Garage Site, Foots Cray High Street, Sidcup, Kent, London Borough of Bexley An Archaeological Evaluation for Mizen Design Build by Andy Taylor Thames Valley Archaeological Services Ltd FOC 07 September 2007
Summary Site name: Garage Site, Foots Cray High Street, Sidcup, Kent, London Borough of Bexley Grid reference: TQ 4745 7090 Site activity: Evaluation Date and duration of project: 25-28th September 2007 Project manager: Steve Ford Site supervisor: Andy Taylor Site code: FOC 07 Area of site: c. 0.19 hectares Summary of results: No deposits or finds of archaeological interest were identified Monuments identified: None Location and reference of archive: The archive is presently held at Thames Valley Archaeological Services, Reading and will be deposited with the Museum of London 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 01.10.07 Steve Preston 01.10.07 i Thames Valley Archaeological Services Ltd, 47 49 De Beauvoir Road, Reading RG1 5NR Tel. (0118) 926 0552; Fax (0118) 926 0553; email tvas@tvas.co.uk; website : www.tvas.co.uk
Garage Site, Foots Cray High Street, Sidcup, Kent, London Borough of Bexley An Archaeological Evaluation by Andy Taylor Report 07/84 Introduction This report documents the results of an archaeological field evaluation carried out the Garage site, Foots Cray High Street, Sidcup, Kent, London Borough of Bexley (TQ 4745 7090) (Fig. 1). The work was commissioned by Mr Andy Mullin of Mizen Design Build, Heron House, 109 Wembley Hill Road, Wembley, Middlesex, HA9 8DA. Planning permission has been gained from the London Borough of Bexley to redevelop the site for residential units. The consent is subject to a condition (11) relating to archaeology, requiring a programme of archaeological investigation prior to development. This was to take the form, initially, of a field evaluation, based on the results of which an appropriate mitigation strategy could be devised if required. This is in accordance with the Department of the Environment s Planning Policy Guidance, Archaeology and Planning (PPG16 1990), and the Borough s policies on archaeology. The field investigation was carried out to a specification approved by Mr Mark Stevenson, Archaeology Advisor with the Greater London Archaeology Advisory Service, advisers to the Borough on matters relating to archaeology. The fieldwork was undertaken by Andy Taylor and Aiden Colyer on the 25th September 2007 and the site code is FOC07. The archive is presently held at Thames Valley Archaeological Services, Reading and will be deposited at the Museum of London in due course. Location, topography and geology The site is located on the south west side of Foots Cray High Street, Sidcup, Kent, London Borough of Bexley (Fig. 2). The site is a rectangular shaped parcel of land and is currently occupied by overgrown scrubland from the now demolished garage. It is a relatively flat plot of land and lies at a height of c.29m above Ordnance Datum. The underlying geology is mapped as of Taplow Gravel (BGS 1977), which was observed in Trench 1 and the northern end of Trench 2. The remainder of the trenches consisted of a silty clay (brickearth) deposit overlying the gravel. 1
Archaeological background The archaeological potential of the site stems from its location within the historic (medieval) core of Foots Cray with the parish church to the north. It is also close to the margins of the River Cray on the edge of the gravel terrace. The latter topographic location is usually considered as a preferred location of earlier prehistoric occupation and a number of finds of Mesolithic and Neolithic date are recorded from near to the site (MoLAS 2000). To the north-east, on the opposite bank of the river, there is also a Roman occupation site. Greater London Sites and Monuments Record (GLSMR) A search was made on the GLSMR on 28 September 2007 for a radius of 500m around the site. This revealed eight entries of potential archaeological interest within that radius, plus six statutorily listed buildings and thirteen locally listed buildings. At Palm Avenue, boreholes produced peat deposits ranging across the prehistoric periods from Mesolithic to the Iron Age, and an Iron Age or Roman buried soil (MLO75454). Trial trenches opened subsequently confirmed these results (MLO75443). Unspecified Roman pottery was found in the 1930s on the Mount Culver Estate (MLO8423), and in the 1950s during construction of a factory on the industrial estate to the south-east of the site (MLO8417) and further north near Ellenbourough Road (MLO10938). Nothing of archaeological interest was encountered in a watching brief at 170 Rectory Lane (MLO74139). One entry is for documentary and cartographic evidence for Sir Francis Wasingham s house on Rectory Lane (MLO2471). Another entry records the site of a landfill on Baugh Road/Rectory Lane (MLO72459). The Listed Buildings include Tudor cottages adjacent to the site and the Seven Stars public house, on Foots Cray High Street, very close to the site, while the nearby Foots Cray bridge is locally listed. Cartographic evidence The Ordnance Survey Second Edition map of 1897 (Fig. 3) shows the High Street already substantially developed in very similar form to the present day. The area of the site is occupied by terraced housing along the High Street frontage, with gardens to rear, backing onto further buildings lining what is presumably Evry Road. The 1910 Third Edition is identical. Additional development, and larger buildings, are depicted on the 1933 revision, at the western end of the area, although part of the site remains empty (Fig. 4). 2
