land to the rear of the white hart, blyton, lincolnshire. archaeological ...

LAND TO THE REAR OF
THE WHITE HART,
BLYTON,
LINCOLNSHIRE.
ARCHAEOLOGICAL
WATCHING BRIEF REPORT
Site Code: WHB05
NGR: -SK 8529 94S5-
Planning Ref. MOW1309 KVO^f r / £>y"7 0
Accession No. 2005.11
Report prepared for Mr & Mrs I Chatfield
by
Alex Brett
My 2005
^mm I' I.
PRE-CONSTRUCT
ARCHAEOLOGY
L i N C 0,1 N
Pre-Construct Archaeology (Lincoln)
UnitG
William Street Business Park
Saxilby
Lincoln
LN1 2LP
Tel. & Fax. 01522 703800
e-mail colin.pca@virgin.net
©Pre-Construct Archaeology (Lincoln)

Conservation
Services
1 1 JUL 2005
Highways & Planning
Directorate

A e / 0T U frl^S irore^O&vcrric/K>: O 102
Contents
fUti SS*2 3"*7 S^xcya
1.0
Summary
Introduction 1
2.0 Site location and description 1
3.0 Planning background 1
4.0 Archaeological and historical background 1
5.0 Methodology 2
6.0 Results 2
7.0 Discussion and conclusions
8.0 Effectiveness of methodology J
o
9.0 Acknowledgements
10.0 References 3
11.0 Site archive 4
Illustrations
Fig. 1 Site location (1:25,000)
Fig. 2 Site plan, shows location of plot and sections
Fig. 3 Sections
Appendix 1
Appendix 2
Appendix 3
Colour plates
Context summary
Pottery archive
Appendices
J

LCCM Accession No 2005.11
Summary
• Pre-Construct Archaeology (Lincoln) were commissioned by Mr & Mrs I
Chatfield to carry out an archaeological watching brief during the excavation
of footing trenches for a new dwelling on land to the rear of The White Hart
Public House, High Street, Blyton, Lincolnshire.
• The site lies at the core of the village, adjacent to the churchyard. Despite
this, no archaeological features were identified during the course of the brief.
This may be because the monitored trenches lie in an area that was cultivated
rather than occupied, although a single sherd of Late Anglo-Saxon pottery
was recovered from the subsoil.
Wood
a ^atchwater Drain;
YTON
Pyewipe Hill Fan
Pilham Lane
Farm J
Sewage Work*
Pilham,
vLinesid^
V Farm >
Fig. 1: Site location plan. 1:25,000
O.S. Copyright licence no. A1 515 21 A0001
re Station
Hcu^c
Glebe Farm
Home Farm
Airfield
(disused)
Kirtor
Grange Farm
PILHAM-SPN
(site of J

1.0 Introduction
LCCM Accession No 2005.11
Pre-Construct Archaeology (Lincoln) was commissioned by Mr & Mrs I Chatfield to
undertake an archaeological watching brief during the excavation of foundation
trenches on land behind The White Hart Public House, High Street, Blyton,
Lincolnshire. This work was commissioned to satisfy a planning requirement issued by
West Lindsey District Council. The approach complies with the requirements of
Archaeology and Planning: Planning Policy Guidance Note 16, Dept. of Environment
(1990); Management of Archaeological Projects, EH (1991) and Standard and
Guidance for Archaeological Watching Briefs, IF A (1999) and the LCC document
Lincolnshire Archaeological Handbook: A Manual of Archaeological Practice, 1998
2.0 Location and description
Blyton is in the administrative district of West Lindsey, approximately 6.5km north
east of Gainsborough and 15km south-west of Scunthorpe. The site lies towards the
top of a hill in the central core of the village, immediately north west of the church of
St Martin.
The development area is a broadly sub-rectangular; approximately 16m x 11m, with
access to the High Street via the car park of the White Hart public House to the north
west. There are residential properties to the south and east.
Central National Grid Reference = SK 8529 9485.
3.0 Planning background
Full planning permission was granted by West Lindsey District Council for the erection
of a single four bedroom dwelling with associated access and services (planning ref.
M04/P/1309). This permission was granted subject to the undertaking of a scheme of
archaeological works (Condition 7), of which this report is the final element.
4.0 Archaeological and historical background
The first record of the settlement is in the Domesday Book of 1086 where it appears as
Blitone, possibly from an Old English personal name or nickname and tun, meaning
farmstead or village, (Cameron, 1998).
The church of St Martin has some Norman (11 th-12 th century) fabric remaining but the
majority is Early English (late H^-mid 13 th century) and Perpendicular (mid 14 th-mid
16 th century). The whole was substantially rebuilt in 1877, (Pevsner & Harris, 1989).
Off the high street is Matt Hall, a small farmhouse probably dated to 1572, (ibid).
A complex of cropmarks is known at Blyton common, to the west of the settlement.
However they represent post-medieval warping activity rather than evidencing more
ancient occupation of the area, (Everson, 1979).
1

