Site Event/Activity record ENT4093 - Archaeological Evaluation

Location

Location
Grid reference Centred SK 53594 49350 (362m by 216m) (3 map features)
Map sheet SK54NW
District Ashfield
Civil Parish Hucknall, Ashfield

Technique(s)

Organisation

Pre-Construct Archaeology

Date

Not recorded.

Map

Description

Archaeological Evaluation consisting of four trenches, each 10m x 2m. Of the four 2 were identified as being Archaeologically negative, whilst 2 (Trench 5 and 8) contained a number of post medieval structural remains described below. Trench 5 Located toward the East end of the development on the site of the demolished Manor Farm. The trench was excavated to a depth of 0.65m below original ground level, at which the natural sandy substrate was encountered (plate 1). The earliest features encountered were the partial remains of two walls, one of which was also present beneath the trench baulk (plates 2 and 3). The first of these walls, 504, was located in the centre of the trench and was orientated approximately NE-SW. Much of the wall had been destroyed, with a single course of limestone foundation stones and a single course of bricks all that remained. Some of the foundation stones had been worked; however it is likely these had been re-used from other buildings in the area, as they most likely would not have been on show during its use. The fairly basic construction of the wall suggests that it far more likely to have been a yard wall associated with Manor Farm, rather than a wall of the farm itself. To the NW, the remains of a slightly more substantial wall, 505, were uncovered. As with 504, this wall had a course of limestone foundations, with a number of courses on top. The wall itself was orientated approximately NE-SW in the trench; however, it turned 90° to the SE, back towards 504, underneath the south western baulk, where it couldn be seen for a number of metres before disappearing. The foundation consisted of two rows of re-used limestone blocks, with smaller limestone fragments used as packing in-between. This more substantial construction method suggests it is either part of the main farm building, or a surrounding associated structure. The walls were sealed by a sandy rubble demolition layer. This contained frequent stone and bricks and was most likely related to the demolition of Manor Farm during the mid 20th century. Above the demolition layer was a black, silty made ground deposit, sealed by the compacted stone surface of the car park. Trench 8 was located at the western end of the development site on land to the north of croft mill off Baker Street. At the western end of the trench, a large limestone wall, 806, was present. The stones had been roughly squared and were of considerable size. The wall itself consisted of two rows of stone, with smaller stone packing within. Two courses of large stones were present with a single course of thinner limestone blocks located at the base of the wall as a foundation. Due to the size and construction of this wall it is likely that it represents an exterior wall of a demolished building. To the east of this wall, two further walls were identified, 805 and 804. One of these, 805, in the centre of the trench is far less substantial than the other two. It consisted of two rows, with an upper course of mostly stretcher bonded bricks, in addition to a course below that had been header bonded, presumably as a foundation. 804 is similar to 805 as in it is constructed of five courses of bricks in mainly stretcher rows, however in contrast these sat on top of a course of roughly squared limestone blocks that made up the foundation layer. When overlaid on the 1st and 2nd edition 25" Ordnance Survey mapping, Trench 8 can be seen to lie within, or largely within, the footprint of a building: the trench and the building are on the same axis, and allowing for a margin of error in the scaling and overlaying of the plans, it seems likely to be the walls of this building that were encountered. To the north of the trench was a standing stone wall, recorded as wall 012 during the Standing Buildings survey carried out as a separate part of this project (Pl. 8). This wall had been incorporated into a later wall, also of stone, which served as a boundary for an area of quarrying to the north of Trench 8; the quarry had been filled in prior to the 19th-century development of the area, but a portion of the working face could still be seen at the foot of the wall during the survey (Savage, 2015). Due to the similarity of materials and their alignment (see wall 012 on Fig. 5), it would be feasible to argue that wall 806 and 804 are the western and eastern walls, respectively, of a building, with the standing wall making up the northern edge of this building; the corner quoins of wall 012 indicate a return on the same line as wall 806. With this in mind, the smaller, less robustly constructed wall 805 may be an internal wall of this structure: at a distance of only 1m from wall 806, it might indicate a passage. A potential floor surface was identified in the area between walls 806 and 805: a fairly thin layer of compact red clay, (807), located beneath the demolition layer (803). The walls were overlain by a layer of very loose demolition material, containing frequent stone fragments, brick rubble and modern CBM, which was presumably derived from the demolition of the building shown on the historic OS mapping, whose wall footings are likely to have been exposed here. Above this was the modern made ground, consisting of black sandy silt, containing a number of fragments of modern pottery; this in turn was sealed by a thin bedding layer of brown sandy silt below the modern concrete surface.

Sources/Archives (2)

  • ---XY Document: Pre-Construct Archaeology. 2015. Hucknall Town Centre Environmental Improvement Scheme: Historic Building Survey. [Mapped features: #4088 Trench 8, ; #4089 Trench 5, ]
  • --- Unpublished document: Pre-Construct Archaeology. 2015. Archaeological Evaluation Report: Hucknall Town Centre Environmental Improvement Scheme, Hucknall, Ashfield, Nottinghamshire.

Related Monuments/Buildings (1)

  • Standing Remains in Mill Yard (Element)

Record last edited

Apr 13 2017 11:35AM

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