60 High Street, Wallingford, Oxfordshire

An Archaeological Watching Brief

For Mr and Mrs Lloyd

by Steve Ford

Thames Valley Archaeological Services

Ltd

Site Code 60 HSW04/83

September 2004

i

Summary

Site name: 60 High Street, Wallingford, Oxfordshire Grid reference: SU 6055 8952 Site activity: Watching Brief Date and duration of project: 28th August 2004 Project manager: Steve Ford Site supervisor: Steve Ford Site code: 60HSW 04/83 Area of site: c.12 sq m. Summary of results: A probable substantial chalk-built wall of uncertain date and function and stray finds of early medieval pottery were observed. Monuments identified: Possible wall Location and reference of archive: The archive is presently held at Thames Valley Archaeological Services, Reading and will be deposited at Oxfordshire 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: Jennifer Lowe 16.09.04

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60 High Street, Wallingford, Oxfordshire An Archaeological Watching Brief

by Steve Ford

Report 04/83

Introduction

This report documents the results of an archaeological watching brief carried out at 60 High Street, Wallingford,

Oxfordshire OX10 0HN (SU 6055 8952) (Fig. 1). The work was commissioned by Mr and Mrs. A and G Lloyd

of Fairfield House, 60 High Street, Wallingford, Oxfordshire, OX10 0DB.

A planning consent (PO4/W0643) has been granted by South Oxfordshire District Council to demolish an

existing shed and erect a new garage. This consent is subject to a condition requiring a programme of

archaeological work, in the form of a watching brief being undertaken during groundworks.

This is in accordance with the Department of the Environment’s Planning Policy Guidance, Archaeology

and Planning (PPG16 1990), and the District Council’s policies on archaeology. The field investigation was

carried out to a specification approved by Ms Hannah Fluck, Planning Archaeologist for Oxfordshire County

Council. The fieldwork was undertaken by Steve Ford on 28th August 2004 and the site code is 60HSW 04/83.

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

Oxfordshire Museum Service in due course.

Location, topography and geology

The site is located in central Wallingford on the north side of High Street and south of Bullcroft (Figs 1 and 2). It

lies within the Saxon burh which was enclosed by a defensive bank and ditch (Scheduled Ancient Monument

Oxon 234) constructed during the 9th century as part of King Alfred’s defences against the Danes.

The site lies at a height of approximately 49m above Ordnance Datum. The underlying geology is first

(flood plain) terrace deposits of the younger river gravels but this was not observed during the groundworks

(BGS 1980).

Archaeological background

The position of Wallingford within the Thames Valley has made it a meeting point of ancient routes and

contributed to its development throughout history (Airs et al. 1975). Prehistoric finds have included flints, a

Bronze Age burial and Bronze Age metalwork from the River Thames as well as Iron Age coins and two Iron

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Age occupation sites to the south of the town (Airs et al. 1975). The presence of some Roman finds and a Saxon

cemetery suggest the presence of occupation prior to the development of the town though detailed evidence is so

far lacking. The town is better recorded from the time of King Alfred, who was responsible for the construction

of the burh in the late 9th century as part of the defensive systems against the Danes. The settlement survived

burning by the Danes and industry flourished. Shortly after the Norman Conquest a castle and priory were

constructed but the town began to decline by the 13th century, with this decline continuing into the later

medieval periods (Airs et al. 1975).

Several archaeological investigations in the town have identified stratified Saxon and medieval deposits

with larger projects, such as that carried out to the south of the site at 51–3 St Mary’s Street identifying a

complex stratigraphic sequence dating from the 11th century to the present day (Pine 2003a and forthcoming).

Excavations on the site of the proposed new Waitrose store on the High Street to the east of the site located the

cemetery but not the church of St. Martins (Hannah Fluck pers, comm).

In medieval times Bullcroft to the north was occupied by a Benedictine Priory though the layout and

location of the priory buildings is unknown despite a 19th century investigation. A recent watching brief to the

east and to the rear of 66 High Street revealed massive flint foundations which are thought to relate to some of

the priory buildings (Hannah Fluck pers, comm).

Objectives and methodology

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

construction work. This was to involve examination of any areas of topsoil removal and ground reduction, the

digging of trenches for foundations and for service runs and soakaways if required. Spoil was monitored for

finds and all archaeological deposits were hand cleaned, recorded and investigated for finds.

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Results (Fig. 3)

Groundworks for the new garage comprised the removal of topsoil and the excavation of three foundation

trenches. The trenches were 0.5m wide and 0.8m deep with a total length of 12m. The natural geology (gravel)

was not encountered. Typically the stratigraphy comprised 0.2m of turf overlying made ground with some

concrete present on the western side. Several service runs were present, with much disturbance on the south west

side being a product of the construction of the modern buildings to the west.

The northern trench revealed a large pit with a diameter of 1.5m. It was of 19th /20th century date containing

coal, clinker, tile, bone etc but also three residual sherds of medieval pottery. The medieval pottery was retained.

