Central Boiler House Site, Horton Lane, Epsom, Surrey

An Archaeological Evaluation

for David Lloyd Leisure

by Erlend Hindmarch 

Thames Valley Archaeological Services Ltd

Site Code HRE 01/96

November 2001

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Summary

Site name: Central Boiler House, Horton Lane, Epsom Grid reference: TQ1930 6205 Site activity: Evaluation Date and duration of project: 30th October–1st November 2001 Project manager: Erlend Hindmarch Site supervisor: Erlend Hindmarch Site code: HRE 01/96 Area of site: 1.1ha Summary of results: Two ditches of 11th–12th-century date and one undated posthole Monuments identified: None Location and reference of archive: The site archive is currently held by Thames Valley Archaeological Services Ltd, 47-49 De Beauvoir Road, Reading, Berkshire, RG1 5NR. It is anticipated that the complete archive will be deposited with Bourne Hall Museum, given that permission is received to deposit the artefacts. This report may be copied for bona fide research or planning purposes without the explicit permission of the copyright holder Report edited/checked by: Steve Ford 26.11.01 Steve Preston 28.11.01

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Central Boiler House Site, Horton Lane, Epsom, Surrey An Archaeological Evaluation

by Erlend Hindmarch

Report 01/96

Introduction

This report documents the results of an archaeological field evaluation carried out at Central Boiler House,

Horton Lane, Epsom, Surrey (TQ 1930 6205) (Fig. 1). The work was commissioned by Mr Paul Bayston,

MRICS, of Dean and Bowes (Contracts) Limited, Hemingford House, Glebe Road, Huntingdon,

Cambridgeshire, PE29 7DN on behalf of David Lloyd Leisure, Epsom.

Planning permission has been granted by Epsom and Ewell Borough Council to construct a new leisure

complex on the site of the former Epsom Cluster Central Boiler House complex, Horton Lane, Epsom. The

development will retain the original boiler house and also create a new building along with car parking, access

road, tennis court and balancing pond. The planning permission has been granted subject to a condition that

relates to the archaeology of the area and a field evaluation has been requested on those areas of the site where

intrusive ground works will take place.

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 Mr Gary Jackson, archaeological officer of Surrey County Council. The fieldwork

was undertaken by Erlend Hindmarch and Andy Taylor from 30th October to 1st November 2001 and the site

code is HRE 01/96. The archive is presently held at Thames Valley Archaeological Services, Reading and will

be deposited at Bourne Hall Museum in due course.

Location, topography and geology

The site is located to the north-west side of Epsom, on the west side of Horton Road (Fig. 1). It is surrounded on

the north, east and west by four hospital sites. The site itself was strewn with demolition debris and various large

spoil heaps of demolition rubble. The underlying geology is London Clay (BGS 1981). This geology was

observed in all trenches. The site lies at a height of 51m above Ordnance Datum (OD).

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Archaeological background

The development site contains within it the structure referred to as the Old Boiler House, which was opened in

1901. Its purpose was to serve all of the five nearby London County Council hospitals. It is proposed to restore

and retain this building. Due to the redevelopment and refurbishment of the hospital sites in the Epsom Cluster

several archaeological assessments have taken place in the past. These include desktop assessment, trial

trenching and excavation. The conclusion from this work is that the hospital sites lie in an area with generally

low archaeological content, although localised sites and finds have been recorded, with a Roman kiln site at

West Park Hospital to the west (Goodchild 1937) and Late Bronze Age occupation at Manor Hospital to the

south (Saunders 2000).

Objectives and methodology

The purpose of the evaluation was to determine the presence/absence, extent, condition, character, quality and

date of any archaeological deposits within the area of development. Eleven trenches, each 20m long, were to be

dug. All machine trenching was to be supervised by a suitable qualified and experienced archaeologist. Where

archaeological deposits were reached the stripped areas were cleaned by hand tools and sufficient deposits and

features were excavated in order to satisfy the aims of the brief. Spoil heaps were also to be checked for any

significant finds.

Results

Eleven trenches were dug using a 360° mechanical digger fitted with a 1.8m toothless ditching bucket. The

trenches varied in length from 14.1m to 22m. After consultation with the County’s Archaeological Officer, two

trenches (5 and 10) were repositioned from their originally agreed location to examine further the potentially

archaeologically interesting north-east area of the site. A list of trenches giving lengths, breadths, depths and a

description of sections and geology is included as Appendix 1.

Trench 1 (Fig. 3)

This trench was located on the north-east corner of the site and was aligned in a NE-SW direction. It was dug to

a depth of 0.42m down to the natural London Clay. A linear feature (1) was located 11m from the south-west

end and crossed the trench east–west. A section dug across this feature (Fig. 4) showed the ditch to have curved

sides with a rounded base. It had a width of 1.23m and a depth of 0.46m. Only one fill was recorded (52), from

which pottery and animal bone were recovered.

