extension to the west, and the by Katherine Owen (including Figs 21-26); rear wall was moved back. The sleeper beam of e) Tree ring analysis of timbers from four Period IV was sealed by the knapped flint setts of buildings — by Jennifer Hillam (including the extension which also surrounded the large Tables 1A and 2); post hole for a roof support (84). A photograph f) The plant remains — by F J Green (includ of 1900 "shows that the walls were of weather ing Tables 3-4); board. At this time the well was covered over by g) The animal bones — by Jennie Coy (includ a slab, and a pump connected to it was con ing Tables 5—10). structed. in the yard between the blacksmith's and the house facing Market Street, was con Summaries nected to it. The construction of the Period VA The coins and tokens (by R A Merson). A total of house facing Market Street involved further 21 coins and tokens was found. All are listed, lowering the level of the surface. In view of the although the majority are modern. Two Alton documentary evidence for continuity of use of farthing tokens of the seventeenth century were this plot it is likely that this removed the found. Research suggests that three sets of remains of previous structures. The house had initials on them are not those of town officials, as insubstantial brick footings and - a cellar. A previously suggested, but belong instead to local window to the cellar on the side facing 12 tradesmen. Market Street shows that the rear was recessed The Small finds (by D R Crowther). Large to make a small courtyard. A photograph how numbers of small finds were recovered, mostly ever shows a continuous frontage (Hawkins from post medieval contexts and many were M MILLETT: JOHNSON'S CORNER, ALTON 105 sample na xiv '? IX *9 same xvii tree xviii •7 —sapwooci mean ±9 vi ?H years AD It o s o S Fig 16. Johnson's Corner: block diagrams to show the relative positions of the matching samples. Arrows indicate the earliest possible felling date. H/S = heartwood/sapwood transition. The scale in years is based on cross-dating between Alton and the chronology from Wales and Ireland. The sample taken for radiocarbon analysis is shown by the solid block on XVII. associated with the blacksmith's shop at 14 Alton curve has been established for the years Market Street. The identifiable objects are listed AD 1384-1504, allowing the phase "A cellar of 10 and illustrated in Figs 19 and 20. Large blocks of Market Street to be dated to shortly after 1505. stone found in Trench C are probably derived The date for 4 Market Street was established at from the gateway between two buildings. ,1608±9 on the basis of comparison with Welsh The Romano-British and Saxon pottery (by Martinan d Irish chronologies. Millett). Only 5 sherds of pottery of these The plant remains (by F J Green). A wide range periods were recovered, all from a Period I post- of botanical material of medieval and postv hole in Trench B. One is probably mid- or late- medieval date was recovered from a series of pits Saxon although no exact parallel has been and floor levels, as well as from the daub of a found. wall at 4 Market Street. The material from soil The medieval and post-medieval pottery (by samples was comparable with that from other Katherine Owen). The pottery is very frag cess pits on other Hampshire urban sites, but mentary and few sherds are diagnostic. The the presence of grape and fig suggests compara material is therefore presented by fabric. tively high social status. The occurrence of Chronology for hitherto unknown local fabrics sycamore is possibly one of the earliest yet was established through their association with recorded in this country. The daub contained dated fabrics and on this basis the broad chron mainly wheat and. barley straw, but hop was ology for the excavations was established. All also present. The seeds from the daub were the illustratable sherds in each fabric are generally well preserved. presented in Figs 21—24 and graphs showing the The animal bones and shells (by Jennie Coy). incidence of fabrics through time are presented 5,714 fragments of bone were recorded, mostly in Figs 25—26. A fine medieval face jug of domestic cattle, sheep and pigs, in decreasing (unstratified) is shown in Fig 24. order of importance. Sieving increased the range Tree-ring analysis of timbers from four buildings of material and fowl, goose, deer, hare and (by Jennifer Hillam). Despite the problems rabbit were identified, as well as wild birds and presented by fast grown trees with wide growth marine fish. There seemed to be a trend in the rings, two buildings were successfully dated. An sixteenth-seventeenth century material towards 106 HAMPSHIRE FIELD CLUB AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY more sheep and fewer cattle. The high ratio of Monk Place. This suggests that pressure on land meat to non-meat bones suggests that prepared led Monk Place's owner to rent out, in the late cuts of meat were in use at this, date. This con fifteenth or early sixteenth century, the land on trasts with' earlier pits where there was a high the slope towards the river, leading to the piece ratio