5.0 Methodology
LCCM Accession No 2005.11
The recording brief comprised continually monitoring initial soil stripping and
excavation of foundation trenches as they were excavated, and the inspection of all
exposed sections for archaeological remains. Given the paucity of archaeological
remains, and the fact that the drainage for the most part shadowed existing pipe work,
it was determined that the latter stage of works would not require monitoring.
The foundation trenches were primarily 600-700mm wide but with some internal walls
450mm wide. All were between 900 and 1100mm deep.
Any suspected archaeological deposits identified were subjected to limited excavation,
in order to assess their nature, dimensions and to attempt to recover datable materials.
These investigations resulted in the production of written descriptions on standard
context record sheets. Colour photographs and scale drawings compliment these
accounts. Finds recovered during these works were processed at the offices of PCA
before being submitted for specialist examination, the results of which are appended to
this report.
6.0 Results
The uppermost deposit, context 001, comprised dark grey sandy topsoil containing
frequent remnants of a former car park surface in the form of limestone chippings and
cinders. This sealed 002, a silty sand former topsoil containing small mortar pieces and
occasional animal bone fragments (not retained). A single sherd of Late Anglo-Saxon
pottery was recovered from this material. Below this, the natural horizon 003
comprised mottled yellow sand, through which an underlying band of clay sporadically
protruded.
No archaeological features were recorded during the course of the brief.
2

7.0 Discussion and conclusions
LCCM Accession No 2005.11
One of the reasons for undertaking this recording brief was to record and remove,
under archaeological conditions, any human bones that were encountered. The
presence of human bone on the site would have indicated shrinkage of the churchyard
or burial ground outside of it. An examination of the relative ground levels showed
that the site is some 750mm lower than the extant churchyard, and is thus unlikely to
have been part of the same plot of land.
As no human bone was encountered, it seems unlikely that this was the site of any
extra-mural burials.
While clearly within the core of the medieval settlement of Blyton, the trenches for the
new build are set more than 50m from the line of High Street, and so may lie in the toft
of a building that possibly fronted the road. This hypothesis would explain the absence
of any archaeological features.
A single sherd of late Anglo-Saxon pottery was recovered from the subsoil; it may
have reached this location as a result of manuring of this purported agricultural plot.
8.0 Effectiveness of methodology
The methodology employed allowed the sections of the intrusive works to be
monitored for archaeological materials, and for a full record of the deposits
encountered to be made. The methodology employed allowed this work to take place
with minimal disruption to the primary scheme.
9.0 Acknowledgments
The author would like to thank Mr. & Mrs. I. Chatfield for commissioning this work,
particularly Mrs. Chatfield for providing tea and site drawings.
10.0 References
Cameron K., 1998, A dictionary of Lincolnshire place-names, English Place-Name
Society, University of Nottingham, Nottingham
Everson, P., 1979, Cropmark Evidence and the Reclamation of Blyton and Laughton
Commons. LHA 14, 40-43
Morgan P., & Thorn C., (eds.), 1986, Domesday Book: vol.31: Lincolnshire,
Phillimore & Co. Ltd, Chichester
Pevsner N. & Harris J., 1989, The Buildings of England, Lincolnshire. Butler &
Tanner Ltd, Frome & London
3

11.0 Site archive
LCCM Accession No 2005.11
The site archive (documentary and physical) for this project is in preparation and will
be deposited with The Collection (formerly Lincolnshire City and County Museum)
within six months.
Access to the archive can be gained by quoting the universal accession number
2005.11
4

D
C
Fig. 2: Shows location of monitored plot and
foundation design, with sections shown in
% 3.
1:500 and 1:100
B 4.

0 lm
Scale
Fig 3: Sample sections from foundation trench.
Both at 1:20
C D
(001)
(002)
(003)

Appendix 1. Colour plates
PL 1: Representative
section A-B.
Looking SW
PL 2: Representative
section C-D.
Looking NW

Appendix 2. Context Summary
CONTEXT DESCRIPTION
NUMBER
001 Dark grey sandy topsoil. Frequent coal, cinders, and brick rubble. Also contains
limestone chippings from former car park surface.
002 Mid brown slightly silty sand. Occasional mortar pieces and animal bone. Subsoil.
003 Natural. Primarily mottled light and mid yellow silty sand. In places a band of
blue and yellow clay was exposed.

Appendix 3. Pottery archive
Jane Young
context crtame full name
002 TORK Torksey ware
z'
17 June 2005
form type sherds weight part date
jar 1 7 BS late 9tli to mid 11th