Titlarks House Cottage, Titlarks Hill Road,
Sunningdale, Berkshire
An Archaeological Watching Brief
For Mr and Mrs Stanley
by Steve Ford
Thames Valley Archaeological Services Ltd
Site Code THC 06/25
November 2006
Summary
Site name: Titlarks House Cottage, Titlarks Hill Road, Sunningdale, Berkshire
Grid reference: SU 9597 6616
Site activity: Watching Brief
Date and duration of project: 3rd March-6th October 2006
Project manager: Steve Ford
Site supervisors: Sarah Coles and Steve Ford
Site code: TCS 06/25
Summary of results: No finds or deposits of archaeological interest were observed. Parts of the site had been truncated during construction of the previous house on the site.
Monuments identified: None
Location and reference of archive: The archive is presently held at Thames Valley Archaeological Services, Reading and will be deposited at Reading Museum 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: Jo Pine?13.11.06
Titlarks House Cottage, Titlarks Hill Road, Sunningdale, Berkshire
An Archaeological Watching Brief
by Steve Ford
Report 06/25
Introduction
This report documents the results of an archaeological watching brief carried out at Titlarks House Cottage, Titlarks Hill Road, Sunningdale, Berkshire (SU 9597 6616) (Fig. 1). The work was commissioned by Mr Martin Butler of Martin Butler Partnership, 28 Broad Street, Wokingham, RG40 1AB. A planning consent (06/00131/FUL) has been granted by the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead to construct a new house and new garden wall following demolition of the existing house. This consent was subject to a condition relating to archaeology which required a watching brief to be carried out during groundworks.
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 Ms Fiona Macdonald, Archaeology Officer with Berkshire Archaeology, advisers to the Borough on matters relating to archaeology. The fieldwork was undertaken by Sarah Coles and Steve Ford between 3rd March and 6th October 2006 and the site code is TCS 06/25.
The archive is presently held at Thames Valley Archaeological Services, Reading and will be deposited at Reading Museum in due course.
Location, topography and geology
The site comprises an irregular parcel of land on the east side of Titlarks Hill Road, Sunningdale, Berkshire (SU 9597 6616). It was currently occupied by the garden of the demolished house (Fig. 2). The ground slopes gently down to the east and the site lies at a height of c. 65m above Ordnance Datum. The underlying geology comprises Bracklesham Beds with an outcrop of Bagshot Beds just to the west (BGS 1981).
Archaeological background
The archaeological potential of the site stems from the location of the site within an area containing a modest range of recorded archaeological deposits (Ford 1987), perhaps as a result of relatively few opportunities for the discovery of archaeology material in this former heathland-dominated landscape. A number of Bronze Age round barrows, are recorded in the general area of the site and contemporary occupation must also be present but is as yet unlocated. Roman archaeology is also known for the area with the road from Silchester to London (Devil's Highway) passing the site some way to the north and with at least one villa-type site discovered during construction of the railway where it intersected the Roman road on Charters Road (Hughes 1890). A medieval priory is also recorded at Broomhall, though its exact location is unknown but it too is likely to be located some way to the north of the proposal site.
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 all areas of topsoil stripping, landscaping, ground reduction and the digging of trenches for foundations and services for structures as necessary.
Results
The initial groundworks comprised excavation of the foundation trench for a new garden wall between Titlarks House and the site (Figs 3 and 4). This trench was 0.45m-0.6m wide and 0.8m-1.05m deep. The stratigraphy
typically comprised 0.2m of topsoil above 0.35m of pale grey sand (subsoil) above 0.15m of yellow sand (natural geology) above 0.45m pf green/grey clayey sand. Apart from some brick fragments in the topsoil no finds nor deposits of archaeological interest were revealed.
Following demolition of the existing house, the trenches for the new house were dug. These were located on a terraced area with up to 0.6m of truncation of the natural geology at the western part of the site. It is likely that this truncation took place for the original building on the site.
The footing trenches were 0.6m wide and up to 1.6m deep. The stratigraphy revealed in the trenches in the truncated areas at the western end of the site was a yellow clayey sand which became blue/grey at depth. This became more sandy towards the east.
The area towards the east of the house footprint was stripped of overburden, but not to archaeological standards, but apart from modern demolition material, no finds or deposits of archaeological interest were observed.
Finds
No artefacts of archaeological interest were recovered.
Conclusion
The watching brief during construction of the new garden wall and foundation trenches for the new house did not reveal any deposits or artefacts of archaeological interest.
References
BGS, 1981, British Geological Survey, 1:50,000, Sheet 269, Drift Edition, Keyworth
Ford, S, 1987, East Berkshire Archaeological Survey, Berkshire County Counc Dept Highways and Planning Occas Pap 1, Reading
Hughes, G, M, 1890, History of Windsor Forest and Sunninghill and the Great Park.
PPG 16, 1990, Archaeology and Planning, Dept of the Environment Planning Policy Guidance 16, HMSO
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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
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