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

Britwell Hill Farm, nr Britwell Salome, Watlington, Oxfordshire

Archaeological Watching Brief

by Andrew Mundin and Maisie Foster

Site Code: BHF18/172

(SU 6884 9183) Britwell Hill Farm, nr Britwell Salome, Watlington, Oxfordshire

An Archaeological Watching Brief

for Mr and Mrs Perrin

by Andrew Mundin and Maisie Foster

Thames Valley Archaeological Services Ltd

Site Code BHF 16/148

September 2019 Summary

Site name: Britwell Hill Farm, nr Britwell Salome, Watlington, Oxfordshire

Grid reference: SU 6884 9183

Site activity: Archaeological Watching Brief

Date and duration of project: 9th January - 21st March 2019

Project coordinator: Danielle Milbank

Site supervisor: Will Attard, David Sanchez, Anne-Michelle Huvig, Pierre-Damien Manisse

Site code: BHF 16/148

Summary of results: Trenching for footing and service trenches ahead of construction of a new extension, and stripping for a new access road took place under archaeological supervision. However no deposits nor artefacts of archaeological interest were revealed.

Location and reference of archive: The archive is presently held at Thames Valley Archaeological Services, Reading and will be deposited with Oxfordshire Museums Service 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 All TVAS unpublished fieldwork reports are available on our website: www.tvas.co.uk/reports/reports.asp.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 25.09.19 Steve Preston 25.09.19

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 Britwell Hill Farm, nr Britwell Salome, Watlington, Oxfordshire An Archaeological Watching Brief

by Andrew Mundin and Maisie Foster

Report 18/172

Introduction

This report documents the results of an archaeological watching brief at Britwell Hill Farm, nr Britwell Salome,

Watlington, Oxfordshire, OX49 5HD (SU 6884 9183) (Fig. 1). The work was commissioned by Mr Rory

Duncan of Johnstone Cave Associates, Henwood Studio, Wootton, Boars Hill, Oxford, OX1 5JX, on behalf of the owners, Mr and Mrs Perrin, of West Cottage, Britwell hill Farm, c/o Stuart A Johnson Consulting Ltd, 10

Fitzroy Mews, London W1T 6DL

Planning permission (15/S9145/HH and revised with 18/2338/HH) has been has been approved by South

Oxfordshire District Council for the reordering/landscaping of the site, demolition or conversion of existing buildings and a new extension leading to amalgamation of several built elements, namely West Cottage and

Britwell Hill Farm, to form a single property. The earlier permission was subject to a condition (4), requiring an archaeological watching brief to be maintained during the groundworks.

This is in accordance with the Department for Communities and Local Government’s National Planning

Policy Framework (NPPF 2012), and the District Council’s policies on archaeology. The work was undertaken to a specification approved by Mr Richard Oram, Planning Archaeologist of Oxfordshire County Council, the archaeological advisers to the District for the 15/S9145/HH consent. The fieldwork was undertaken by Will

Attard, David Sanchez, Anne-Michelle Huvig and Pierre-Damien Manisse from 9th January to 19th March 2019 and the site code is BHF 16/148.

The archive is presently held at Thames Valley Archaeological Services, Reading and will be deposited at

Oxfordshire Museums Service in due course.

1 Location, topography and geology

The site is located south of Watlington and south-east of Britwell Salome (Fig. 1), at the top of Britwell Hill, part of the Chiltern Scarp, commanding views over the Oxford Clay vale, to the north-west. The brick-built buildings at the farm, namely West Cottage and Britwell Hill Farmhouse, are mostly 19th century, with the main residence

West Cottage recently converted (Fig. 2). The farm and its setting are rural, with the farm detached from other settlement, and undulating fields and woodland to the north and steeply sloped open to the west and south west.

The natural geology is clay-with-flints over Lewes Nodular Chalk of the Chiltern Scarp (BGS Geoindex;

BGS 1980). The site lies at a height of 228m above Ordnance Datum (OD).

Archaeological background

The site’s archaeological potential stems from its location of the site on the Chiltern Scarp, as the chalk downland in Oxfordshire is rich in archaeological features of later prehistoric date. The hill, and a portion of the original manor below were held by the Anglo-Saxon, Bishop Wulfstan, though later given as a gift by Emma of

Normandy (AD985-1052), wife of King Canute to the Priory of Canterbury, and with other local holdings (VCH

1964). A settlement, known as Britwell Prior, including a tenant farm for the Priory, had its own church and strips of open land (VCH 1964). At enclosure in the 19th century, the original parish shrunk to a single township, known as Britwell Salome that lies at the bottom of the scarp slope, c.1km north-west of the site.

Earlier features of archaeological interest have been seen as cropmarks on Britwell Hill, with details held in the Oxfordshire Historic Environment Record (HER). A ploughed-out ring ditch, thought to be a levelled Bronze

Age barrow (12660), lies 500m north-west of the site. An Iron Age field system and enclosure is also visible

(13610). The Ridgeway path, with close links to the Icknield Way, lies just to the west, following the foot of the scarp slope. A small scatter of Roman coins and Medieval pottery have also been recorded close by. A linear earthwork, assumed to be a Saxon territorial boundary, 400m to the south, crosses the scarp slope on Swycombe

Down (13608).

Objectives and methodology

The purpose of the watching brief was to excavate and record any archaeological deposits affected by the works.

This involved monitoring of all areas of intrusive groundworks and included observation of surface stripping, the excavation of foundations and service trenches, landscaping works and all other invasive work as necessary. All

2 trenching and ground level reduction was undertaken with a small 3600 type excavator fitted with a 0.6m wide toothless ditching bucket under constant archaeological supervision. Spoil heaps were monitored frequently for archaeological material.

