Oxted Quarry, Chalk Pit Lane, Oxted, Surrey

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1 Oxted Quarry, Chalk Pit Lane, Oxted, Surrey An Archaeological Recording Action For Southern Gravel Ltd by James McNicoll Norbury Thames Valley Archaeological Services Ltd Site Code OQS 08/50 July 2008

2 Summary Site name: Oxted Quarry, Chalk Pit Lane, Oxted, Surrey Grid reference: TQ Site activity: Archaeological Recording Action Date and duration of project: 28th April 22nd May 2008 Project manager: Steve Ford Site supervisor: Sean Wallis and James McNicoll-Norbury Site code: OQS 08/50 Area of site: 1.32ha Summary of results: A number of small pits were recorded across the site, mostly undated, but three seem to be of Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age origin from finds of Beaker pottery. They are considered to represent one or more occupation sites. A molluscan assemblage from a Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age pit showed the setting of the site was that of rough grassland and scrub. A single ditch, thought to be a boundary feature is tentatively dated to the middle or late Bronze Age. Location and reference of archive: The archive is presently held at Thames Valley Archaeological Services, Reading and will be deposited at East Surrey Museum in due course. This report may be copied for bona fide research or planning purposes without the explicit permission of the copyright holder Report edited/checked by: Steve Ford Steve Preston i Thames Valley Archaeological Services Ltd, De Beauvoir Road, Reading RG1 5NR Tel. (0118) ; Fax (0118) ; tvas@tvas.co.uk; website :

3 Oxted Quarry, Chalk Pit Lane, Oxted, Surrey An Archaeological Recording Action by James McNicoll-Norbury Introduction Report 08/50 This report documents the results of an archaeological recording action carried out at Oxted Quarry, Chalk Pit Lane, Surrey (TQ ) (Fig. 1). The work was commissioned by Mr Andrew Josephs of Andrew Josephs Ltd on behalf of Southern Gravel Ltd. Planning permission (app no TA93/0765) has been granted by Surrey County Council to extract chalk from the site and extend the existing quarry. The consent is subject to a condition (25) relating to archaeology, which required the implementation of a programme of archaeological investigation and recording. This is in accordance with the Department of the Environment s Planning Policy Guidance, Archaeology and Planning (PPG ), and the County Council s policies on archaeology. The field investigation was carried out to a specification approved by Mr Gary Jackson, Archaeology Officer with Surrey County Council. The fieldwork was undertaken by James McNicoll-Norbury and Sean Wallis between the 28th April and 22nd May 2008 and the site code is OQS 08/50. The archive is presently held at Thames Valley Archaeological Services, Reading and will be deposited at East Surrey Museum in due course. Location, topography and geology The site is located in Oxted Quarry which lies to the north-west of Oxted off Chalk Pit Lane just north of the M25 on the North Downs with the site on a steep slope from the north to south edges (Fig. 1). The underlying geology consists of Lower Chalk (BGS 1978), which was observed across the site. The site lies at a height of c. 150m above Ordnance Datum. The site area covered 1.32ha and was at the time being used as arable farm land before been stripped for quarrying purposes (Fig. 2). Archaeological background The site lies in an area in which a moderate range of sites and finds have been recorded as documented in the county Historic Environment Record. To the north occupation deposits of Bronze Age date have been recorded. For the Iron Age, various occupation sites are recorded to the north and east and an Iron Age hillfort is recorded 1