of non-meat bones in a rather small meal terracing of these areas at the same time as sample. the organised terracing on the High Street frontage, where pre-existing properties were re GENERAL DISCUSSION built. This section draws together information relat The 1666 map (Fig 17) shows this quarter as ing to the chronological, social and economic substantially built-up. The buildings were aspects of the site, and examines them in the aligned on three major routeways: the High light of our current knowledge of the town. Dis Street, Market Street, and Loe's Alley (also cussion of the early development of the town variously Snower's Hill and Back Lane) which which is only marginally relevant to this report meets the High Street opposite Turk Street (the will be reserved for a later paper (Millett in old Worldham Road: Fig 1). This alley, now no preparation). more than a footpath, seems to have been in decline in the post-medieval period when Chronological Development Market Street was becoming more important. It The site was so altered in the post-medieval was probably the major thoroughfare in the period that the earlier deposits were almost medieval period, joining the High Street and completely removed. Nevertheless certain basic Worldham Road with the Market, via the inferences can be drawn about the earlier his terrace-top route, rather than the slope where tory of this -area. It is clear from the material Market Street is located. beneath 52 High Street, and 4 and 12 Market The occupation of the frontage of Market Street that there had been activity on the site at Street beneath nos 4 and 6—8 by cess pits until least periodically from the late Roman period on the later sixteenth century, supports the view wards. The location of the earliest of this that Market Street was comparatively un material at the western end of the site (14 important until the seventeenth century. This, Market Street) is likely to be because of its also suggested by indications at 14 Market location on the edge of die gravel terrace, rather Street that the Loe's Alley frontage was built-up than because of proximity to the Market. The before Market Street. We therefore suggest that, location of the thirteenth century pits behind unit apart from the High Street frontage, the site was A of 50—52 High Street suggests that by this date back land on the river slope until the sixteenth plots on this part of the High Street on the slope century, when it was developed from the Market down to the river, were already occupied. This end. This development is seen as a result of implies expansion, since the flat terrace top in pressure on land, and resulted in the town the area around Westbrook House and in centre changing from being centred on the Normandy Street (Fig 1), would have been pre terrace, to being centred in the valley. ferable locations (Millett 1977). The first main phase of activity on all three Economic Aspects sites examined consisted of terracing for the The archaeological and historical evidence construction of buildings. These are not well offer considerable information about the dated although they appear to date to the late economic activities which took place on the site. 15th or early 16th century.-It has been suggested This information is summarised in Table 1, that this levelling implies common ownership of which shows the variety of specialist activities as 50-52 High Street. This is not so for the rest of well as their transient nature. The exception is the site, although Georgia Smith has been able the continued connection from the sixteenth to show in her documentary survey that several century to the eighteenth century of the High of the properties were originally rented from Street shops with butchers. M MILLETT: JOHNSONS CORNER, ALTON 107 WOO Sewer plan ^Y/y/ V///*s l rT~-±$ %* I =1 L J77777k /$>jffltf vm ^<&//y/A////!mWM^& /jQ£fiyt& >&/yyy>yyv/ lA ^Q1 A'//jr>^yA Fig 17. Johnson's Corner: extracts frorri the maps of 1666, 1842 and 1900 showing the development of the site. HIGH STREET MARKET STREET Date No 52 No 4 No 6 NO 8 NO 10 No 12 UNIT A UNIT B UNIT C UNIT D Mercer Alley hatter/ haberdasher cow sheds sieve maker Baker/Grocer — Tool maker/ patten maker Bakex/Grocer/Hlnemerchant Table 1. Johnson's Corner: summary of property uses, by date. Social Aspects High Street frontage, and those further up The economic aspects shed some light on the Market Street. It seems clear that the jettied social status of the area investigated. One or two building (52 High Street, Unit B, building 6) additional points can be made on the basis of the was a substantial and, for Alton, a high quality archaeological and architectural evidence. First, building. This fits with its attribution to a there seems to be some differentiation between mercer. Later on, the quality of the High Street the quality of the contemporary buildings on the buildings is higher than those on the Market 108 HAMPSHIRE FIELD CLUB AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY Street frontage. Building 8 at 50 High Street was vation. Finance for both the excavations and post- a quality Jacobean house with refinements