T H A M E S V A L L E Y
S E R V I C E S
ARCHAEOLOGICAL
Faraday Court, Priestley Road, University Research Park, Guildford, Surrey
Archaeological Recording Action
by Genni Elliott
Site Code: FRP13/16
(SU 9665 4990)
Faraday Court, Priestley Road, University Research Park,Guildford, Surrey
An Archaeological Recording Action
For The University of Surrey
by Genni Elliott
Thames Valley Archaeological Services Ltd
Site Code FRP 13/16
August 2014
Summary
Site name: Faraday Court, Priestley Road, University Research Park, Guildford, Surrey
Grid reference: SU 9665 4990
Site activity: Recording Action
Date and duration of project: 14th – 23rd July 2014
Project manager: Steve Ford
Site supervisor: Genni Elliott
Site code: FRP 13/16
Area of site: c. 0.77ha within an overall site of 1.8ha
Summary of results: No features of archaeological significance were identified. However, a collection of pottery, mostly of later Bronze Age date but including Roman and post-medieval sherds found within the subsoil along with some prehistoric struck flint.
Location and reference of archive: The archive is presently held at Thames Valley Archaeological Services, Reading and will be deposited at Guildford 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 All TVAS unpublished fieldwork reports are available on our website: www.tvas.co.uk/reports/reports.asp.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 Ford� 14.08.14Steve Preston� 14.08.14
iThames 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
Faraday Court, Priestley Road, University Research Park, Guildford, SurreyAn Archaeological Recording Action
by Genni Elliott
Report 13/16b
Introduction
This report documents the results of an archaeological recording action carried out at Faraday Court, Priestley
Road, University Research Park, Guildford, Surrey (SU 9665 4990) (Fig. 1). The work was commissioned by Mr
Igor Rukuts of Northcroft, 1 Procter Street, London WC1V 6DW, on behalf of the University of Surrey.
Planning permission (app no. 13/P/00628) has been granted by Guildford Borough Council for the erection
of two new office buildings and associated landscaping. This is subject to a condition which requires the
implementation of a programme of archaeological work: in this instance it was determined that this should
consist of a recording action in advance of groundworks.
This is in accordance with the Department for Communities and Local Government’s National Planning
Policy Framework (NPPF 2012) and the Borough’s policies on archaeology. The field investigation was carried
out to a specification approved by Mr Nicholas Truckle, Archaeological Officer with Surrey County Council,
archaeological advisers to Guildford Borough Council. The fieldwork was undertaken by Genni Elliott, Lizzi
Lewins and Andy Taylor, between 14th and 23rd July 2014 with the site code FRP 13/16.
The archive is presently held at Thames Valley Archaeological Services, Reading and will be deposited at
Guildford Museum in due course.
Location, topography and geology
The Research Park is situated on the western margins of Guildford in central Surrey(Fig. 1). The site covers
approximately 1.8ha on the western edge of the modern research park, set between this new development on
north, east and south sides, and Strawberry Grove, a small area of woodland to the west (SU9665 4990) (Fig. 2).
It currently consists of a roughly rectangular area of pasture, which is higher along both eastern and western
sides than in the centre, and also slopes down from around 75m above Ordnance Datum in the south to 70m aOD
in the north, forming what amounts to a shallow u-shaped valley aligned south to north. The underlying geology
is London Clay (BGS 1976).
1
Archaeological background
The archaeological potential of the site was highlighted in a desk-based assessment (Preston 2013). The
Guildford region has seen a substantial body of archaeological research, over the past half century or so
(Robertson 2003), but most of this has concentrated in the town itself, the broader area being less well explored
until much more recently (Preston 2012, 1–3). The area is substantially on chalk, the town being located where
the river Wey breaks through the North Downs. The broad band of London clay on which the current site sits,
however, would until recently have been considered much less archaeologically rich. Until recently, little was
known of prehistoric Guildford beyond the occasional stray find. Later Mesolithic activity is recorded at
Woodbridge Road and a Late Bronze Age hoard was recorded near the Hog’s Back (Cotton 2004). The
development of the Research Park, however, has permitted extensive archaeological exploration of the landscape
around the site which has added considerably to our understanding of how this area was used in the past,
transforming the perception of the clay as ‘marginal land’ (a pattern being repeated across much of the country
(Mills and Palmer 2007). At Manor Farm to the south, significant Bronze Age and Iron Age use of the landscape
has been revealed, along with Roman and medieval settlement (Pine 2012). The recent discovery of Middle and
Late Bronze Age settlement and enclosures, with pottery, struck flint and burnt flint, at Christ’s College School,
Larch Avenue (north-west of the town centre), is also of some note (Howe et al. 2010, 306).
Nor is there much more evidence from the Roman period (Bird 2004a), although again the recent
excavation at Larch Avenue suggests that the absence of evidence may be misleading. The area around the
Hog’s Back has been thought to be located on the route of the London-Winchester Roman road (Bird 2004b, 44).