4 in the west. A Roman villa and a Roman road lie to the east (Bird and Bird 1987). The site also lies close to a long distance footpath which is considered to be a route used in medieval times for pilgrims between Winchester and Canterbury. The antiquity of such a footpath, however, is difficult to establish. The butt of a Neolithic axe was found at Flinthouse Farm to the east of the site, and during the construction of the M25 near Chalk Pit Wood, to the south of the site Roman pottery was discovered during fieldwalking. A Medieval enclosure was also found along Woldingham Road to the north-east of the site. Objectives and methodology The purpose of the archaeological recording action was to: Excavate and record all archaeological deposits and features within the areas threatened by the extraction; Produce relative and absolute dating and phasing for deposits and features recorded on the site; Establish the character of these deposits in attempt to define functional areas on the site such as industrial, domestic etc; Produce information on the economy and local environment and compare and contrast this with the results of other excavations in the region. The fieldwork was to initially comprise topsoil and overburden removal using machines fitted with a toothless bucket and carried out under archaeological supervision. Any archaeological deposits exposed were to be excavated and recorded. Results The area of the site was stripped of overburden (topsoil/subsoil where present) that ranged between 0.15m at the northern end of the site and progressively deeper further down the slope to a maximum of 0.45m, down to the top of natural the geological horizon by a machine under continual archaeological supervision. This revealed a small number of features of archaeological interest (Fig. 3) including a ditch and ten pits of various sizes. A ditch, orientated ENE WSW, terminated within the site. Two slots (11, 12) totalling 4.20m in length were excavated to investigate this feature. The ditch was between 1.30m and 2.0m in width and between 0.45m and 1.06m deep (Figs 3 and 4). The main fill of this (63, 64) was dark brown silty clay although at the terminal there was a thick layer of redeposited natural geology (62) above the main fill. Pottery from the terminal of the ditch was of middle or late Bronze Age date. A small pierced copper alloy disc was also present. 2

5 Ten pits of various sizes were also recorded on the site ranging between 0.65m and 1.30m in diameter and between 0.13m and 1.25m in depth (Figs 3 and 4). Small pieces of late Neolithic pottery were recovered from pits 1, 2 and 4 and pieces of animal bone including teeth from a sheep or goat and a limb from a cattle-sized animal were recovered from pits 1 and 3. Charred plant remains were also observed in pit 1 and a sample was taken from which a small amount of charcoal was recovered and some snail shells. Finds The Pottery by Frances Raymond A small group of 31 sherds (weighing 62g) came from four features (1, 2, 4 and 11). The pottery from pits 1 and 2 includes beaker fragments, providing a broad date range of 2600 to 1800 BC. Pit 4 produced a sherd with an overlapping, but broader chronology (2600 to 1400 BC), while the pottery from ditch 11 is of middle to late Bronze Age origin (1400 to 800 BC). The assemblage is composed of fragmented wall sherds (less than 30mm across) and there is no evidence for vessel style. The identification of the pottery depends, therefore, on fabric characteristics and on decorative devices. The largest group composed of 20 sherds from pit 2 (38g) includes 11 thin walled fragments (16g and with a thickness of 5mm) that are almost certainly derived from a beaker with incised decoration. This consists of a series of parallel lines and there are hints that some are offset, possibly in a herringbone motif, but unfortunately the sherds are too small to allow for a definite reconstruction of the design. The fabric is a low fired ware with a dark brown exterior (7.5YR4/2). It contains common fine grog (up to 1mm), sparse angular limestone or chalk and sub-rounded quartz (both in the size range 0.2 to 0.5mm) and rare mica (<0.06mm). Pit 2 also produced sherds from two other vessels. Eight are from a thick walled vessel (weighing 14g and with a thickness of 14mm) with fingertip decoration. Most of the sherds are tiny split fragments with only one larger example, but even this is too small to determine the decorative design. The exterior surface colour is reminiscent of the beaker (7.5YR4/3 brown), while the fabric is similar in character and composition, but incorporates coarser grog (up to 2mm). The third vessel is represented by a single undecorated wall sherd (weighing 8g, with a thickness of 9 mm). This has an oxidized reddish brown exterior (2.5YR4/3) and is made from a much sandier ware containing moderate amounts of grog (up to 2mm), common sub-rounded quartz (0.1 to 0.5mm) and sparse angular limestone (up to 2mm). A single sherd from Pit 1 may also be part of a beaker (3g, with a wall thickness of 6mm). This is decorated with two short impressed lines which are too abraded to determine the technique used in their production. The 3

