Old Brewery Close and Walton Street, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire An Archaeological Evaluation for Berkeley Homes (Oxford and Chiltern) Ltd by Sian Anthony Thames Valley Archaeological Services Ltd Site Code WRA03/51 December 2003
Summary Site name: Old Brewery Close and Walton Street, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire Grid reference: SP8224 1338 Site activity: Evaluation Date and duration of project: 24th November to 1st December 2003 Project manager: Steve Ford Site supervisor: Sian Anthony Site code: WRA03/51 Area of site: 0.425ha Summary of results: The site had been heavily truncated and disturbed during 19th and 20th century use. A small amount of 19th century activity was located at the Walton Street frontage of the site. The only evidence for medieval or earlier activity was a single unstratified sherd of medieval pottery. Monuments identified: None Location and reference of archive: The archive is presently held by Thames Valley Archaeological Services Ltd, 47 49 De Beauvoir Road, Reading, RG1 5NR, and will be deposited with Buckinghamshire Museum Service 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 15.12.03 Steve Preston 15.12.03 i
Introduction Old Brewery Close and Walton Street, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire An Archaeological Evaluation by Sian Anthony Report 03/51b This report documents the results of an archaeological field evaluation carried out at the corner of Old Brewery Close and Walton Street, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire (SP 8224 1338)(Fig. 1). The work was commissioned by Mr Jon Neville, of Berkeley Homes (Oxford and Chilterns), Berkeley House, Abingdon Science Park, Barton Lane, Abingdon, OX14 3NB. Planning permission has been sought from Aylesbury Vale District Council for the development of the site to include 69 flats and parking areas. An extant planning consent exists for the site (99/02619/APP). This is in accordance with the Department of the Environment s Planning Policy Guidance, Archaeology and Planning (PPG16 1990), and the district s policies on archaeology. The field investigation was carried out to a specification approved by Mr David Radford, Archaeological Officer, Buckinghamshire County Archaeological Service. The fieldwork was undertaken by Sian Anthony and Simon Cass, and the site code is WRA03/51. The archive is presently held at Thames Valley Archaeological Services, Reading and will be deposited at Buckinghamshire County Museum Service in due course. A desk-based assessment (Lowe 2003) highlighted the importance of the site. It lies in the centre of extensive Saxon and prehistoric settlement activity attested to in the many excavations surrounding the site (Fig. 1). Cartographic evidence demonstrated the existence of Walton Street as an historic main road out of Aylesbury town centre with only moderate amounts of medieval but with increased post-medieval activity. The Old Brewery was constructed on the site from the 19th century with increasing rebuilding and modification of the structures on the site up until the late 20th century when it was demolished. Location, topography and geology The site is a small parcel of land (c. 0.425 ha) bounded by Walton Street to the south-west and Old Brewery Close to the north-east (Fig. 2). Walton Street is the main road leading out of Aylesbury town centre to the south east to the historic boundary of Walton. Old Brewery Close is a modern construction built after 1996 to accommodate offices and houses to the north and west of the site. The California Brook flows into the Grand Union Canal to the north-west of the site. The site is located on Kimmeridge Clay including Hartwell Clay (BGS 1