To the west and north of Guildford, Roman occupation sites have been recorded on the London Clay (Bird
2004b, 70) but only occasional finds within the town. St Mary’s Church in the town has late Saxon elements, and
there was a 6th-century pagan cemetery at Guildown, on the Hog’s Back (Lowther 1931). Only from the
medieval period onwards is there more evidence, not least the castle (Poulton 2005). Manor Farm to the south is
a moated site and the site of a royal hunting lodge: the current site may be on the edge of the park associated
with this.
Objectives and methodology
The purpose of the recording action was to:
excavate and record all archaeological deposits and features within the areas threatened by the development;
produce relative and absolute dating and phasing for deposits and features recorded on the site;
2
establish the character of these deposits in attempt to define functional areas on the site such as industrial, domestic, etc.; and
produce information on the economy and local environment and compare and contrast this with the results of other excavations in the region.
The specific research aims of this project were to address the following questions:
When was the site first occupied?
When was the site abandoned?
Are there any Roman deposits which relate to those recorded to the south?
Are there any further prehistoric, Saxon or Medieval deposits which relate to the excavated remains to the south?
Do any medieval deposits relate to the moated royal hunting lodge?
What is the nature and date of any landscape features encountered (eg fields, boundary features, large enclosures) and what is their spatial organisation?
What is the palaeo-environmental setting of the area?
The fieldwork was undertaken within a single area located centrally within the overall site, with maximum
dimensions of c.138m by 65m (c. 0.77ha) (Fig. 3). The topsoil and over burden were removed by a 360º type
machine equipped with a toothless bladed ditching bucket to expose archaeologically sensitive levels, under
constant archaeological supervision. Where archaeological features were present the stripped areas were to be
cleaned using hand tools and excavated to an agreed sample proportion.
Results
The recording action was undertaken as planned.
The stratigraphy over the whole area consisted of topsoil above subsoil above natural geology. The greyish
brown, silty clay topsoil had a minimum thickness of 0.03m in the centre of the site and a maximum thickness of
0.13m on the eastern slope. Within the topsoil was a decorated clay tobacco pipe bowl. Below the topsoil was
dark greyish brown, silty clay subsoil containing frequent flecks of chalk ranging in thickness between 0.10m in
the centre of the site and 0.50m on the eastern slope. Within the subsoil were found 69 sherds of pottery ranging
in date from the prehistoric – post-medieval period. Beneath the subsoil was natural geology London Clay (Pls 1
and 2).
Cut into the subsoil were two modern linear features (Fig. 3), both running north–south; one contained a
concrete pipe and the other contained a sherd of transfer printed blue and white china. The pipe would have been
laid to carry a stream marked on some historic maps (cf Preston 2013). Cut into the natural were a number of
sub-circular, irregular tree boles which were explored to confirm this interpretation but not recorded in detail.
None contained any finds.
3
No features of archaeological interest were identified
Finds
Pottery by Paul BlinkhornThe pottery assemblage comprised 69 sherds with a total weight of 394g. It comprised a mixture of prehistoric,
Romano-British and post-medieval wares. It all occurred in the sub-soil, context 51, and most of the sherds were
heavily abraded, indicating that they had been the subject of considerable disturbance and transportation.
Prehistoric
Flint-tempered ware. Late Bronze Age – early Iron Age. Moderate to dense angular white flint up to 2mm. 40 sherds, 240g.
Flint and Ironstone. Rare to Sparse sub-angular flint up to 1mm, rare to sparse rounded red ironstone up to 3mm. 1 sherd, 6g
Roman
Grey Sandy Wares. Wheel-thrown sandy wares, moderate to dense sub-rounded quartz up to 1mm, most 0.5mm or less. 24 sherds, 83g.
Post-medieval
The post-medieval assemblage was recorded using the codings and chronology of the provisional type series of
the Surrey County Archaeological Unit (Jones 1998, 211-238), as follows:
RW: Post-medieval Redwares, mid-16th – 18th century. 4 sherds, 65g. A common find at sites in the region.
The prehistoric pottery is typical of sites in the region (e.g. Elsdon 1982). The assemblage consisted almost
entirely of bodysherds, other than a single small rimsherd with a beaded profile which may be early Iron Age.
Most of the Roman assemblage was very heavily abraded, making anything but the most general identification
impossible. Grey sandy wares similar to these are very common on Roman sites in Surrey throughout the period
(e.g. Huson 1998, 80-4)
Struck Flint by Steve FordThree struck flints were recovered from topsoil/subsoil contexts during the recording action. They comprised
two flakes, one of which was iron stained, and a third piece which was a core. The latter was unusual in that it
was a flatish piece with small flakes removed from both sides and may possibly have been an attempt to make a
core tool before being discarded. None of the pieces are closely datable and only a broad neolithic/Bronze Age
date can be suggested.
4
Clay tobacco pipeThe single bowl recovered from the topsoil is in the form of an egg being held by an eagle's claw. Such a design
was popular between c.1870–1920.
Conclusion
No features of archaeological significance were identified. The pottery found within the subsoil, however,
indicates that prehistoric and Roman activity was present within the area. The prehistoric ceramics in particular
would be unlikely to have survived travelling far from their original place of deposition. Similar fabrics
dominated by fine flint temper were recorded in the excavations immediately to the south (Raymond 2012),
including in Area A at the very north edge of those investigations, only some 100m or so from the current site.