6 exterior is reddish brown in colour (2.5YR5/4) and the fabric is tempered with common fine grog (up to 1mm) and sparse flint (up to 2mm). Pit 4 yielded seven split fragments from a single vessel (weighing 12g). This has walls in excess of 10mm thick and is tempered with very common grog (up to 2mm). It may have been a heavy duty domestic ware contemporary with beakers or it could a later urn of early Bronze Age date. The three sherds (weighing 9g) from Ditch 11 could have been produced at any time during the middle or late Bronze Age. One is in a ware tempered with common burnt flint (up to 3mm) and the other two are made from a fabric containing very common shell (up to 2mm). Bone A small amount of bone was recovered from two separate contexts on site. Thirteen small fragments weighing a total of 9g of sheep/goat teeth were found in pit (1). A piece of large mammal sized (horse/cattle) long bone shaft weighing 110g was recovered from pit (3). This measured 169mm in length, and was weathered. Metal A copper alloy ovate disc with a single hole in the centre was recovered from ditch terminal (11) fill (63). It measures 15mm in diameter and weighs less than 1g and is possibly of a similar date to the sherds of pottery recovered from the same fill. Environmental Remains by Mark Robinson Bulk samples from late Neolithic / early Bronze Age pit 1 and the terminal of ditch 11 of possible middle / late Bronze Age date were floated onto a 0.25mm mesh to recover biological remains. The flots from Sample 1, Pit 1, contained small quantities of Quercus sp. (oak) and Pomoideae indet. (hawthorn etc) charcoal along with numerous shells of land snails (Appendix 2). The snails included species of both open habitats such as Vallonia costata and V. excentrica and shaded habitats such as Carychium tridentatum and Discus rotundatus. Such a fauna could occur in an area of rough grassland with some scrub. No useful remains were found in Sample 2, the middle/late Bronze Age ditch 11. Conclusion The fieldwork has recorded the presence of a single ditch and a number of small pits. 4

7 The pits scattered around the site were mostly undated but three of them contained pottery of late Neolithic or early Bronze Age date. Up until twenty years ago late Neolithic/early Bronze Age pottery was scarcely represented within Surrey except from the immediate vicinity of the Thames, and only recently has it been found in the Bedfont and Stanwell areas and on greensand at Betchworth and Merstham (Bird and Bird 1987; Cotton et al. 2004). Little pottery of this date has been recovered from the chalklands, although more durable lithic finds attest to more widespread occupation and land use a this time. The presence of pits of this period is a noteworthy discovery as such features are rarely encountered, either in this region or countrywide. It is tempting, but perhaps unwise to assume the other pits are also of this date. This is regrettable as stratified deposits of this period other than for monumental and burials sites, are extremely rare and there are, as a consequence, few sources to study the nature of settlement and landuse, the subsistence base, and how these developed through time. The late Neolithic/early Bronze Age pits here are considered to represent one or more occupation sites, but where the majority of the cultural remains were only ever present in superficial deposits and thus prone to removal by subsequent ploughing (Schofield 1991). The limited economic data recovered here from pit 1 do little more to show than that they utilized sheep. The molluscan assemblage though, does provide some useful environmental evidence indicating that the occupation was set in a zone of open country comprising rough grassland with some scrub. The ditch is tentatively dated to the middle or late Bronze Age by three sherds of pottery recovered from the terminal and it may also have been disturbed at a later date as shown by the presence of redeposited natural (62) at one end. The ditch, of which a 40m length was recorded and which continued west beyond the site boundary appears to represent a linear boundary, rather than, say an enclosure or part of a field system. Linear ditches of later Bronze Age date forming territorial boundaries are a fairly common occurrence on the chalklands of Wessex (e.g., Ford 1982; Bradley et al. 1994), Sussex (Curwen and Curwen 1917) and Yorkshire (Spratt 1989) yet are considered to be quite rare for the region (Bird and Bird 1987; Cotton et al. 2004). References BGS, 1978, British Geological Survey 1:50,000 sheet 286, Drift edition, Southampton Bird, J and Bird, D G (eds), 1987, The Archaeology of Surrey, Guildford Bradley, R, Entwistle, R and Raymond, F, 1994, Prehistoric land divisions on Salisbury Plain, Engl Heritage Archaeol Rep 2, London Cotton, J, Crocker, C and Graham, A (eds), 2004, Aspects of archaeology and history in Surrey, Guildford Curwen E and Curwen E C, 1917, Covered Ways in the South Downs, Sussex Archaeol Collect 59, Ford, S, 1982, Linear earthworks on the Berkshire Downs, Berkshire Archaeol J 71, 1 20 PPG 16, 1990, Archaeology and Planning, Dept of the Environment Planning Policy Guidance 16, HMSO Schofield, A J, 1991, (ed), Contributions to Ploughzone Archaeology, Oxbow Monogr 4, Oxford Spratt, D A, 1989, Linear earthworks on the tabular hills, north-east Yorkshire, Sheffield 5