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Trench 2 (Fig. 3)

Trench 2 was located on the eastern edge of the site and south of Trench 1. It was dug to a depth of 0.4m down

on to the natural London Clay. One linear feature (2) was recorded at the eastern end of the trench. Cleaning and

excavation of this feature showed it to be a gully cutting across the east end of the trench SW–NE. A section was

dug across this gully (Fig. 4) but only half the width was available due to the position of the gully in the trench.

The section showed the gully to have a fairly gentle sloping side with a flat base. It had only one fill (53), from

which pottery was recovered.

Trench 3

This trench was situated along the north-eastern edge of the site. It was dug to a depth of 1.6m until the natural

was reached. No archaeological deposits were seen. The depth of the trench was due to the extent of modern

made ground in this area. This included layers of charcoal, ash and modern brick rubble. Modern pottery was

also noted in this made up ground but was not retained.

Trench 4

Trench 4 was placed parallel with Trench 2 and adjacent to the northern edge of the Old Boiler House. It reached

a maximum of 1.8m deep. The same stratigraphy as Trench 3 comprising much made up ground was noted. No

significant archaeological deposits were seen.

Trench 5

An attempt was made to place this trench in the northern half of the site, in the area between Trenches 1 and 4.

This area had been the site of a former building, which had been demolished as part of the development. When

the attempt was made to dig in this area it became apparent that the great depth of modern made ground and its

highly unstable condition would make a trench in this area unsafe to work in. For this reason Trench 5 was

placed adjacent to Trench 2 to try to further locate the gully (2). This was not successful with only the natural

clay being reached at a depth of 0.45m.

Trench 6

This trench was placed on the eastern edge of the site in the area previously occupied by large storage tanks. The

trench reached a maximum depth of 2.7m revealing made ground. No archaeological deposits were reached.

Large areas of in situ concrete were recorded in the trench.

Trench 7

Trench 7 was 0.4m deep with natural London Clay in the base. No archaeological deposits were recorded. The

presence of modern pipes and a large concrete area were noted in the base of the trench.

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Trench 8

This trench was dug in an area to the south of the existing boiler house and it seemed that there was very little

disturbance caused by demolition. The trench cut through topsoil which covered a layer of made ground, which

in turn was on top of a deposit of ash. Modern brick and pottery was noted in both these layers. The next level

was a yellow sandy clay which overlay the natural clay. The trench was dug to a depth of 0.7m. A modern pit

was noted in the north side of the trench as well as a modern pipe crossing the base. No archaeological deposits

were revealed.

Trench 9

This trench was also placed to the south of the boiler house and to the south of Trench 8. The top surface of the

trench was turf. No made ground was present but the same yellow clay subsoil was present. This lay directly on

top of the natural clay.

Trench 10 (Fig. 3) (Plate 1)

Trench 10 was located in the north-east corner of the site. The trench was dug to a depth of 0.4m onto the natural

clay. In the base of the trench was a small post hole (3). This was excavated (Fig. 4) and was seen to have steep

sides with a pointed base. It contained only one fill (54) but no dating evidence was recovered.

Trench 11 (Fig.3)

Like Trenches 5 and 10 this trench was located in the potentially archaeologically sensitive north-east area. It

was placed to see if any continuation of the ditch (1) could be located. It proved successful in this role as a

similar ditch (4) was located crossing the trench 10m from the south end. It is most likely to be a continuation of

ditch (1) seen in Trench 1. Due to rapid flooding in this trench it was not possible to fully excavate this feature

but dateable pottery was recovered.

Finds

Pottery by Paul Blinkhorn

The pottery assemblage comprised 20 sherds with a total weight of 151g. All the sherds were of medieval date,

and attributable to the 11th–12th centuries. The material was recorded using the Museum of London fabric codes

(Vince 1985, 38), with the following types noted:

ESUR: Early Surrey ware, 11th–12th century 16 sherds, 108g. EMSH: Early Medieval Shelly ware. 11th–12th century 3 sherds, 28g. LOND: London ware, Late 12th–14th century 1 sherd, 15g.

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The pottery occurrence by number and weight of sherds per context by fabric type is shown in Table 1. Each

date should be regarded as a terminus post quem. The entire assemblage comprised featureless bodysherds, with

the exception of a rimsherd from a large EMSH jar from feature 2(53), and another from a London ware jug

from context 55.

Table 1: Pottery occurrence by number and weight (in g) of sherds per context by fabric type ESUR EMSH LOND

Trench Feature Fill No Wt No Wt No Wt Date 1 1 52 8 53 2 11 11thC? 2 2 53 7 50 1 17 11thC?