The majority of sherds here are probably similar to Raymond’s fabric group 1e. There they indicated Middle-to-
Late Bronze Age settlement though the fabrics can be long-lived and without form or decoration assignment to a
specific prehistoric phase cannot be precise, and the single rimsherd here may be later.
Roman material, by contrast, was rare in the excavations to the south, although it was speculated that
undated cremation burials might be Roman, and Roman features have been recorded further to the west. The
hollow in which this site sits is approximately on the line of a purported Roman road, but the existence of this
now seems to have been conclusively disproved (Pine 2012, 52). The tiny abraded Roman sherds here may be
the result of manuring of fields around a settlement to the south-west.
ReferencesBGS, 1976, British Geological Survey, Sheet 285, Solid and Drift Edition, 1:50000, KeyworthBird, D, 2004a, ‘Surrey in the Roman period: a survey of recent discoveries’ in Cotton, J, Crocker, G and
Graham, A (eds), Aspects of Archaeology & History in Surrey: towards a research framework for the county,Surrey Archaeol Soc, Guildford
Bird, D, 2004b, Roman Surrey, StroudCotton, J, 2004, ‘Surrey’s early past a survey of recent work’, in J Cotton, G Crocker and A Graham (eds),
Aspects of archaeology and history in Surrey; towards a research framework for the county, Surrey Archaeol Soc, Guildford, 19–38
Elsdon, S, 1982, ‘Later Bronze Age Pottery from Farnham’, Surrey Archaeol Collect 73, 127–41Howe, T, Jackson, G and Maloney, C, 2010, ‘Archaeology in Surrey 2007’, Surrey Archaeol Collect 95, 303–26Huson, S, 1998, ‘The Roman Pottery’ in G Hayman, ‘Excavation in St Martin’s Walk, Dorking’, Surrey
Archaeol Collect 85, 80-4Jones, P, 1998, ‘Towards a type series of medieval pottery in Surrey to c AD1700’, Surrey Archaeol Collect 85,
215–38Lowther, A W G, 1931, ‘The Saxon cemetery at Guildown, Guildford, Surrey’, Surrey Archaeol Collect 39, 1–
50Mills, J and Palmer, R, 2007, Populating clay landscapes, OxfordNPPF, 2012, National Planning Policy Framework, Dept Communities and Local Government, LondonPine, J, 2012, ‘Multi-period occupation at Manor Park, Guildford (2003–9)’, in S Preston (ed), Archaeological
Investigations in Surrey, 1997–2009, TVAS Monogr 11, Reading, 39–96Poulton, R, 2005, A Medieval Royal Complex at Guildford; excavations at the Castle and Palace, Guildford
5
Preston, S (ed), 2012, Archaeological Investigations in Surrey, 1997–2009, TVAS Monogr 11, ReadingPreston, S, 2013, Land at Faraday Court, Surrey Research park, University of Surrey Guildford, Surrey: desk-
based heritage assessment’, TVAS unpubl rep 13/16, ReadingRaymond, F, 2102, ‘Prehistoric Pottery’, in J Pine, Multi-period occupation at Manor Park, Guildford (2003–9),
in S Preston (ed), Archaeological Investigations in Surrey, 1997–2009, TVAS Monogr 11, Reading, 58–75Robertson, J, 2003, ‘Extensive Urban Survey of Surrey: Guildford’, Woking
6
49000
50000
51000
SU 96000 97000 FRP 13/16
Reproduced from Ordnance Survey Explorer 145 at 1:12500Ordnance Survey Licence 100025880
Staines
Guildford
Egham
Woking Weybridge
DorkingAldershot Redhill
GodalmingFarnham
SITE
SITE
Land at Faraday Court, Surrey Research Park,Guildford, Surrey, 2014
Archaeological Recording ActionFigure 1. Location of site within Guildford and Surrey.
Reigate
9
30
NUGENT ROAD
Drain
FRP 13/16
Reproduced from Ordnance Survey Digital mapping under licence. Crown copyright reeserved.
Land at Faraday Court, Surrey Research Park,Guildford, Surrey, 2014
Archaeological Recording ActionFigure 2. Current configuration of site.
Scale: 1:1250
SITEgas pipe
49800
SU96600 96700
49900
50000
FRP 13/16
Figure 3. Location of observed area.
Land at Faraday Court, Surrey Research Park,Guildford, Surrey 2014
Archaeological Recording Action
0 50m
N
49900
SU96600 96700
PriestleyRoad
modern ditch
modern pipe trench
FRP 13/16
Land at Faraday Court, Surrey Research Park,Guildford, Surrey, 2014
Archaeological Recording ActionPlates 1 - 2.
Plate 1: General site view looking west; scales 2m, 1m.
Plate 2: General site view looking north-west.
TIME CHART
Calendar Years
Modern AD 1901
Victorian AD 1837
Post Medieval AD 1500
Medieval AD 1066
Saxon AD 410
Roman AD 43BC/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 9260552Fax: 0118 9260553
Email: [email protected]: www.tvas.co.uk