1990). It is at a height of 78.55m above Ordnance Datum at the south-eastern corner but slopes gently down to the south west and to the north. The north-west corner is at a height of 77.55m AOD, a large dip (probably made during demolition) in the north-eastern corner has formed a pond that lies at a height of 77.17m. AOD Archaeological background Prehistoric activity is recorded ranging from the Mesolithic struck flints, to settlement activity from the Bronze Age (Farley 1976, Ford and Howell in press). Roman activity is present but not extensive, however Saxon activity is widespread in the vicinity in the form of post built and sunken featured buildings with associated pits, post holes and fence lines (Farley 1976; Ford et al. in press). Medieval activity is in the form of pits along the side of Walton Street. Later activity is focused on the Brewery and its associated buildings that changed frequently on the historic maps of the site. Work to the north-west of the site located peat layers by the California Brook (Roseff 1996). Sites and Monuments Record entries for the surrounding area are detailed in Appendix 3. Objectives and methodology The purpose of the evaluation was to determine the presence/absence, extent, condition, character, quality and date of any archaeological deposits within the area of development. 1) To determine if archaeologically relevant levels have survived on the site. 2) To determine if archaeological deposits of any period are present 3) To determine if further deposits representing the Saxon and Bronze Age occupation present south of the site extend into the site area. The methodology was to excavate six trenches targeted over areas likely to have been less disturbed by the known historical structures and where archaeological deposits were likely to be found. They were to be excavated with a JCB-type machine using a ditching bucket under constant archaeological supervision. The trenches were to be hand-cleaned and any possible archaeological features hand cleaned and excavated and spoil heaps were monitored. Boreholes and geotechnical test pits were also to be monitored. Amendments to the trench layout were made with the approval of the Archaeological Officer, Mr David Radford. This was to avoid the deep water levels gathered at the extreme north-eastern end of the site where a blocked storm causes localised flooding of the dip in the ground. To allow for the changes, three trenches (3, 4 and 5) were made slightly longer and Trench 6 was slightly shorter (Fig. 3). 2
A complete list of trenches giving lengths, breadths, depths and a description of sections and geology is given in Appendix 1. A complete list of features are detailed in Appendix 2. Results Trench 1 (Plate 1) This trench was aligned along the Walton Street boundary. Topsoil and mixed rubble and made ground layers were encountered with many reinforced concrete foundations and existing services (these were retained). A layer of dark blue grey paving stones (50) were placed in a Header pattern. These were probably Victorian paving slabs from the era of the Brewery. A thick layer of black brown silty clay (51) was located underneath the paving slabs at a height of 77.38m AOD, which was up to 0.9m deep. These contained pieces of red brick, red tile, glass, white earthenware pottery, oyster shells and animal bone. At the eastern end of the trench 3, cut features were observed at a height of 77.35m AOD, a small curvilinear gully (1), a large, shallow pit (2) and a broader ditch (3): all contained glass, corroded iron objects, animal bone and brick and tile, and all were cut through layer 51 (Fig. 4). The curvilinear gully was shallow, only 0.15m deep with a rounded base. The pit (2) was very shallow 0.2m deep with a flat base and a diameter of c. 0.6m although the full plan was not uncovered. The ditch (3) was aligned with Walton Street and may have been a form of roadside boundary, the full plan was not uncovered but a piece of clay pipe stem was retrieved from the fill. Trench 2 Made ground and rubble layers were encountered, with Tarmac at the northern end of the trench. A deep layer of dark brown-black clay (this may have been redeposited clays with associated contamination) with many red brick, tile and concrete rubble finds lay on top of the natural Kimmeridge Clay. At the base of the trench 3 modern drainage ditches were uncovered at 76.57m AOD. All were aligned east- west. They were shallow, rounded base features, one of which was excavated (4); it contained a grey blue clay fill with pieces of modern red tile. All features flooded rapidly. Trenches 3 6 These trenches were of a similar stratigraphic sequence with layers of Tarmac and areas of topsoil lying upon mixed brick and concrete demolition rubble that lay on undisturbed clay layers. Natural light brown clay was reached at different levels, deeper truncation was observed at the southern end of the site in Trenches 3 (Plate 2) and 5 with the natural clay lying at 76.3m and 76.11m AOD respectively, but the natural clay layer was reached 3