11 4 55 1 5 1 15 L12thC?Total 16 108 3 28 1 15

Bone

A total of 52 animal bone fragments were recovered from Trench 1 in the fill of ditch (1), with a total weight of

106 grams. Fragments were too small to be identified to species.

Conclusion

A large area of the site has seen much disturbance in recent times, as shown by the large amount of modern

made up ground which may have removed archaeological deposits. However the north-east corner of the site

contains significant archaeological remains in the form of two ditches/gullies and a post hole. Both the ditch and

the gully produced a moderate quantity of 11th–12th-century pottery in addition to some poorly preserved

animal bone. This concentration of finds and features may indicate that there is a possibility of some sort of

habitation close to this area rather than, for example, representing deposits within a landscape setting. They may

represent an enclosure surrounding or adjacent to a farmstead site. This north-eastern area therefore must be

regarded as having archaeological potential.

References

BGS, 1981, British Geological Survey, 1:50 000, Sheet 270, Solid and drift Edition, Keyworth Goodchild, R, 1937, ‘The tile kiln at Horton, Epsom’, Surrey Archaeol Collect, 45, 90-2 PPG16, 1990, Archaeology and Planning, Dept of the Environment Planning Policy Guidance 16, HMSO Saunders, M J, 2000, ‘Late Bronze Age/early Iron Age settlement evidence from Manor Hospital, Epsom’,

Surrey Archaeol Collect 87, 175–8 Vince, AG, 1985, ‘The Saxon and Medieval Pottery of London: a review’, Medieval Archaeol, 29, 25-93

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APPENDIX 1: Trench details 0m at south or west end

Trench No. Length (m) Breadth (m) Depth (m) Comment 1 21.2 1.8 0.42 Topsoil 0.22m

Subsoil 0.2m Ditch (1)

2 22.0 1.8 0.4 Topsoil 0.2m Subsoil 0.25m Ditch (2)

3 19.5 1.8 1.6 No top soil or sub soil Charcoal, ash and coal layer . Post Medieval 0.16m Brick and tile rubble. Post Medieval 0.74m Very ashy silt layer. Post Medieval 0.3m No archaeology

4 19.3 1.8 1.8 No topsoil or subsoil Demolition rubble. Modern 0.59m Charcoal, ash and coal. Post Medieval 0.46m Silty clay. Post Medieval brick and tile 0.63m No archaeology.

5 14.10 1.8 0.45 Topsoil 0.25 Subsoil 0.2m No archaeology.

6 20.0 1.8 1.00-2.7 No topsoil or subsoil Demolition rubble. Modern 0.5m Ash layer. Post Medieval 0.1m Subsoil. Post Medieval brick and tile 0.4m Remains of modern activity cutting natural such as in situ concrete and pipes. No archaeology.

7 19.20 1.8 0.4 No topsoil Demolition layer. Modern 0.17m Silty clay. Post Medieval. 0.2m Remains of modern activity cutting natural in the form of in situ pipes and concrete No archaeology

8 20.6 1.8 0.7 Topsoil 0.15m Made ground. Post medieval 0.25m Ashy layer. Post Medieval 0.15m Sandy Clay Post Medieval 0.2m No archaeology.

9 22.8 1.8 0.45 Topsoil 0.35m Subsoil 0.1m No archaeology

10 22.5 1.8 0.4 Topsoil 0.15m Subsoil 0.25m Post hole (3)

11 22 1.8 0.45 Topsoil 0.23 Subsoil 0.22m Ditch (4). Not fully excavated due to rapid flooding. High possibility that it is same ditch as (1).

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APPENDIX 2: Feature details

Trench Feature Fill Type Date 1 1 52 Ditch (same as 4) Medieval, 11thC? 2 2 53 Gully Medieval, 11thC? 10 3 54 Posthole Undated 11 4 55 Ditch (same as 1) Medieval, Late 12thC?

Figure 2. Plan of site showing location of trenches. HRE01/96

Boiler House

N

8

TQ19200 19300 19400 19500 19600

0 100m

9

3

4

11 1

10

27

56

1

2

4

3

Horto

n La

ne

62000

62100

61900

Central Boiler House Site, Horton Lane, Epsom, Surrey, 2001

554

50.92mAOD

14m13m

3

N

9m 12m51.32mAOD

N

51.52mAOD

0m 4m

Trench 2

2

Trench 11

Trench 10

Trench 1

1

51.11mAOD 15m12m

N

N

Figure 3. Plans of trenches showing archaeological features. HRE01/96

5m0m

Central Boiler House Site, Horton Lane, Epsom, Surrey, 2001

354

NE SW

HRE01/96Figure 4. Sections of excavated features.

0 1m

50.92mAOD

Trench 10

Trench 2

2

NNE SSW

53

51.52mAOD

Trench 1

SENW

521

51.11mAOD

Central Boiler House Site, Horton Lane, Epsom, Surrey, 2001