Of more archaeological interest was the presence of densely packed chalk lumps occupying most of the

western trench. The chalk lumps which were in excess of 0.15m across were not faced nor mortared but were set

within a clayey matrix. There was no obvious coursing present. Due to the presence of modern disturbance, the

narrowness, orientation and relatively shallow depth of the foundation trench, it was not possible to obtain a

profile of the chalk block feature but it was at least 0.5m deep and more than 0.5m wide and it seems likely that

this represents a substantial wall or the foundation for a wall. It was not possible to determine if a foundation cut

was present. The wall is aligned approximately north-south and at right angles to the High Street. No dating

evidence was recovered other than its burial and truncation by 19th or 20th century deposits but its style is more

in keeping with medieval or early post-medieval foundations rather than those of later date.

A further deposit of loose chalk lumps was present at the southern end of the eastern foundation trench

which appears to be a dump or collapse deposit.

Finds

Pottery by Paul Blinkhorn The pottery assemblage comprised three residual sherds with a total weight of 125g from within a modern pit.

They were all early medieval Wallingford Ware, Oxfordshire fabric WA38, and dated AD1050 – 1250 (Mellor

1994). The three sherds were all from different vessels, and one of them was decorated with bands of incised

combing.

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Conclusion

These groundworks have revealed the presence of a solid structure made from chalk blocks which probably

represents a wall or part of a building. The full profile could not be obtained and no dating evidence was

retrieved. However, the style of the feature suggests that it is likely to be of medieval or early post-medieval

date. It seems entirely possible that this structure could also relate to the Benedictine Priory on Bullcroft which is

likely to be located somewhere in the vicinity though other, unrelated functions are equally plausible.

References Airs, M, Rodwell, K, Turner, H, 1975, ‘Wallingford’ in K Rodwell (ed) Historic Towns in Oxfordshire, Oxford

Archaeological Unit Survey no 3, Oxford BGS, 1980, British Geological Survey, 1:50000, Sheet 254, Solid and Drift Edition, Keyworth Mellor, M, 1994 ‘Oxford Pottery: A synthesis of middle and late Saxon, medieval and early post-medieval

pottery in the Oxford Region’, Oxoniensia 59, 17-217 Pine, J, 2003a, ’51, 52 and 53 St Mary’s Street, Wallingford, Oxfordshire, An Archaeological Watching Brief

and Evaluation’ Thames Valley Archaeological Services, Report 03/91, Reading Pine, J, forthcoming, ‘Medieval occupation at 51–3 St Mary’s Street, Wallingford, Oxfordshire,’ (Oxoniensia) PPG 16, 1990, Archaeology and Planning, Dept of the Environment Planning Policy Guidance 16, HMSO

60 High Street, Wallingford, Oxfordshire, 2004Archaeological Watching Brief

Figure 1. Location of site within Wallingford andOxfordshire.

Reproduced from Ordnance Survey Pathfinder1136 SU49/59 1137 SU69/79 1155 SU48/58 1156 SU68/78

1:25000Ordnance Survey Licence 100025880

88000

89000

90000

91000

92000

SU58000 59000 600000 61000

SITE

60HSW04/83

SITE

Castl

e Stre

et

Saxon defences

Earthworks

High Street

Mar

ket

Plac

e

Rive

r Tha

mes

St. John's Street

0 300m

61000SU60500

90000

89500

Crof

t Roa

d

(Ford 1995,Saunders 1995)

Castle Farm

21b and 22 St Mary's St

(Croney 1998)

Harris Garage(Ford 1991)

Rear of 18-20/21Market Place(Hull 1999)

The Lamb Garage(Pine 2001)

Key

Prehistoric Find

Roman FindSaxon FindMedieval FindFind spot uncertain

Site of Medieval building(uncertain)

Approx. extent of townc. 1200

Approx. extent of townc. 1500

Saxon Cemetery

St. JohnHospital

St. John's

St. Mary the Less

St. Rumbold's

St. Mary the More

St. Peter's

The Priory

St. Michael's

St. Martins

All Hallows

Castle

College ofSt. Nicholas

SITE

N

Figure 2. Location of site on the High Street and relative to other archaeological finds within the town. 60HSW04/83

6a St John's Road(Lowe 2003; Ford 2003)

36 St Mary's StLowe 2003b

51-53St Mary's St(Pine 2003)

Old Post OfficeChurch Lane(Pine 2003b)

60

33 Croft Road(Jenkins andWallis 2004)

60 High Street, Wallingford, Oxfordshire, 2004

Figure 3. Detailed location of foundation trenches. 60HSW04/83

60550

89510

89520

89530

SU60540

N

0 5m

60

High Street

modern pit

services

moderndisturbance

60 High Street, Wallingford, Oxfordshire 2004

chalkwall

chalkdump