A Mesolithic site at North Park Farm Quarry Bletchingley
An Archaeological Investigation
Introduction and Background
North Park Farm, Bletchingley is a sand quarry located on the Folkestone Beds sand, just to the south of the North Downs, in East Surrey. The quarry has been operational for many years, but the present programme of work relates to an extension which began to be opened up in 2001.
The new extension was subject to an archaeological scheme of work, secured by a condition on the planning permission. Surrey County Archaeological Unit (SCAU) undertook a controlled topsoil strip, followed by recording of the archaeology revealed. Scattered over an area of nearly 5Ha were features of a number of periods. The Neolithic and Bronze Age features were almost all pits, to which it is difficult to ascribe specific functions. The Iron Age evidence was more varied, including pits, some of which seem to be associated with metal working, and post holes belonging to a 4-poster structure, as well as others that are part of a fence line. The Roman period is represented only by stray finds. Saxon and early medieval activity is shown by ditches, pits, including a probable waterhole, and a number of post holes. Some of the more interesting of these features occurred near the limits of the present stripped area, and it is likely that a better understanding of them will be achieved when further stripping takes place.
The most exciting evidence to emerge was, however, of Mesolithic date. A series of pits were identified, including several clusters. These are themselves of considerable interest and importance as deliberately dug pits of this date have only rarely been identified. Their significance was, however, greatly enhanced by the identification of a 'buried soil', containing only material of Mesolithic date, and in some quantity, within a topographic hollow occupying an area of almost 1Ha.
Further evaluation in 2002 revealed that the 'buried soil' had a complex formation process both during, and perhaps prior, to Mesolithic activity. In situ evidence was revealed for flint working at several of the sampled locations, and there was also evidence of fires and/or cooking activities. Repeated visits were evidently paid to the area from around 8000BC down to around 4500BC.
Hunter-gatherers have rarely left any visible trace on the landscape, so the vast majority of evidence for Mesolithic society consists of isolated scatters of flint artefacts. Set against this background, the discoveries at North Park Farm clearly provided a remarkable contrast, and offered considerable opportunities to advance our understanding of the chronology and character of the period.
North Park Farm, Bletchingley
North Park Farm, Bletchingley is a sand quarry located on the Folkestone Beds sand, just to the south of the North Downs, in East Surrey. The quarry has been operational for many years, but the current work relates to an extension which began in 2001. Evaluation by trial-trenching took place and this indicated a general background of archaeological activity. A condition was therefore attached to the planning consent requiring topsoil stripping under archaeological supervision, followed by sampling and recording.
Five hectares of controlled stripping revealed a scattering of features and artefacts, including material of all periods from the Neolithic to the early-medieval. The Neolithic and Bronze Age features were almost all pits, to which it is difficult to ascribe specific functions. The Iron Age evidence was more varied, including pits, some of which seem to be associated with metal working, and post holes belonging to a 4-poster structure, as well as others that are part of a fence line. The Roman period is represented only by stray finds. Saxon and early medieval activity is shown by ditches, pits, including a probable waterhole, and a number of post holes.
The most exciting evidence to emerge was, however, of Mesolithic date. This included the unusual and important discovery of a series of pits, some in clusters, but an even more significant, and entirely unexpected, finding was a buried soil containing only material of Mesolithic date. This soil lay within a topographic hollow (technically, a valley head depression) occupying an area of around 1ha. English Heritage agreed to fund an evaluation of the hollow through the Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund so as to establish the significance of the site.
The evaluation revealed that the buried soil had a complex formation process both during, and perhaps prior to, Mesolithic activity. In situ evidence was revealed for flint working at several of the sampled locations, and there was also evidence of fires and/or cooking activities. Repeated visits were evidently paid to the area from around 8000BC to around 4300BC. The evaluation demonstrated that the hollow is unusual and important, and it is difficult to find any comparable sites.
Despite their activities extending over 4000 years, Mesolithic people have left no visible trace on the landscape. Their camps, whether for the summer or a few days, rarely seem to have involved activities that had substantial below ground impact. The result is that the vast majority of evidence for Mesolithic society consists of isolated scatters of flint artefacts. Set against this background, the discoveries at North Park Farm provide a remarkable contrast. They reveal a single site that was visited repeatedly by these communities for millennia, showing the development and maintenance of tradition over a length of time that is hard to comprehend. The preservation of this evidence within and beneath a buried soil means that North Park Farm has a sequence and variety of evidence that is unique.
A detailed programme of excavation has now been devised in order to explore this evidence as fully as possible, and will be taking place between June and October of this year. The project is being run by the Surrey County Archaeological Unit in conjunction with ArchaeoScape (Royal Holloway College), who have particular responsibility for the palaeoenvironmental and scientific dating programmes. The quarry is owned and managed by WBB Minerals Ltd, and they were responsible for funding the work in the quarry prior to the evaluation of the hollow, and they are now jointly funding the present work with English Heritage, who are using funds allocated to them through the Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund.
The dig will have a number of areas of community involvement and outreach. In particular, there will be opportunities for training and participation by volunteers in the work during August and September. There will also be guided tours of the site, a children?s summer school, family and other study days and an exhibition. If you think that you would be interested in any of these we would be very pleased to hear from you. Please contact Nowal Shaikhley at the Surrey County Archaeological Unit (130 Goldsworth Road, Woking, GU21 6ND; telephone 01483 518779; e-mail ).
This page was published on 09/09/2005