at 76.93m AOD at the northern end of Trench 3 and 76.71m at Trench 6. Foundations for modern buildings were encountered in Trenches 3 and 5 with a thick (over 0.3m) concrete base. A possible metal septic tank was uncovered in Trench 4, this was left in situ. Many defunct service pipes were also encountered. No archaeology was located and no pre-modern finds were recovered from the spoilheaps. Boreholes Five boreholes were made to test the ground for the piling foundation (Fig.3) in various locations around the site, The test pits for them were observed. They contained made ground layers of Tarmac, red brick rubble and reinforced concrete. The test pits reached only a maximum depth of 1.65m. Most flooded rapidly and were not measured accurately for safety reasons. Borehole 1 in the south-west corner of the site found undisturbed natural at 77.11m AOD, this was situated west of the end of Trench 1, showing the existence of only a small part of the silty clay natural (Kimmeridge Clay), however, again no archaeology, buried topsoils or subsequent horizons were remaining. Finds Pottery by Paul Blinkhorn The pottery assemblage comprised 5 sherds with a total weight of 79g (Appendix 4). All the pottery was postmedieval in date, with the exception of a single, unstratified medieval sherd. The pottery was recorded using the coding system of the Milton Keynes Archaeological Unit type-series (e.g. Mynard and Zeepvat 1992; Zeepvat et al. 1994), as follows: MS3: Medieval Grey Sandy Wares. Mid 11th late 14th century. 1 sherd, 14g. PM8: Red Earthenware. 17th century. 2 sherds, 38g. PM22: Staffordshire White Salt-Glazed Stoneware 1730 1800. 1 sherd, 4g PM25: White Earthenware. Late 18th 20th century. 1 sherd, 23g Other finds No finds were recovered from the spoilheaps of the trenches. However, the features located in Trench 1 also contained pieces of red brick most of which were stamped London Brick Company along with tile, oyster shells and domestic animal bone. A small piece of clay pipe stem was recovered from the ditch (3) in trench 1. These finds were not retained. 4
Conclusion The results of the evaluation were archaeologically disappointing: the site retains no original topsoil or subsoil horizons within which the archaeology might reasonably been located. No alluvium, or peat layers similar to those found adjacent to the California Brook were discovered underneath the man-made levels where deeper prehistoric features may have been recovered. The site has been heavily truncated by post medieval structures from the brewery and later concrete structures composed of up to 1.5m of red brick rubble, compacted hardcore and later concrete piling foundations. Services were encountered throughout the trenches, particularly in Trenches 1 and 4. Monitoring of the boreholes showed a similar stratigraphic sequence, however Borehole 1 in the extreme south-west corner of the site showed that the layer of possible archaeological deposits (51) discovered in Trench 1 were finite and did not extend along the entire length of the site. These layers truncated the undisturbed basal clay at 77.11m AOD (1.2m depth), probably where cellars were constructed for the brewery buildings. There seems to be little or no remaining archaeological potential on the site. References BGS, 1990, British Geological Survey, 1:50 000, Sheet 238, Drift Edition, Keyworth Farley, M, 1976, Saxon and medieval Walton, Aylesbury: excavation in Walton, Aylesbury, 1985-86, Rec Buckinghamshire 31, 137-90 Ford S and Howell, I, in press, Saxon and Bronze age settlement at the Orchard site, Walton Road, Aylesbury, 1994 in S Ford, I Howell, and K Taylor, The archaeology of the Aylesbury-Chalgrove gas pipeline and The Orchard, Walton Road, Aylesbury, Thames Valley Archaeological Services, Monograph 5, Reading Ford, S, Howell, I, and Taylor, K, in press, The archaeology of the Aylesbury-Chalgrove gas pipeline and The Orchard, Walton Road, Aylesbury, Thames Valley Archaeological Services, Monograph 5, Reading Lowe, J, 2003, Old Brewery Close and Walton Street, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire. An archaeological deskbased assessment, Thames Valley Archaeological Services, report 03-51, Reading Mynard, D, C, and Zeepvat R, J, 1992, Great Linford, Bucks Archaeol Soc Monog Ser 3 PPG16, 1990, Archaeology and Planning, Dept of the Environment Planning Policy Guidance 16, HMSO Roseff, R, 1996, Archaeological Note, Rec Buckinghamshire 38, 259 Zeepvat, R J, Roberts, J S, and King, N A, 1994, Caldecotte, Milton Keynes. Excavation and Fieldwork 1966-91 Bucks Archaeol Soc Monog Ser 9 5
