T H A M E S V A L L E Y AARCHAEOLOGICALRCHAEOLOGICAL S E R V I C E S
New Grain Store, Hall Farm, Lillingstone Lovell, Buckinghamshire
Archaeological Watching Brief
by Steve Crabb
Site Code: HFL12/29
(SP7125 3987)
New Grain Store, Hall Farm, Lillingstone Lovell, Buckinghamshire
An Archaeological Watching Brief
For Mr J Culley
by Steven Crabb
Thames Valley Archaeological Services
Ltd
Site Code HFL 12/29
April 2012 Summary
Site name: New Grain Store, Hall Farm, Lillingstone Lovell, Buckinghamshire
Grid reference: SP7125 3987
Site activity: Watching Brief
Date and duration of project: 5th–8th March 2012
Project manager: Steve Ford
Site supervisor: Steven Crabb
Site code: HFL 12/29
Area of site: watching brief c. 600 sq m; earthwork survey c. 3.25 ha
Summary of results: Two brick-floors were revealed during the watching brief and were preserved in-situ. These may be from an outbuilding associated with the manorial buildings known to have been demolished in 1788.
Location and reference of archive: The archive is presently held at Thames Valley Archaeological Services, Reading and will be deposited at Buckinghamshire County Museum in due course.
This report may be copied for bona fide research or planning purposes without the explicit permission of the copyright holder. All TVAS unpublished fieldwork reports are available on our website: www.tvas.co.uk/reports/reports.asp.
Report edited/checked by: Steve Ford9 03.04.12 Steve Preston9 03.04.12
i Thames Valley Archaeological Services Ltd, 47–49 De Beauvoir Road, Reading RG1 5NR Tel. (0118) 926 0552; Fax (0118) 926 0553; email [email protected]; website: www.tvas.co.uk
New Grain Store, Hall Farm, Lillingstone Lovell, Buckinghamshire An Archaeological Watching Brief
by Steven Crabb
Report 12/29
Introduction
This report documents the results of an archaeological watching brief carried out at Hall Farm, Lillingstone
Lovell, Buckinghamshire (SP7125 3987) (Fig. 1). The work was commissioned by Mr James Harrison of Bowie
Lockwood, Coombe Abbey Farm, Coombe Fields Road, Binley, Coventry, on behalf of Mr John Culley, Hall
Farm, Lillingstone Lovell, Buckinghamshire.
Planning permission has been granted (11/02819/APP) by Aylesbury Vale District Council to construct a new grain store at Hall Farm, subject to a condition (3) which requires the implementation of a programme of a preliminary earthwork survey and a watching brief during the overburden removal and the digging of any foundations and service trenches. The is in accordance with Planning for the Historic Environment (PPS5 2010) and the District Council’s policy on archaeology.
The field investigation was carried out to a specification approved by Ms Eliza Alqassar of
Buckinghamshire County Archaeology Service, who advises the Local Planning Authority on archaeological matters. The fieldwork was undertaken by Steven Crabb between 5th and 8th March 2012 and the site code is
HFL 12/29.
The archive is presently held at Thames Valley Archaeological Services, Reading and will be deposited at
Buckinghamshire County Museum in due course.
Location, topography and geology
The site is located between the villages of Lillingstone Lovell to the north and Akeley to the south, both of which are to the north of Buckingham in north Buckinghamshire. (Fig. 2). The land is currently open farmland under grass, gently sloping from c. 95m to 90m above Ordnance Datum from north-east to south-west, to the south of the existing farm buildings. The underlying geology is Blisworth Clay (BGS 1969). There is a canalized stream to the west and south of the site and a spring feeding a drain to the east. There is also evidence for dried springs on the site.
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Archaeological background
The archaeological potential of the site has been highlighted in a briefing note provided by Ms Eliza Alqassar of
Buckinghamshire County Archaeology Service (Alqassar 2012) and from data within the county historic environment record. In summary, to the south of the proposal site, a number of earthworks correspond to a moat, fishponds and part of the formal gardens associated with a post-medieval manorial complex. The manor house itself was demolished in 1788. The current farm house is a grade II listed building with 17th century origins, and with other elements of the existing farm buildings dating to the 18th century. The site is located close to the village of Lillingstone Lovell which has Saxon origins and was documented in Domesday Book (Williams and
Martin 2002). Although the site lies a short distance from the current village centre in Medieval times the village would have encompassed a larger area (Jones and Page 2006, 206).
Objectives and methodology
The purpose of the watching brief was two-fold: firstly to survey any earthworks on or close to the proposal site prior to the commencement of any groundworks; and secondly to excavate and record any archaeological deposits affected by the groundworks.
The specific research aims of the project were:
to determine if archaeologically relevant levels have survived on this site;
to determine if archaeological deposits of any period are present; and
to determine whether archaeological deposits relating to late Saxon, medieval or early post-
medieval settlement are present.
