Site Event/Activity record ENT5257 - Geotechnical Test Pitting at Former Magnus Grammar School, Newark

Location

Location Former Magnus Grammar School, Newark
Grid reference Centred SK 80079 53914 (94m by 44m)
Map sheet SK85SW
District Newark
Civil Parish Newark, Newark

Technique(s)

Organisation

PCAS Archaeology

Date

Not recorded.

Map

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Description

The excavation of thirteen test pits and one borehole within the application site was undertaken. The monitoring took place between 16th and 18th March 2011. The single borehole monitored was excavated within the driveway and revealed only made ground. Nine test pits of varying depths were hand-excavated around the site and were sited by engineers to examine the existing footings of the standing buildings. The majority of these test pits revealed early 20th-century brick footings associated with topsoil and former garden soils. A heavily burnt base sherd of a 20th century stoneware vessel was retrieved from made ground overlying concrete raft, and a small fragment of 19th-20th century English porcelain ware, with a fragment of modern glass. These finds were discarded after identification; no other artefacts were recovered during the monitoring. Two test pits excavated on the north and south sides of one block respectively, revealed stone foundations at depth that appeared to relate to an earlier building on the same alignment as the extant brick building. A deep test pit excavated on the east side of the Tudor Hall, revealed a substantial stone structure below the existing stone wall. The structure was offset by 0.40m from the footings of the existing wall, but extended down for a further 0.95m. The structure appeared to be bedded directly on the natural sand and gravels at a depth of 1.5m and probably represents the foundations of an earlier building. The same wall was identified c. 8m to the south, within the existing cellar. The remaining three test pits were excavated within the cellar. All of these pits contained a single course of brick slab/floor, laid directly upon the natural, sterile orange sand and gravels.

Sources/Archives (1)

  • --- Unpublished document: K.D. Francis, R.D. Savage & S.A. Savage. 2011. Former Magnus Grammar School, Appleton Gate, Newark: Archaeological Assessment.

Related Monuments/Buildings (2)

  • BUILDING AT NEWARK (Element)
  • MAGNUS SCHOOL AT NEWARK (Building)

Record last edited

Feb 5 2025 12:05PM

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