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In July we ran a two week excavation at the Roman Villa site at Sarratt, mostly in sun but with odd showers. This year we had the luxury of a double gazebo shelter for finds washing and recording, dining and chatting.

A major objective was to explore in more detail the ‘pit’ which we had partially excavated last year. This feature yielded a number of coins, along with bronze and iron objects. Extension of the trench revealed that the ‘pit’ was a ditch running diagonally down hill. It appeared to be associated with a cut land-surface and nearby posthole. A rich mixture of pot, quern stone fragments, coins and copper alloy items were recovered.

We also took a closer look at a series of ditches and banks forming a partial enclosure near the river in the adjacent wood. These were surveyed in the 1970’s but no excavation carried out. Two trenches were put across the ditches of the earthworks and good ditch profiles recorded. Llittle in the way of finds which might help with dating these features but one or two nice Mesolithic microflints emerged from the fill.

While the excavations were in progress we also managed to complete the resistivity and magnetometry surveys of the field. So, combining all sources of information, we have a good overview of activities during and before the Roman occupation of this area.

March 2011: Open Evening 2011

Admiring some of the year's finds

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The CVAHS annual Open Evening was held on 18th March 2011 8pm in the grand surroundings of the council chamber in Chesham Town Hall.

Around 80 people - members and non-members - gathered to hear presentations on recent society activities. For the Field Group, Yvonne Edwards and John Gover described our digs and finds in 2010 at Mount Wood and Lowndes Park, while Marion Wells outlined the results of a comparative study of pottery from the Mount Wood and Colemans Wood sites.

For the Records Group, Garry Marshall drew on extensive research to paint a picture how Chesham and its surroundings developed from Roman times up to the Middle Ages.

Attendees were then able to enjoy a range of finger food and drinks while looking at posters and displays of recent finds, while a rolling audio-visual presentation by Phil Nixon showed the Field Group in action during last year's digs.

A big thank you to everyone who contributed to making the evening such a success.

February 2011: Analysis of the Glass from the Lowndes Park Excavation

As previously recorded here, during the summer of 2010 CVAHS excavated the mound in Lowndes Park and uncovered a large number of broken glass bottles. We then had the daunting task of analysing these glass fragments - 3960 in all - to determine their ages and dates.

Firstly, 3706 of the fragments were body sherds that were deemed too small to be useful for dating purposes, and so were discarded. Of the remaining 254 fragments, five body sherds could be dated to the post-medieval period, but more accurate dating was not possible. A stopper, thought to be from a pharmaceutical bottle, was dated to the early 19th century.

Five glass seals bearing the coat of arms of Welbeck-Pyrmont and the words 'PYRMONT WATER' were also recovered. We discovered that mineral water was imported in sealed bottles from Germany in the 18th century, and the seal type indicated that the seals had a date of c.1745-70.

This left us with 243 fragments consisting of 86 bases and 157 necks of what we assumed were wine bottles, although no wine bottle seals were found. Since no complete bottles were recovered, dating of the bases and necks proved difficult. All appeared to be handmade which, again, made dating a challenge.

For bases, the body shape, diameter, and kick-up height can give a clue as to the date. Similarly, for the necks, the shape, width of lip, and type and position of the string-rim, can be used to give a rough date. We measured all the fragments, grouped them, and allocated tentative dates.

We then visited Will Phillips, Keeper of Social History at Buckinghamshire County Museum's Resource Centre with a selection of 25 bases and necks. There we were able to view the museum's collection of complete bottles and Will very helpfully confirmed our dating, which we were relieved to find was not too far out. The majority of the glass bases (69 of the 86) and necks (124 of the 157) have now been dated to c.1770-80. 11 bases and 25 necks have been given earlier dates, the earliest being c.1650-60, and 6 bases and 8 necks have been given later dates, the latest being c.1800-20.

So, in conclusion, all we can say at present is that a large number of broken bottles, dating mostly from the 18th century, were buried in the mound. But the mystery remains as to where the bottles came from, whether they were deliberately smashed, and why they were carried to the top of a hill in Chesham and buried.

January 2011: Update on Excavations in Lowndes Park

The mound in Lowndes Park is scheduled as a possible Bronze Age burial mound but excavations by CVAHS in July 2010 uncovered no evidence to support this idea. There was no signs of encircling ditches and all the finds made in the three trenches placed on the mound found only post-medieval items.

The trench on the upper flat surface of the mound uncovered part of a pit where large quantities of tile, glass bottle fragments, pot and bone dating from late 17th century to early 19th century had been deliberately dumped. The dates suggest that some or all of this material may have come from Bury Hill Manor, the home of the Whichcote and Skottowe families since 1656, which was demolished in the early 19th century.

The majority of the glass came from wine bottles, but there were also fragments from bottles of Pyrmont mineral water imported from Germany, which was highly fashionable in the 18th century. There were bones from cattle and sheep showing signs of butchery, presumably the remains of hearty meals; in addition there were the remains of a young cat and a tortoise(?) Perhaps these were pets at the Bury Hill Manor?

At the base of the pit were rough rectangular brick foundations for a small building. These may be the base of a gazebo/look-out pavilion from which the Skottowes enjoyed views along the Chess and Pednor valleys. From the mound, Chesham people and visitors still enjoy these views today.