The upstanding earthworks were recorded using a Korec GPS unit as a walkover survey, initially this survey was restricted to c. 30m around the area of the groundworks, but this was further extended to include a larger area of the site. This was supplemented by digital photographs of some of the features.
The removal of overburden and levelling of the site of the new grain store was to be observed and any features uncovered during this process were to be hand cleaned and recorded. The excavation of footing and service trenches was also to be observed.
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Results
Earthwork survey A number of earthworks were observed both within the area of the new grain store and to one side. These earthworks consisted of a roughly circular mound and a linear feature on the western side (Figs 2 and 3). The circular earthwork was subsequently investigated and shown to be a pile of recent demolition debris as suspected. The other earthworks present to the south are considered to include fish ponds and a house platform along with other landscaping features (Fig. 2; Pl. 1).
Watching Brief The site of the new grain store, 27m by 20, with a 7m by 6m extension to the west, was stripped of topsoil with a
360° type machine to allow a stable base for a layer of hardcore to be spread forming the base of a slab. The topsoil removed was between 0.05m at the northern side and 0.25m thick at the southern side. This revealed across the site a layer of made ground and rubble consisting of brick, tile and stone fragments within a mid grey brown silty clay (52). Three pieces of clay pipe, one piece of bottle glass and one lead fitting were recovered from this layer. This directly overlay two brick surfaces (53 and 54) which consisted of bricks laid flat (Fig. 4;
Pl. 2). Surface 53 comprised an area approximately 4m by 5m, and 54 was approximately 3m by 1.2m. Both were composed of bricks laid flat in a stretcher-type pattern, with no mortar bond. These floors were part of a structure formed with earth and stone built walls, of which the base only remained. These foundations are roughly 1.0m across and have not been fully exposed. Recessed into the floor was a short section of flint 1.0m long and 0.2m wide possibly used as a footing for an internal wall. Beside this in 53 was a length of iron bar
0.1m wide and c.1.0m long lying on the floor. These structural remains were below the level at which the slab was to be laid. They were covered with a geotextile mesh and a layer 0.3m thick of hardcore material was layered on top (Pl. 3). The development therefore preserved these floor deposits in- situ.
Twenty footing trenches were then excavated through the layer of hardcore using a 360° type machine, as shown in Figure 3. The footings for the main building measured 1.4m wide by 1.6m long and 0.8m deep. The stratigraphy revealed typically comprised 0.2m of hardcore over 0.4–0.6m of made ground (Pl. 4). When the footing trenches were deep enough to reach the underlying natural geology on the northern side and south western corner only, this was revealed as a mid brown grey. No archaeologically deposits were observed below
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the made ground in any of the footings. Made ground observed in footings along the western edge had an increased amount of large lumps of sandstone, potentially masonry, but none had been obviously faced.
Finds
Metalwork by Steven Crabb A single copper alloy token was recovered from the made ground removed from the south-eastern corner footing. It measures 20mm in diameter with a small amount of damage to one edge (pl. 5). It has been hammered and given the thin material this has led to a concave shape on the obverse side. The obverse of the coin has three fleur de lys and three crowns interspersed equally in the central ring. The outer ring consists of inward facing isosceles triangles. The reverse also follows a basic six-fold symmetry with an inner ring of three points interspersed with three semi-circles, being the base for a central symbol of a circle intersected with a T-shape which terminates in a trefoil mark. As with the obverse the outer ring consists of inward facing isosceles triangles. There is no inscription or indication of a date mark on either side. It is a ‘rose/orb’ jetton of an anonymous Nuremberg issue dating to the late sixteenth to early seventeenth century (c. 1555- 1604). A similar issue to those by the master families of Schultes and Krauwinkel II, but without a legend identifying the maker.
A ferrous strap measuring 0.1m by 1.0m long was observed on site. It lay directly on brick floor 53.
A lead fitting was recovered from made ground (52). It consisted of a loop over a cap, this is possibly a fitting for the top of a container, which has unfortunately not survived.
Ceramic Building Materials by Danielle Milbank During the watching brief, two brick surfaces were encountered. An individual brick sample was retained from each of the two surfaces and these were examined at x10 magnification.
The brick from surface 53 measures 250mm by 125mm by 45mm, though it is slightly thicker (48mm) in the middle. The form is neat, with sharp arrises, and the underside is rough, indicating that it was made using a sanded mould. The brick is unfrogged. The fabric is a hard, well-fired clay with fairly well sorted rounded quartz sand inclusions. There are occasional small quartz pebbles (1 to 2mm) and very occasional flint inclusions 10 to
15mm. The colour is a medium to dark red with a grey reduced core.
The brick from surface 54 measures 235mm by 115mm by 45–47mm, and the form is very similar to the first brick sample. The brick was complete so the exterior only could be examined, and it appeared to be very
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similar in terms of fabric and firing to the brick from surface 53. There is a thin coating of a sandy yellow-white mortar on the bed and four length-thickness sides.