Results

The ‘site’ lay between two already existing buildings, West Cottage and Britwell Hill Farm. (Figs 2 and 3 ).

Invasive groundworks observed comprised stripping for a new access road and trench digging for services and foundaions.

Access Road

The new access road lay to the south east of the site. Prior to the work commencing on the new access road, solar panels had been removed from the land leaving the top c. 0.4m of ground disturbed. The strip for the new access road varied from 5m wide at the entrance to 3m wide as it drew closer to Britwell Hill Farm. Under archaeological supervision c. 0.3m of overburden was removed to reveal a soft yellow silt deposit. Modern truncations were observed, most probably associated with the removal of the solar panels. No archaeological features or finds were recorded from this area.

Footing trenches

Footing trenches were excavated under archaeological supervision to the north east of West Cottage and south east of Britwell Hill Farn (Figs 3 and 4). The trenches went to a maximum depth of 0.95m. Natural geology was observed at a consistent depth of 0.4-0.45m in all trenches, and consisted of a mid yellow clay with frequent flint inclusions. A number of modern disturbances and truncations were observed relating to the pre-existing buildings on site. A modern, recently infilled well was recorded in the footings trench to the north east of West

Cottage.

Service trenches

Two services trenches were excavated under archaeological supervision during the watching brief (Figs 3 and 4).

Both L-shaped in plan, they were dug to a maximum depth of 1.1m. The first trench ran alongside Britwell Hill

Farm and the second connected an outer building to the newly added soakaway for a septic tank to the south east

3 of the farm. Natural geology was observed at a consistent depth of 0.40-0.45m in both trenches, and consisted of a mid yellow clay with frequent flint inclusions. No archaeological deposits were observed.

Soakaway

Located c. 5m away from the northern end of Britwell Hill Farm the soakaway for the septic tank was dug to a depth of 2.2m( (Fig. 3). At a depth of 0.4m the natural geology was reached. Consisting of a compacted chalk with mid brown clay patches, a change in the natural geology was observed. The geology in this area was heavily truncated by modern trenches, most likely associated with the construction of the existing buildings.

No deposits of archaeological interest were noted and no finds were recovered in any areas observed during the archaeological watching brief.

Conclusion

Various components of the groundworks for the new development were archaeologically monitored. However, no deposits of archaeological interest were observed and no finds were recovered.

References

BGS, 1980, British Geological Survey, 1:50 000, Sheet 254, Solid and Drift Edition, Keyworth NPPF, 2012, National Planning Policy Framework, Dept Communities and Local Government, London VCH, 1964, ‘Parishes: Britwell Salome’. In M D Lobel (ed), A History of the County of Oxford, Vol. 8, Lewknor and Pyrton Hundreds’, 43-55, British History Online, http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/oxon/vol8/pp43-55 [accessed 12th December 2018]

95000

Banbury

Bicester SITE

Witney

Thame 94

94 94000 Abingdon OXFORD

Didcot Wantage Wallingford Henley-on -Thames

93000

SITE 92

92 92000

91000 90

90 90000

SU67000 68000 69000 70000 BHF 16/148 Britwell Hill Farm, near Britwell Salome, Watlington, Oxfordshire, 2019 Archaeological Watching Brief Figure 1. Location of site in relation to Britwell Salome and Watlington and within Oxfordshire. Reproduced under licence from Ordnance Survey Explorer Digital mapping at 1:25000 Crown Copyright reserved 88

88 68 70 4 4 6 6 8 8 8 9 0 0 0 0 m m

191800m 191800m

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0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50

BHF 16/148 Britwell Hill Farm, Britwell Salome, Watlington, N OS MasterMap 1250/2500/10000 scale Thursday, SeOxfordshire,ptember 26, 2019, ID: B2019W1-00830266 mArchaeologicalaps.blackwell.co.uk Watching Brief Figure 2. Detailed1:1250 sca lelocationprint at A4, Cofent resite: 468 8off40 E , Britwell191685 N Hill Road.

©Crown Copyright Ordnance Survey. Licence no. 100041041 Reproduced from Ordnance Survey Digital Mapping under licence. Crown copyright reserved. Scale 1:1250 91800

Footprints of proposed new structures

Service trench

Footing 91700 trenches

Britwell Hill West Cottage Septic Tank Farm Service trench

Access road

Britwell Hill

91600

BHF 16/148 SU88800 68900

N Britwell Hill Farm, near Britwell Salome, Watlington, Oxfordshire, 2019 Archaeological Watching Brief

Figure 3. Site plan showing areas observed..

0 100m W E 228.0maOD

Concrete

Made Ground (Dark Brown Silt)

Natural geology (Mid brown clay with flint pieces)

BHF 16/148 Britwell Hill Farm, Britwell Salome, Watlington, Oxfordshire 2019 Archaeological Watching Brief

Figure 4. Representative Section of foundation trench

0 1m Plate 1. Footings Trench running alongside West Cottage, looking SE, Scales: 2m and 0.3m.

Plate 2. View of Footings Trenches, looking SE, Scales: 1m.

BHF 16/148 Britwell Hill Farm, Britwell Salome, Watlington, Oxfordshire 2019 Archaeological Watching Brief Plates 1 and 2. Plate 3. Modern Well seen in section of footings trench, looking NE, Scales: 1m and 1m.

Plate 4. Soakaway Trench for Septic Tank, looking SW, Scales: 1m and 1m.

BHF 16/148 Britwell Hill Farm, Britwell Salome, Watlington, Oxfordshire 2019 Archaeological Watching Brief Plates 3 and 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)