8 APPENDIX 1: Feature details Cut Fill (s) Type Date Dating evidence 1 52 Pit Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age Pottery 2 53 Pit Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age Pottery 3 54 Pit 4 55 Pit Late Neolithic-Middle Bronze Age Pottery 5 56 Pit 6 57 Pit 7 58 Pit 8 59 Pit 9 60 Pit Pit 11 62, 63 Ditch Middle/Late Bronze Age Pottery Ditch 6

9 APPENDIX 2: Molluscs from Late Neolithic / Early Bronze Age Pit Error! Bookmark not 1 defined.feature Context 52 Sample 1 Carychium tridentatum (Ris.) +++ Cochlicopa sp. ++ Vertigo pygmaea (Drap.) + Pupilla muscorum (L.) + Vallonia costata (Müll.) ++ V. excentrica Sterki +++ Vallonia sp. ++ Acanthinula aculeata (Müll.) + Punctum pygmaeum (Drap.) + Discus rotundatus (Müll.) ++ Vitrea sp. + Nesovitrea hammonis (Ström) + Aegopinella pura (Ald.) + A. nitidula (Drap.) + Oxychilus cellarius (Müll.) + Clausilia bidentata (Ström) + Trichia striolata Pfeif. + T. hispida gp. +++ Cepaea sp. + + present ++ some +++ many 7

10 57000 SITE SITE TQ Oxted Quarry, Chalk Pit Lane, Oxted, Surrey, 2008 Archaeological Recording Action OQS 08/50 Figure 1. Location of site in relation to Oxted and within Surrey. Reproduced from Ordnance Survey Explorer 146 at 1:25000 Ordnance Survey Licence

11 N SITE TQ Oxted Quarry, Chalk Pit Lane, Oxted, Surrey, 2008 Archaeological Recording Action OQS 08/50 Figure 2. Detailed location of quarry, including previous phases of working. Scale: 1:5000

12 Oxted Quarry, Chalk Pit Lane, Oxted, Surrey, 2008 N tree TQ m Figure 3. Plan of excavated area. OQS 08/50

13 Oxted Quarry, Chalk Pit Lane, Oxted, Surrey, 2008 SW NE SE NW SE NW NE SW W E NE SW W E SW NE SW NE SW NE SW NE SW NE m Figure 4. Details of Sections OQS 08/50

14 Plate 1. Pit 1, looking north-west, horizontal scale 0.5m, vertical scale 1m. Plate 2. Pit 4, looking north-west, horizontal scale 0.5m, vertical scale 0.1m. OQS 08/50

15 Plate 3. Ditch terminus 11, looking south-west; horizontal scale 2m, vertical scale 1m. Plate 4. General site shot, looking south. OQS 08/50