Archaeological test Pit

[peanut]

thanks Geoff. I'm looking forward  to running the detector over the pit tomorrow. I had to break tonight to cook dinner . When I'm done I'm intending to dig the whole area over so might find some more coins and relics hopefully.

The owners of the chapel are trying to date it which is very difficult. it has a nice period brick ribbed vaulted ceiling and very grand ecclesiastical trefoil windows with original leaded lights but the windows have clearly been purchased from a Medieval 'reclamation yard' !  they are far too large and grand  to have been designed for a small private chapel which has been constucted crudely from local field stone. But then there is no denying that the ribbed valted brick ceiling is original so perhaps it is of an earlier date.

[peanut]

funnily enough we too had moles a few years ago but they have now all disapeared from the garden ?  Wonder if they are in decline lol

[Napoleon]

Very interesting Peanut,look forward to see the progress on the dig.cheers.Nap

[Val Beechey]

Well done there, Peanut.  I think it's an indication of  how deep you need to dig just looking at the window height in the Chaple.  I seem to remember someone telling me about Vaulted ceilings. They were usually high class buildings that had them so perhaps the original owners were fairly well off.
I think that window design could be earlier than 1600's but I might be wrong, I often am.
All very interesting, keep up the good work.

Val

[Meatslicer]

I dug what turned into a test pit when I followed a load of metal signals downwards on a field in Wick.

Got a medievel hammer, then bits of melted bronze and roman pottery (Grayware and Samian) from the lower levels then stopped when I hit a post hole and paved area.

Check it out

[peanut]

Well done there, Peanut.  I think it's an indication of  how deep you need to dig just looking at the window height in the Chaple.  I seem to remember someone telling me about Vaulted ceilings. They were usually high class buildings that had them so perhaps the original owners were fairly well off.
I think that window design could be earlier than 1600's but I might be wrong, I often am.
All very interesting, keep up the good work.

Val

yes the window design is indeed earlier Val , well spotted but they wern't contemporary with the construction of the chapel.
They were undoubtably salvaged from the demolition of an eclisieastical building probably at the time of the Dissolution .They are not in proportion with the scale of the chapel and are far too expensive to have been made for a small private chapel .

 The other clue is that most of the chapel walls have been constructed with the very cheapest of building materials ,  rough hewn uncut or faced  sandstone pieces ,basically either waste offcuts from the local Ham Hill quarry or literally taken from the fields from  ruins  

[peanut]

well a quick update on progress .
Yippee I've come down onto the original cobbled courtyard surface at 14"

Without other dating evidence I would hazard a guess that this surface probably dates from about 1840 or so just after the stable block and barns were built in 1831.

Little bit of background History.


The site consists of  a Grade ll listed Floor Mill (Court Mill )  late 18c ( there has been a mill recorded on the site since 1556)  with leat off the river Parrott  and  2x Grade ll listed cottages constructed in Ham hill stone dating to late 17th c . Millers cottage and Chapel cottage ,(formerly one building ).  Millers cottage is first recorded on the site in 1573.

The adjacent barn and stable block was constructed in 1831 and has a fine arch through the middle . Although currently converted into 3x cottages it would have originally housed the horses and accompanying horse feed , bedding and tack and carts for hauling the grain and flour for the mill.

There was probably earlier stables on the same site dating back to  the Medieval period serving the flour Mill  .   I am digging the test pit in the cottage garden at the end of the converted barn/stable block next to Millers Cottage which has been built abutting the earlier Medieval Chapel.

Anyway back to the dig !.  Imagine my surprise and excitment when my trowel hit a consolidated stone surface and the larger the area that  I scraped, the further the cobbled surface extended ! . The cobbled surface would have been vital for the everyday function of a busy  yard with a constant stream of horses and carts and people. being so close to the river our garden is almost constantly damp as the rain water runs down the lane to the river.

There are clear layers of burnt material topped by part burned material most giving a pink/black/pink layer which I've tried to show in the image. My garden probably has over 400 years worth of rubbish dumped on it some burnt some just dumped. At the bottom of the garden there is a raised area of about 10mts x 4mts which is approx 500mm high and it is all accumulated rubbish and bottles from the Victorian period onwards . We have dug dozens of nice bottles from the area
.

My next step is to clean the finds that I have from the 3x layers excavated and record them. See if there is anything datable. Then I will probably expose more of the cobbled yard surface if I can find somewhere to store all the bloomin finely seived earth thats arising.

[peanut]

I dug what turned into a test pit when I followed a load of metal signals downwards on a field in Wick.

Got a medievel hammer, then bits of melted bronze and roman pottery (Grayware and Samian) from the lower levels then stopped when I hit a post hole and paved area.

Check it out

amazing !  what happened after that ?  did you report it to the local Archaeologist ?  or fill it back in ?

[Val Beechey]

Hi Peanut

Looking at your lastest picis I'm struck by the shape of the cobbles. It could be an easy assumtion that they are part of the stable yard but it's a very small, very square section. What part of the yard could that be ?? or is it something else ?? It looks like a section that was worked into a corner. Any sign of walls or similar.?

Val

[Chef Geoff]

Hi Val, That is what "cobbled" surfaces look like, the cobbles that you and I would recognise don't really exist until the 17th century (after Rome) save for some important roads.

[Val Beechey]

I knew that Geoff. (well maybe) what I was pointing out was the small square of cobble with apparent soil around it.
Just looked like a corner piece.

Val

[Chef Geoff]

No you've lost me all I can see is lots of cobbles..............................

[Val Beechey]

yes but they don't cover the entire bottom of the test pit. Pici 3 shows clearly where Peanut hase cleared the sides of the cobbles.

Val

[Chef Geoff]

LOL No those are all cobbles, the big, medium, small and tiny bits all make up a cobbled surface.

[Val Beechey]

Never was one for having the last word.

Just mutter to myself when you can't hear.