such excavation work was provided by the Department of as an open beam ceiling, befitting its tradesman the Environment, whilst the East Hampshire District resident. This contrasts with 4 Market Street Council provided accommodation for the diggers, and the post-excavation work. The tools were lent by the which was built at about the same time with Farnham arid District Museum Society, and a flota poorer carpentry in a traditional form, tion Unit by Frank Green. more consistent with its function. The work on site was done, by volunteers too numerous to mention. Especial thanks are due to Acknowledgements Graham Huxley, Geoff.Cole, Christopher Catling, This project would have been impossible without David Crowther, Bettina Hartas and Beverley Smith the help and co-operation of a large number of indi who made the most important contributions. The viduals and organisations. Most important, I should Alton History and Archaeology Society undertook the like to thank Longley Ltd, especially Messrs Baird, routine finds processing. The report would not have Pollard' and Dines who not only allowed us early been completed without the work of the contributors, access but also gave considerable practical help. F W to whom I am extremely grateful. Drawings were pre Woolworth Ltd, the Hampshire County Museum pared by Martin Millett, except the pottery, drawn by Service and County Planning Department also did Joanna Mattingley, and the small finds, drawn by much to facilitate the smooth running of the exca David Crowther. REFERENCES (see also p4) Sources Jrom BL Sources Jrom HRO Add Ch 27820 (1398/9): Photocopy 30, map of Alton 1666. Egerton Rolls 2101 (1499). 63M48/671 (1694). AddCh 27889 (1622). 63M48/672 (1713). Add Ch 27892 (1632). 4M51/146 (Indenture 1635). Add Ch 27893 (c 1550). Other References Monuments Soc ns 9, 73—135. Baillie, M G L 1973 A dendrochrdnological study in IrelandCunliffe , B W 1964 Winchester Excavations 1949-1960 1, with reference to the dating of medieval and post Winchester. medieval timbers, PhD thesis, Queens Uni 1977 Excavations at Portchester Castle 3, versity of Belfast. London. 1974 A tree-ring chronology for the dating Cruikshank, D and Wyld, P 1975 London: the art of of Irish post-medieval timbers, Ulster Folk- Georgian building. life 20, 1-23. Collis, J 1978 Winchester Excavations 1949-1960 2, Baillie, M L G and Pilcher, J R 1973 A simple cross- Winchester. dating program for tree-ring research, Tree Fulford, M G 1974 The pottery, in Cunliffe, B W (ed) Ring Bull 33, 7-14. Excavations at Portchester Castle 1, 270-367. Barton, K J and Brears, F C D 1976 A medieval Giertz, V 1978 Wales and Western England, in pottery kiln at Bentley, Hampshire, Proc Fletcher, J M (ed) Dendrochronology in 32, 71-5. Europe, 160-1, Oxford. Bourdillon, J (nd) A digest of data for animal bone fromHawkins , C W 1973 The Story of Alton in Hampshire, SARC medieval sites at Quitter's Vault, St Alton. Michael's and Upper Bugle Street, unpl reportHockey, ; F 1976 The History of Beaulieu Abbey Hampshire SCM. 1204-1538. Cordingley.'R A 1961 British historical roof types and Holling, F W 1969 17th century pottery from Ash, their members: a classification, Trans Ancient Surrey, Post-Med Arch 3, 19-30. V M MILLETT: JOHNSON'S CORNER, ALTON 109 1971 A preliminary note on the pottery unpbl report for Alton.Arch Committee. industry of the Hampshire-Surrey borders, 1978 Rescue work on two sites in Alton, Surrey Arch Coll 68, 57-88. 1976, Rescue Arch in Hants 4, 4-9. Hollstein, E 1965 Jahrringchronologische Datierung Millett, M and Graham D forthcoming Excavations at von Eichenholzern ohne Waldkante, Neatham, Hampshire, 1969-79. Sonderdruck aus Bonnjb 165, 12-27. Moorhouse, S 1970 Finds from Basing House, Hamp Hiiber, B 1967 Seeburg, Burgaschisee-sud Dendro- shire (c 1540-1645) Part one, Post-med Arch chronologie, Acta Bemensia 2, 145-56. 4, 31-91. Hughes, M F 1976 The Small Towns of Hampshire, 1977 The Tudor Green Wares, in Cunliffe Winchester. 1977, 190-9. Hurst, J G 1964a Tudor Green Ware, in Cunliffe Vince, A 1977 Some aspects of pottery quantification, 1964, 140-2. Medieval Ceramics 1, 63—74. 1964b Stoneware Jugs, in Cunliffe 1964, Wetton, J L (ed) 1964 The Hampshire Seventeenth Century 142-4. Traders Tokens, Lymington. London Museum Catalogue 1940 London in Medieval Williamson, G C 1889 Trade Tokens issued in the Times. Seventeenth Century, repr Seaby, London. Matthews, L G and Green, H J M 1969 Post-medieval Wilson, D M and Hurst, J G (eds) 1960 Medieval pottery of the Inns of Court, Post-Med Arch Britain in 1959, Med Arch 4, 134-65. 4, 1-17. Wilson, D M and Hurst, J G (eds) 1961 Medieval Mercer, E 1974 English Vernacular Houses. Britain in 1960, Med Arch 5, 309-39. Millett, M 1977 Alton: The Archaeological Potential, Author: Martin Millett, Department of Archaeology, University of Durham, 46 Saddler Street, Durham DH1 3NU. This report is published with the aid oj grants jrom the Department oj the Environment and East Hampshire District Council. Crown copyright is reserved in respect of material in it resulting Jrom public expenditure. ® Hampshire Field Club and Archaeological Society.