July 2010: Excavations in Lowndes Park

Finds recording - another bottle!	Seal from mineral water bottle c1800

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For a week from the 23rd July, CVAHS carried out excavations in Lowndes Park Chesham on the "rolling pin", an earth mound at the highest point of the park.

We dug trenches into and on top of the earth mound, which was scheduled in 1995 as a possible disc barrow. A series of trenches were also placed across a large enclosure ditch/bank identified from aerial photographs. The hot dry summer had baked the ground so that it was hard digging but we made good progress with the aid of pickaxes and perseverance.

Enough information was generated from the enclosure trenches to confirm the presence of a large bank and shallow ditch. There were very few finds from these trenches but one yielded the bowl and stem fragments of a clay pipe. No other finds were made in the enclosure trenches to suggest a medieval or earlier date.

Trenches on the mound exposed a number of interesting features but evidence for a prehistoric date was absent. Rather the finds (including a large number of hand blown bottles) indicate a date somewhere between 1750 and 1850AD. However it is worth noting that the CVAHS dig was confined to a small percentage of the total volume of the mound.

Once the finds have been processed, dated and catalogued and the reports assembled more details will be made available.

May 2010: New CVAHS Membership Secretary

Brian Smith has had to resign as Membership Secretary due to ill health. Brian has ably performed this role for several years and deserves a big 'thank you' from CVAHS members for all his hard work. We wish him well in his recovery. For the remainder of this year, Marion Wells has taken over. The position of Membership Secretary will be taken over by Julia Plaistowe in the New Year. Marion is reviewing the members' database and would be grateful if you could advise CVAHS of your email address if you haven't already done so. Please let Marion know it on mjwhollybank@aol.com. This will greatly help with future communications.

April 2010: Investigations at The Lee

Surveying in the Sun

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From February to April this year the CVAHS Field Group ivestigated the site of a possible deserted medieval settlement at The Lee. We used resistivity and magnetometry geophysics to form a picture of sub-surface features.

Although the earthworks at The Lee cover a fairly large area, there is comparatively little known about them. No previous excavations or surveys have taken place at the site, but there have been two site visits.

One, by Roland Smith, resulted in a sketch showing features such as possible house platforms and short lengths of hollow way. A site visit by Pike and Farley (1977) resulted in an annotated map which shows additional small spurs of bank and ditch to the south east and west. Michael Farley stated that "within the enclosure, apart from the church/chapel, would have lain the principal house and its attendant barns and outbuildings and possibly a few other dwellings. Much of the enclosure would have been open land, the normal 'home close' of a principal house".

Records suggest that this was a 13th-14th century monastic site consisting of a church and a possible guest house. But what else was here, and is there any evidence of an earlier occupation? Geophysical surveys of the site have now been completed and indicate some interesting features. We are hoping to be able to begin excavation of these in the near future.

March 2010: CVAHS Open Evening

Some of the finds on display

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About 50 CVAHS members and local people braved the wind and rain on 19th March to come to Chesham Town Hall and hear about the society's activities in the past year.

There were short presentations by members of the Field Group - John Gover, Jill Hender, Yvonne Edwards and Marion Wells - on our archeological activities at a number of sites. These included new investigations at Lowndes Park, Chesham and at The Lee medieval settlement, as well as the long-running fieldwork at Valley Farm and surrounding areas. Yvonne Edwards described all these as 'work in progress' as each has produced new information (and, in some cases, physical finds), but more work is needed to understand and date activities on the sites.

Garry Marshall of the Record Group gave an entertaining presentation on 'The Great and Good of Chesham' derived from his study of Chesham's manorial rolls. He demonstrated how local people in the 14th Century were linked in a web of relationships and obligations, from the level of the aristocracy down to individual peasants.

Finally, Roland McLain-Smith described recent developments at Coleman's Wood, where evidence has been found of Romano-British and earlier activity, including traces of a new bank and ditch enclosure. The Romano-British finds may be linked to a suspected villa at Little Missenden.

Displays included finds from Coleman's Wood and an accompanying video, pottery from Valley Farm and environs, and posters about our geophysical survey at Blackwell Hall Farm.

February 2010: Blackwell Hall Geophysical Investigation

Blackwell Hall Manor was in the Chess Valley near Chesham. It derived its name from the Blackwell family who held land in Chesham in the 13th century. The Sites and Monuments Record (SMR) states that "Blackwell Hall marks the site of the ancient manor of that name", however, it's not clear whether the manor was based on what is now Blackwell Hall or Blackwell Hall Farm.

While CVAHS was researching Blackwell Hall Farm a large flat platform area was noted in the back garden to the east of the farm. Was this the site of the original manor house? In February 2010, we decided to complete a resistivity survey over this feature and surrounding area to see if any evidence could be found to support this idea. The results and interpretation of the survey are shown below.

The raw resistivity data is as taken from the resistivity meter with no processing applied. After relief processing, the plot has 'noise' spikes removed and the display highlights anomalies. An interpretation of the data is shown, including the margin of the platform terrace (a small but steep bank on the site), a trackway, and possible outlines of building foundations.

Interestingly, the 1880s OS map shows a building on the platform. But are we looking at 19th Century "garden sheds" or is there something older here? As usual, more research is needed!

Geophysics Results