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. The specific aims of the project were; To determine if archaeologically relevant have survived on this site given that parts of the site have been previously developed. To determine if archaeological deposits of any period are present. Three trenches were to be dug 1.60m wide and 15m long. These were to be dug using a JCB-type machine fitted with a toothless ditching bucket and under constant archaeological supervision. All spoilheaps were to be monitored for finds. Results Three trenches were dug measuring 1.60m wide and between 14.70m and 15.00m in length (Fig. 5). All spoilheaps were monitored for finds. A complete list of trenches giving lengths, breadths, depths and a description of sections and geology is given in Appendix 1. Trench 1 (Plate 1; Figure 6) This trench measured 15.00m in length and the stratigraphy consisted of topsoil overlying brick rubble made ground overlying a mid brown sandy clay containing brick and tile fragments. This overlay gravel natural. Almost the whole length of this trench showed evidence of modern truncation into the natural gravel. No archaeological finds or deposits were recorded. Trench 2 (Plate 2) This trench measured 15.00m in length and the stratigraphy comprised topsoil overlying brick rubble made ground overlying subsoil. This overlay a mid brown sandy clay containing brick and tile fragments. This overlay brickearth natural along much of the trench, but gravel at the north-western end of the trench. No archaeological finds or deposits were recorded. 3
Trench 3 This trench measured 14.70m in length and the stratigraphy consisted of topsoil overlying brick rubble made ground overlying a thin layer of black soil. This overlay subsoil overlying brickearth natural. Large portions of this trench showed modern truncation through the brickearth. No archaeological finds or deposits were recorded. Finds No finds of an archaeological nature were retrieved. Conclusion Despite the potential for archaeology being located on the site the evaluation did not identify any deposits or finds of any archaeological interest. The majority of the trenches showed high levels of truncation most likely from the former garage that occupied the site. Indeed, the trenches were located to avoid the areas where the former fuel tanks had once been near the front of the site. On the basis of these results, the site has little or no archaeological potential. References BGS, 1977, British Geological Survey, 1:50000, Sheet 271, Drift Edition, Keyworth MoLAS, 2000, The archaeology of Greater London; an assessment of archaeological evidence for human presence in the area now covered by Greater London, Museum of London Archaeology Service Monogr, London PPG16, 1990, Archaeology and Planning, Dept of the Environment Planning Policy Guidance 16, HMSO 4
APPENDIX 1: Trench details 0m at S or W end Trench Length (m) Breadth (m) Depth (m) Comment 1 15.00 1.80 0.90 0.00m-0.10m topsoil; 0.10m-0.60m brick rubble made ground; 0.60m- 0.86m mid brown sandy clay with brick fragments; 0.86m+ gravel natural at 27.58m AOD. [Plate 1] 2 15.00 1.80 0.78 0.00m-0.10m topsoil; 0.10m-0.40m brick rubble made ground; 0.40m- 0.56m subsoil; 0.56m-0.73m mid brown sandy clay with brick fragments; 0.73m+ brickearth natural at 27.58m AOD [Plate2] 3 14.70 1.80 0.90 0.00m-0.11m topsoil; 0.11m-0.47m brick rubble made ground; 0.47m- 0.53m black soil; 0.53m-0.90m subsoil; 0.90m+ brickearth natural at 27.35m AOD 5
SITE 72000 SITE 71000 Garage Site, Foots Cray High Street, Sidcup, Kent, London Borough of Bexley, 2007. An archaeological evaluation TQ47000 48000 FOC 07 Figure 1. Location of site within Foots Cray and Greater London. Reproduced from Ordnance Survey Pathfinder 1176 TQ 47/57 at 1:12500 Ordnance Survey Licence 100025880
72000 SITE 71000 TQ 47400 47500 Garage Site, Foots Cray High Street, Sidcup, Kent, London Borough of Bexley, 2007 An archaeological evaluation FOC 07 Figure 2. Detailed location of site on Foots Cray High Street. Reproduced from Ordnance Survey Digital mapping under licence. Scale: 1:1250
SITE Garage Site, Foots Cray High Street, Sidcup, Kent, London Borough of Bexley, 2007 An archaeological evaluation FOC 07 Figure 3. Ordnance Survey 1897.
SITE Garage Site, Foots Cray High Street, Sidcup, Kent, London Borough of Bexley, 2007 An archaeological evaluation FOC 07 Figure 4. Ordnance Survey 1933.
Garage Site, Crays Foot High Street, Sidcup, Kent, London Borough of Bexley, 2007 N 71000 Foots Cray High Street 70900 1 removed fuel tanks Evry Road 2 3 TQ 47400 47500 0 100m Figure 5: Trench Locations FOC 07
Garage Site, Foots Cray High Street, Sidcup, Kent, London Borough of Bexley, 2007 NW 28.44m AOD Trench 1 SE Topsoil Brick Rubble Made Ground Mid Brown Sandy Clay with Brick and Tile Fragments Brickearth Natural 0 1m Figure 6: Representative Section Trench 1. FOC 07
Plate 1. Trench 1 looking north-west, Scales 2m and 1m. Plate 2. Trench 2 looking north-west, Scales 2m and 1m. FOC 07