APPENDIX 1: Trench and Borehole details 0m at south or west end Trench No. Length (m) Breadth (m) Depth (m) Comment 1 20.2 1.6 1.83 Topsoil and mixed rubble 0 0.58m; onto paving (50) at west end 0.58 0.7m; onto red brick, compacted hardcore 0.7 0.93m; onto a thick dark black brown occupation refuse? Layer (51) filled with brick, tile, occasional pottery, oyster shells and animal bone, 0.93 1.83m [Plate 1] 2 21.2 1.6 1.9 Tarmac 0 0.1m; onto red brick rubble 0.1 1.1m; onto dark brown black clay with brick inclusions 1.1 1.78m; onto natural light brown clay with occasional sandy patches 1.78 1.9m 3 23.7 1.6 1.52 Tarmac 0 0.1m; onto yellow sand 0.1 0.14m; onto red brick rubble 0.14 0.7m, onto blue grey clay 0.7 1.52m [Plate 2] 4 1.6 1.74 Mixed topsoil and rubble 0 0.2m; onto silt with frequent rubble, concrete 0.2 1.23m; onto natural light brown clay 1.23 1.74m; Frequent service pipe trenches, one large metal sided septic tank?, not removed. 5 21.7 1.6 2.2 Topsoil 0 0.1m; onto red brick rubble 0.1 1m; onto concrete and red brick foundations 1 1.8m; onto natural light brown clay 1.8 2.2m. 6 10.9 1.6 1.2 Tarmac 0-0.1m; onto yellow sand 0.1 0.15m; onto red brick demolition rubble 0.15 0.75m; onto natural light brown clay with occasional sandy patches 0.75-1.2m; Concrete foundation aligned NE-SW present at 4.5m from the south end. Borehole Length (m) Breadth (m) Depth (m) Comment No. 1 2 1.6 1.2+ Topsoil 0 0.1m; onto light brown mixed rubble, redeposited topsoil and modern brick 0.1 0.6m; onto red brick rubble 0.6 1.05m; onto light brown clay 1.2m+ (Water level) 2 1.94 1.6 1.65 Topsoil 0 0.1m; onto red brick rubble 0.1 0.25m; onto mixed rubble, gravel light brown sandy silt and frequent modern bricks 0.25 0.75m; onto concrete 0.75 1.1m; onto dark blue grey clay 1.1 1.65m 3 2.18 1.15 1.31 Rubble layer, brick and concrete 0 1m; onto mid grey brown silty clay with occasiobnal Chalk flecks 1-1.31m 4 1.4 1.3 1.38+ Mixed rubble layer, dark brown silty clay with frequent bricks 0 0.55m; onto white concrete 0.55 0.8m; onto yellow brown sand 0.8 1m; onto dark brown clay 1 1.15m + (Water level) 5 1.45 1.21 1.24 Tarmac 0 0.2m; onto red brick rubble 0.2 0.85m; onto dark grey brown clay 0.85 1.24m 6
APPENDIX 2: Feature details Trench Cut Fill (s) Type Date Dating evidence 1-50 Pavement 19 th century?/ Modern? Paving stones 1-51 Layer 19 th century? Modern brick and tile 1 1 52 Gully 19 th century Pottery 1 2 53 Pit 19 th century? Brick and tile 1 3 - Ditch Post medieval Clay pipe 2 4 54 Ditch Modern Modern brick and tile 7
APPENDIX 3: Sites and Monuments Records within a 500m search radius of the development site No SMR Ref Grid Ref (SP) Type Period Comment 1 05499 8238 1325 Excavation Bronze Age/ Saxon/Medieval Medieval occupation; Saxon post built hall, Bronze age roundhouse, posthole and pits 2 067240 823 132 Excavation MBA/EIA Settlement 067830 82314 13188 Pottery Medieval Pottery retrieved during watching brief 3 061070 824 132 Excavation Bronze age Post holes, gully, hearths, cremation cemetery 067310 824 132 Excavations Medieval Pit cluster, postholes, residual Saxon coin 14 063770 825 132 Settlement LIA-2nd century Farmstead 0637701 825 132 LIA Boundary ditch 5 04872 82040 13750 Watching brief. Roman Ditch, 2 pits LIA/ER pot and some medieval 6 00251 8201 1391 Coin Roman Claudius II Gothicus (268 70) 7 00255 82290 13180 Coin Roman Augustus denarius and bronze coin Claudius II 8 00310 82210 13900 Railway structure Post medieval Original brick shed marking the terminus of the Aylesbury to Cheddington railway line 9 01931 8229 1369 Coin Roman Constantine AD330-335 10 067330 824 133 Excavation Roman Boundary ditches and filed systems, circular timber structures 061450 824 133 Settlement Saxon 6 sunken featured buildings and 2 post built halls 067340 824 133 Building Post medieval Demolished orphanage 11 05593 8249 1342 Excavations Roman/Saxon/ Medieval 2 sunken featured buildings, IA, Roman and medieval ditches and gullies 12 05208 82545 13510 Coin Saxon Silver sceatta early 8th century 13 