CBA SMA\SMA 1998.PDF - Council for British Archaeology

An Old Stable In Cleveley (SP39202395)
Surveys
Oxfordshire
A small excavation was carried out in an old stable
belonging to Terry Ball who is currently converting it into
part of a new house. He discovered an old flagstone and
cobble floor beneath a later concrete floor and asked the
group if they could investigate it since it appeared to be very
old. Two trenches were dug, widening existing holes that
Terry had made and the different layers of occupation were
revealed. In all three phases of alterations were noted.
Phase 1
The original walls still remain, however the roof has been
altered and it isn't possible to reconstruct the height of the
loft. The building comprised two looseboxes for sick or
foaling horses and these were separated by a wooden
partition. There were two doors facing the field to the north
and two matching windows facing south. The floor was two
thirds stone flagstones and one third pitched cobble. The
cobble was set into a thin layer of brownish clay and the
flagstones lay upon a layer of small pebbles set into the same
clay. The floor sloped gently south to north to the doorways.
In places where the flagstones had been removed the
hollows were patched up with crude stonework which left
hollow areas. The flagstones were very well wom and must
have been used for at least 100 years. Architecturally the
floor was Post-Medieval and very like the floors found at
Somerton, so since it had a mixture of flagstones and pitched
cobble, it seemed to belong to a date between the 1500s and
the 1700s. The stable was right opposite the old Cleveley
Mill and there were no other buildings near, so it must
formerly have belonged to the mill. The mill had cottages
added in 1660 and this time marked a great building boom
in Oxfordshire so it seems likely that the stable was built
around the same time.
Phase 2
The stable now has a big bayed shed attached to its western
end which was formerly a cow shelter shed with stone piers.
These sheds mainly date from the late 19th century and upon
exatnination it became clear that the western wall of the
stable was demolished and another tacked on at a slight
angle to the original building. The reason for this
misalignment was that the builders had to dig into a steep
slope on the western side and chose the easiest slope to make
their terrace upon. The floor of the stable had a layer of
brown clay put down on it after the higher southern end was
removed and levelled, revealing the pebble layer beneath.
In this brown layer was found late 19th century pottery. The
western door was narrowed by the new wall so it was
converted into a window and the west window on the south
side was converted into a door. Large postholes in the south
west corner indicated an old manger.
Phase 3
The final alteration was a concrete floor laid down in the
early 20th century. In the make up for the floor were 1912
beer jars.
Medieval village remains in Ledwell (SP419283)
A hachured survey of earthworks in Mr Wilson's field
revealed five house platforms, one alleyway and the course
of the old road to Great Tew. The sunken way led north to
the Wortons and the Barfords and went out of use by the late
19th century. The existing road to Great Tew from the village
was cut in the 18th century. At the northern end of the field
was an old field boundary.
Fieldwalking
Drayton Park Farm (SP426406)
A previously undiscovered late Roman defended farmstead
was found in April 1996. The site is on a hilltop facing west,
100m away from a spring. The pottery included grey wares,
Oxford red wares, colour coated wares, white wares, Nene
Valley colour coated, one castor box, black burnished wares,
grog ware, Central Gaulish plain Samian, calcite gritted
wares and one bit of New Forest ware. Quernstones from
the Forest of Dean were found and plenty of domestic
livestock bones, which together with cow enclosures
revealed by aerial photos hinted at a mixed arable/pastoral
economy. Large amounts of tegulae and imbrices show that
the roof was tiled and recently an extra outhouse on a small
terrace 200 m away was found. Earthworks of a surrounding
bank can still be easily seen. The site covers about 2 ha or
SO.
North Newington Park Farm - the Pike Farm site
(SP430392)
This site was discovered by Banbury Historical Society in
1960 and a small hole 3 m square dug revealing an east-west
wall and a few minor finds, but the site wasn't been properly
investigated. The intense pottery scatter covered 2.5 ha. The
building is situated on a terrace of a low hill facing south
and west with springs nearby. A rectangular building with
two wings is suggested by the fieldwalking survey. The
complex had ironstone walls and it seems a tiled roof of
Stonesfield slates which were found in reasonable quantity.
The pottery range extended from the lst-4th centuries AD
and included Oxford wares (white, red and mortaria), Nene
Valley wares, Samian, grog ware, calcite gritted ware and
early pottery with vertical burnished lines. Scattered human
remains were found near the 1960 dig site as they were then
also. High domestic livestock bone counts associated with
the building and bits of quernstone suggest a mixed
arable/pastoral economy. A few worked flints were found,
one a Neolithic or Bronze age scraper and there were other
finds of the same age made in adjacent fields.
Bloxham Grove Farm (SP460368)
A fieldwallcing survey was made of a Roman site known
about since 1835 and which was held to be a Roman village
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