NHER 64659 (Monument record) - Prehistoric, Roman and late post-medieval remains

January 2018. Desk-based Assessment.
Assessment of proposed development site.
This site was deemed to have a moderate to good potential to contain prehistoric and/or Roman remains.
19th-century maps show part of this site was occupied by a dwelling known as Smee House, which was demolished towards the end of the 20th century. It is uncertain when this building was constructed, although a 18th-century or earlier origin is entirely possible.
It is argued that past agricultural use and previous development of the site will have had a reasonably severe impact on any sub-surface archaeological remains.
No features of archaeological or historical interest were recorded during a brief site visit undertaken in September 2016.
See report (S1) for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 7 March 2021.

August 2018. Geophysical Survey.
Magnetometer survey of proposed development area. A total of four areas were examined at this location (Areas 1-2 and 4-5). A fifth (Area 3) was in the field to the east and is recorded under NHER 62624.
This survey recorded little of obvious archaeological significance.
A spread of ferrous debris at TG 2885 0980 almost certainly resulted from the demolition of the building known as Smee House, which is shown on the Great Plumstead tithe map of 1839 (S2) and was still present up to at least the latter part of the 20th century. A particularly strong response within this spread potentially represents the remains of a well marked on the Ordnance Survey Six-inch First Edition map (S3). A large ferrous response a little way to the north appear to coincide with a pond shown on the same map. Three strong linear responses in this part of the site correspond with former boundaries shown on these 19th century maps.
A number of north-west to south-east and north-east to south-west aligned linear negative anomalies identified elsewhere are all though to represent drainage features.
Information from report uploaded to OASIS. HER copy awaited.
P. Watkins (HES), 7 March 2021.

May 2022. Trial Trenching.
Evaluation of proposed development site. The 77 trenches excavated revealed only a sparse scatter of linear and discrete features, many of which produced little or no dating evidence. There was though limited evidence for several phases of prehistoric activity, with small multi-period assemblages of both prehistoric worked flint and pottery recovered. Potentially prehistoric features included a pit in the north-easternmost part of the site that contained several sherds of Early Neolithic Plain Bowl pottery and a number of what were probably contemporary worked flints, including a blade core, blades and flakes. A substantial sub-circular pit in the opposite corner of the site was found to contain what appears to be a mix of Middle/Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age pottery. Samples taken from the fills of these features produced little in the way of plant macrofossils. Also potentially prehistoric were two small pits in the north-western part of the site that both contained sherds of probable Middle Iron Age pottery. A small amount of hammerscale was present in a sample from one of these features, although similar material was noted in a number of other samples from elsewhere on the site, so it is possible that this represented intrusive debris.
Later features included an east-north-east to west-south-west aligned ditch in the south-east corner of the site that contained several sherds of Roman pottery. A single sherd of Roman pottery was also recovered from a similarly-aligned ditch some distance away, close to the northern edge of the site. This ditch was potentially contempoary with a perpendicular north-north-west to south-south-east aligned ditch that extended from its northern side.
There was little evidence for significant post-Roman activity on the site, with all of the demonstrably later features being of probable late post-medieval or modern date. These included a north-north-west to south-south-east aligned ditch that corresponds with the western boundary of the small plot of land associated with the former dwelling known as Smee House (visible on 19th-century maps). This ditch contained a range of late post-medieval objects, including pottery, glass and ceramic building material – presumably material dumped around the time this house was demolished. A trench excavated at the site of the building itself suggested little, if anything, of the structure survives. A large pit of probable modern date was also recorded in the western half of the site, along with a number of pits containing relatively recent animal burials.
The undated features included a number of shallow sub-circular pits with notably charcoal-rich fills. It is possible that at least some of these features were associated with small-scale charcoal production – particular those that were found to contain little other than oak charcoal. One was though found to contain a significant quantity of burnt flints and a much more diverse charcoal assemblage, indicating these features were potentially associated with more than one activity and probably not all of the same date.
The majority of the remaining discrete features were fairly unremarkable possible pits, at least some of which were probably of natural origin.
The other ditches recorded were mostly aligned north-north-west to south-south-east or east-north-east to west-south-west, suggesting the majority were probably associated with the field system present in the post-medieval period.
Unstratified finds were limited to a small number of prehistoric worked flints.
See report (S4) for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 11 December 2023.

November-December 2022. Excavation.
Excavation of a small area at the northern edge of the site, targeting a pair of perpendicular ditches revealed during the preceding trial trenching, one of which had produced a single Roman pottery sherd.
This work demonstrated these two ditches were indeed contemporary, forming the western and southern sides of a rectilinear enclosure – the bulk of which fell beyond the limits of the excavation. Finds were limited to a small assemblage of early Roman pottery. A bulk environmental sample from one of the ditch fills was found to contain charcoal but little else in the way of charred plant macrofossils or other remains. No additional features were revealed.
As part of this final phase of archaeological mitigation charcoal samples from three of the undated pits uncovered by the preceding trial trenching were submitted for radiocarbon dating. Holly charcoal from the pit that had been found to contain a significant quantity of burnt flint produced a Middle Bronze Age radiocarbon date of 1430-1270 cal BC at 95% probability (BRAMS-6486; 3095 ± 27 BP). A Middle Bronze Age date of 1535-1430 cal BC at 95% probability (BRAMS-6487; 3230 ± 27 BP) was also obtained for holly charcoal from another pit that had also contained burnt flints. Hazel/alder charcoal from the third pit feature did though produce a Middle/Late Saxon date of cal AD 770-990 at 95% probability (BRAMS-6488; 1142 ± 27 BP). This is consistent with evidence from various other sites in this area, where similar features are thought to probably represent the traces of small-scale charcoal production during the Saxon and medieval periods. The comparative lack of diversity to the charcoal assemblage within this pit appears to be particularly characteristic of these features (with oak charcoal generally predominating).
See report (S5) for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 30 July 2024.