061080 823 133 Settlement Saxon Excavation on Walton Road 14 05555 8221 1329 Excavation Saxon/Medieval 10th century gullies, medieval boundary ditch 15 00093 82250 13190 Excavation Prehistoric/Saxon/ Medieval Excavations at Walton Court Farm. Roman pottery, Saxon Sunken featured buildings, palisade ditch; 12 th century mound, main earthwork 13th century, with associated timber structures and pits. 16 05629 8215 1341?Excavations Medieval Pottery, bone, leather shoe 17 00311 82632 13476 Medieval 13th century pottery, house/pit 18 00350 81986 13657 Prison Medieval County gaol 19 01813 82255 13250 Pottery Medieval Pottery sherds found on Walton Street 20 00287 819 135 Pottery Medieval 13th century jug 21 00254 82115 13465 Coin Medieval Henry VII groat, Edward IV groat 22 02318 82569 13397 Medieval 12th century sherds from pit 23 05500 82528 13345 Excavation Medieval Medieval boundary ditch, pits and well. 24 6719 822 133 Church Post medieval Holy Trinity Church, 19th century 25 04701 82140 13430 Chapel Post medieval 19th century Chapel 26 00748 82110 13785 Building Post medieval Bull s Head Hotel, originally Saracens Head 17th century 27 04869 82030 13825 Chapel Post medieval Hale Leys Chapel, 18th century. Chapel demolished in 18980, 2 burials found 28 00309 82300 13820 Station Post medieval Built 1889, demolished 1960 29 00996 81990 13670 County Hall Post medieval 30 063860 8255 1390 Park Post medieval 19-20th park 31 01808 82180 13410 Bridge Post medieval Boundary bridge divides town from Walton 32 0009306001 82304 13148 Structure Post medieval Stone farmyard surface 33 01810 82005 13685 Inn Post medieval?17th century inn, 3 gabled house? Built 1814, demolished 1864 34 02070 81998 13630 Wells Post medieval 19th century pottery and finds 35 02130 82535 13300 House Post medieval Waltham Grange, 16th century, demolished 1945 36 02500 81693 13390 Well Post medieval Brick lined well 37 6720 817 134 Building Post medieval Aylesbury station 38 22446 822 135 Building Post medieval Early electricity generating depot 0672101 822 135 Building Post medieval 1915 generating house 0672102 822 135 Buildings Post medieval Canal landing stage and wharf side building 20th century 067220 822 135 Building Post medieval 19th century mission hut, exact location unknown 39 02919 8178 1349 Station Post medieval GWR passenger station on Cooks Close, extensive earthworks 40 02952 9180 1435 to Canal Post medieval Branch of Grand Union canal 8220 1346 41 062460 822 134 watching brief Undated Charcoal found in peaty soil at Brewery site 42 4732 81828 13672 Undated Skeleton discovered in precinct of Greyfriars mansion date unknown 8
APPENDIX 4: Pottery occurrence by number and weight (in g) of sherds per context by fabric type MS3 PM8 PM22 PM25 Trench Feature Context No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt Date 1 0 spoilheap 1 14 U/S 1 1 52 2 38 1 4 1 23 19thC Total 1 14 2 38 1 4 1 23 9
14000 42 6 27 5, 29, 33 18, 24 26 8 28 9 SITE 30 SITE 39 36, 37 34 20 21 41 16, 24, 25, 31 14, 19, 23 15 38, 40 13 7 2 32 12, 17 11 22 10, 35 1 3 4 13000 12000 SP82000 83000 WRA03/51 Old Brewery Close and Walton Street, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, 2003 Figure 1. Location of site within Aylesbury and Buckinghamshire. Reproduced from Ordnance Survey Pathfinder 1138 SP81/91 at 1:12500 Ordnance Survey Licence AL523324A0001
13400 13350 SP82200 82250 Old Brewery Close and Walton Street, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, 2003 WRA03/51 Figure 2. Detailed location of site within Aylesbury.
Old Brewery Close and Walton Street, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, 2003 N BH2 Tr. 4 13400 BH4 Tr. 5 Tr. 6 49.72 Tr. 3 BH5 Tr. 2 BH1 1,2,3 Tr. 1 BH3 4 13350 SP82200 82250 0 100m Figure 3. Detailed location of trenches and boreholes in site. WRA03/51
Old Brewery Close and Walton Street, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, 2003 N Step in 1 0m 2m 4m 6m 8m 10m 12m 14m 16m 18m 2 3 Step in Trench 1 Modern disturbance Concrete Foundation cuts for modern disturbance Paving stones (50) 0m 2m 4m 6m 4 8m 10m Trench 2 0 10m N S SW NE S N 52 1 53 2 55 4 0 5m Figure 4. Plan and sections of Trenches 1 and 2 features. WRA03/51
Plate 1. Trench 1, features 1 and 2, north west facing, scales 0.5m and 0.1m. Plate 2. Trench 3 section, south east facing, scales 1m and 0.5m. WRA03/51