Country Cottage, High Street,
Sonning, Berkshire
An Archaeological Watching Brief
For Mrs F Carr
by Jennifer Lowe
Thames Valley Archaeological Services
Ltd
Site Code CCS08/44
November 2008
Summary
Site name: Country Cottage, High Street, Sonning, Berkshire
Grid reference: SU 7570 7550
Site activity: Watching Brief
Date and duration of project: 1st October 2008
Project manager: Steve Ford
Site supervisor: Jennifer Lowe
Site code: CCS08/44
Summary of results: No archaeological finds or features were recorded during the course of
the watching brief
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:
Steve Preston9 07.11.08
i
Thames Valley Archaeological Services Ltd, 47–49 De Beauvoir Road, Reading RG1 5NR
Tel. (0118) 926 0552; Fax (0118) 926 0553; email [email protected]; website : www.tvas.co.uk
Country Cottage, High Street, Sonning, Berkshire
An Archaeological Watching Brief
by Jennifer Lowe
Report 08/44
Introduction
This report documents the results of an archaeological watching brief carried out at Country Cottage, High
Street, Sonning, Berkshire (SU 7570 7550) (Fig. 1). The work was commissioned by Mr William Graham of W
M Graham Associates, Chartered Architects, 1 Peach Street, Wokingham, RG40 1XJ on behalf of Mrs F Carr,
The Stores, High Street, Sonning, RG4 6UP.
Planning permission (app no F2008/0195 and LB/2008/0196) has been granted by Wokingham Council for
the construction of a new extension to the rear of Country Cottage, High Street, Sonning. The consent gained is
subject to a condition (5) relating to archaeology which requires 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 Council’s policies on archaeology. The field investigation was carried out
to a specification approved by Ms Mary O’Donoghue of Berkshire Archaeology, the archaeological adviser to
Wokingham Council. The fieldwork was undertaken by Jennifer Lowe on 1st October 2008 and the site code is
CCS 08/44.
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 is located within the historic core of Sonning on the west side of the High Street, with the church located
to the north-west (Fig. 2). The site is located to the rear of Country Cottage in a garden. The site lies at a height
of approximately 45m above Ordnance Datum and is in an area where the underlying geology according to the
British Geological Survey is borderline between Valley Gravel and Upper Chalk (BGS 1946). A light yellow,
slightly silty, chalk natural was observed towards the base of the foundation trenches.
1
Archaeological background
The archaeological potential of the site stems from its location within the centre of Sonning, which was an
important administrative and ecclesiastical centre in Saxon and medieval times. Various fieldwork projects
carried out within close proximity to the site have revealed deposits within the settlement. To the west is the site
of the Bishop’s Palace, which was partly excavated during the First World War and remains dating from as early
as the 13th century were recorded. Other excavations in the grounds of the vicarage to the north uncovered
deposits of late Saxon and early medieval date (Hull and Hall 2003) and charnel deposits of uncertain date have
been recorded at the Bull Inn (Milbank 2007) with Saxon inhumations nearby. In more general terms, the site
lies in the archaeologically rich Thames Valley with important prehistoric and Roman remains visible from the
air located to the east of the village (Ford 1987; Gates 1975, Slade 1964).
Objectives and methodology
The purpose of the watching brief was to excavate and record any archaeological deposits affected by the
groundworks. This was to involve examination of all areas of intrusive groundworks, in particular any ground
reduction and the digging of trenches for foundations and services.
Results
Foundations trenches were observed to the rear of the existing property (Fig. 3). The foundations were 0.60m
wide and generally between 1.20–1.60m deep. The foundations were excavated to a depth of approximately 2m
in south-west corner due to the presence of a modern brick structure, probably a soakaway. In general the
stratigraphy observed comprised 0.40m of mid grey brow silty clay which appeared to be levelling for concrete
slabs which had covered the majority of the area prior to excavation. Below this was 0.30m of a dark grey brown
silty clay, possibly a buried soil. This in turn sealed a light yellow, slightly silty, chalk natural (Fig. 4). No
archaeological features or deposits were observed in the foundation trenches.
Finds
No archaeological finds were encountered during the course of the work.
2
Conclusion
No archaeological finds or features were recorded during the watching brief at Country Cottage, and in particular
no deposits relating to the Saxon cemetery were recorded on the site. The stratigraphy observed does not suggest
that truncation had occurred on the site therefore if archaeology had been present it would have been identified
during any ground disturbance works.
References
BGS, 1946, British Geological Survey, 1: 50,000, Sheet 268, Drift Edition, Keyworth
Ford, S, 1987, East Berkshire Archaeological Survey, Berkshire County Counc Dept Highways and Planning
Occas Pap 1, Reading
Gates, T, 1975, The Thames Valley, An archaeological survey of the River Gravels, Berkshire Archaeol Comm
Pubn 1, Reading
Hull, G and Hall, M, 2003, ‘Excavations of the medieval features at St Andrews Church Vicarage, Sonning,
Berkshire’, Berkshire Archaeol J 76 (for 1998-2003), 73–93
Milbank, D, 2007, ‘The Bull Inn, High Street, Sonning, Berkshire, An archaeological watching brief and salvage
excavation’, Thames Valley Archaeological Services rep 07/26, Reading
PPG 16, 1990, Archaeology and Planning, Dept of the Environment Planning Policy Guidance 16, HMSO
Slade, C F, 1964, ‘A late Neolithic enclosure at Sonning, Berkshire’, Berkshire Archaeol J 61, 4–19
3
SITE
SITE
76000
75000
SU75000
76000
77000
CCS 08/44
Country Cottage, High Street, Sonning,
Berkshire, 2008
Archaeological watching brief
Figure 1. Location of site within Sonning
and Berkshire.
Reproduced from Ordnance Survey Explorer 159 at 1:12500.
Ordnance Survey Licence 100025880
75600
75500
SITE
75400
SU75500
75600
75700
75800
CCS 08/44
Country Cottage, High Street, Sonning,
Berkshire, 2008
Archaeological watching brief
Figure 2. Detailed location of site off High Street.
Reproduced from Ordnance Survey digital mapping under licence.
1:2500.
N
Country Cottage, High Street, Sonning, Berkshire, 2008
h St
reet
75550
Hig
The Bull Inn
75525
The Malt House
Human remains uncovered
(Milbank 2007)
Demolished kitchen
New footing
75500
Homelea
The Rockery
75475
The Old Exchange
SU75650
75675
0
75700
25m
Figure 3. Location of area observed during watching brief.
CCS 08/44
Country Cottage, High Street, Sonning, Berkshire, 2008
SSW
NNE
Stone paving
Grey brown silty clay (madeground)
Dark grey brown silty clay (buried soil?)
Light yellow clayey silt (natural)
base of footing
0
1m
Figure 4. Representative section.
CCS 08/44