Accurately dating brick samples can be problematic, even when all the dimensions are known, and other factors such as fabric, colour and moulding technique must be taken into account. The dimensions of both bricks are typical of ‘Early Tudor’, or equally, of 17th-century bricks. On the basis of colour, fabric, and the sharpness of the moulding, it is more likely to be the latter. The durable nature of bricks often results in their re-use and the mortar observed on one of the two suggests that these bricks may have been reused to form the floor surface.
Clay Pipe by Steven Crabb Three pieces of clay pipe were recovered: all were stems with one piece having a heel, the form of which suggests a date of mid to late 18th century.
Glass by Steven Crabb A single base-piece of black bottle glass was recovered..
Conclusion
The earthwork survey revealed potential features on the site of the new grain store. However, these were revealed to be dump material from the demolition of previous structures on the farm.
The stripping of the site uncovered a brick floor and wall foundations possibly from the 17th century, but perhaps later, as the bricks appear to have been reused. The finds recovered from the made ground above suggest an 18th-century date or later date for the disuse of this structure. It seems likely therefore that this is a part of the manorial complex of which the main house was demolished in 1788. These may be the remains of other structures demolished at the same time.
References Alqassar, E, 2012, ‘Design Brief for New Grain Store, Hall Farm, Lillingstone Lovell’, Buckinghamshire County Council, Aylesbury BGS, 1969, British Geological Survey, 1:50,000, Sheet 202, Solid and Drift Edition, Keyworth Hammond, M, 1981, Bricks and Brickmaking, Haverfordwest Harley, L S, 1974, ‘A Typology of Brick; with numerical coding of brick characteristics’, J Brit Archaeol Assoc 3rd ser 37, 63–87 Jones, R and Page, M, 2006, Medieval Villages in an English Landscape, Macclesfield PPS5, 2010, Planning for the Historic Environment, The Stationery Office, Norwich Williams, A and Martin, G H, 2002, Domesday Book, a complete translation, London
5 SITE
Milton Keynes
Buckingham
Aylesbury
88000
High Wycombe
87000
SITE
86000
SP34000 35000 HFL 12/29 New Grain Store, Hall Farm, Lillingstone Lovell, Buckinghamshire, 2012 Archaeological watching brief Figure 1. Location of site within Lillingstone Lovell and Buckinghamshire. Reproduced from Ordnance Survey Explorer 192 and 207 at 1:12500 Ordnance Survey Licence 100025880 40000
Pond Hall Farm
39900
Watching brief area
39800
plate 1
in ra D
39700
Issues
39600
71400 SP71100 71200 71300 HFL 12/29
N New Grain Store, Hall Farm, Lillingstone Lovell, Buckinghamshire, 2012 Archaeological watching brief
Figure 2. Location of site and adjacent areas of earthworks.
0 100m 39920
Hall Farm
39900
39880
Stripped area
Figure 4
Excavated post pads
29860
39840
39820
SP71220 71240 71260 71280 HFL 12/29
N New Grain Store, Hall Farm, Lillingstone Lovell, Buckinghamshire, 2012 Archaeological watching brief
Figure 3. Area observed during watching brief.
0 25m Edge of stripped area
Footing pad
Ston e and earth wall
Flint wall footing
Brick floor Iron bar 53
Stone step
Disturbed brick floor and wall
Brick floor l l a 54 t w u c h t r n a o e i t c d u n r a t s e n n o o t C S
HLF 12/29
N New Grain Store, Hall Farm, Lillingstone Lovell, Buckinghamshire, 2012 Archaeological Watching Brief
Figure 4. Detail of the exposed brick floor and walls.
0 2.5m Plate 1. Earthworks to south of site looking south east
Plate 2. Brick floor surface 54, Scales: 1m and 2m. HFL 12/29
New Grain Store, Hall Farm, Lillingstone Lovell, Buckinghamshire, 2012 Archaeological watching brief Plates 1 and 2. Plate 3. Hardcore and geotextile mesh laid which preserved the brick floors in-situ looking south west.
Plate 4. Foundation pad hole, south east corner,looking north, Scales: 1m and 0.5m HFL 12/29
New Grain Store, Hall Farm, Lillingstone Lovell, Buckinghamshire, 2012 Archaeological watching brief Plates 3 and 4. Plate 5. Obverse and reverse of 16th century copper alloy token, Scale: 50mm
HFL 12/29
New Grain Store, Hall Farm, Lillingstone Lovell, Buckinghamshire, 2012 Archaeological watching brief Plate 5 TIME CHART
Calendar Years
Modern AD 1901
Victorian AD 1837
Post Medieval AD 1500
Medieval AD 1066
Saxon AD 410
Roman AD 43 BC/AD 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, Berkshire, RG1 5NR
Tel: 0118 9260552 Fax: 0118 9260553 Email: [email protected] Web: www.tvas.co.uk