HENDON
AND DISTRICT ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY Supplement to
Newsletter No 205
REPORT
ON THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS AT STAPYLTON ROAD CAR PARK, CHIPPING BARNET
By Jennie Lee Cobban and Brian Wrigley
SUMMARY
Our interest in this site was first aroused in 1984
when we heard of plans to redevelop. In January 1985 we asked the London
Borough of Barnet if we could have the opportunity to explore the site by
excavation and otherwise, between demolition and redevelopment. We had in mind
that the development, close as it was to the ancient route of the Great North
Road, might disclose traces of medieval Chipping Barnet; the nearer the road we
could explore, the greater the chances, but from inspection we knew the most
likely areas were under concrete.
In September 1985, the Chief Executive and Town
Clerk told us that the Council had decided that HADAS and the Barnet District
Local History Society should be invited to carry out a survey. We made it clear
that we considered that trial-trenching was essential to any useful survey, and
in March 1986 we enquired the possibility of doing some work that summer; in
December 1986 we attended, as invited, a meeting with BDLHS and the Controller
of Development Services, when we found that we would not be allowed to do any
excavation once the developers had gone into occupation, and before this stage
we could only be allowed to dig on land already open - in practical terms this
meant the back gardens of empty houses.
The contract with the developers (although we were not
told this at the time) provided for the Council's nominee(s) to have reasonable
access.... during site clearance operations, "but not following the
completion of the link road and the temporary car parks" and as it turned
out, the link road and car parks had to be completed before any of the original
car park concrete could be broken up; thus we had no opportunity of excavation
on the car park site itself. However, through the goodwill of the developers,
Lovells, we were allowed on site to observe whilst clearing and excavating
operations were in progress.
We can feel that in spite of the difficulties, with
our few small trial trenches and our site-watching we covered the site fully
enough to be able to say it is established that the occupation of medieval
Barnet (which must have existed) did not extend to this area, except possibly
immediately alongside the main high road, to which the redevelopment, and hence
our investigations, did not extend.
We also had in mind that this was a site which could
have been suitable for earlier than medieval, perhaps even prehistoric,
occupation; a site on a headland (more noticeably so in the past before Barnet
Hill was banked up to ease the gradient) readily cut off by a diagonal ditch
across the headland as a defence in almost any period. (See the accompanying
Plan 1). We did in fact find, in site-watching, a short length of ditch, across
the SE corner of the development site, which would be in the right direction to
do just this (see Plan 2). However, in the sections exposed by the contractors'
excavations, and in the two shovelfuls of sample fill we were able to take, we
found absolutely no identifiable artefactual evidence, so there is no evidence
for date or use and we have to take it as most probably a drainage ditch which
might be of any period whatever.
EXCAVATIONS
28 March to 9 May 1987
We opened Trenches I to IV in the positions shown in
Plan 2; Trench I was a flowerbed and the nearest point we could get to the main
road that was not covered in concrete. In Trenches I, II, and III we found
nearly a metre depth of black organic soil above the underlying natural sandy
gravel; the black soil was all well mixed up and we were unable to detect any
real stratigraphy, quite modern pottery sherds appearing all the way down.
Trench IV was in a position which, from historical
research, we thought should be at the back of the former Green Dragon Inn
dating from the 17 Century. Apart from disturbance from a modern drain, we
found, about 15 cm below present surface, several layers of hard-packed brick
rubble and gravel which would be consistent with their being hard- standing in
the inn yard, renewed from time to time. Below these layers was a layer of
black organic soil including some clay pipes and sherds consistent with a 17 Century
date, and below the black soil (nearly 1 metre below present surface) was the
natural sandy gravel.
There were no finds in any of the trenches earlier
than post-medieval.
SITE-WATCHING
30 November 1987 to 29 February 1988
We were, of course, concerned to establish whether
the appearances in our few, tiny trenches, were typical of the whole site. We
did make some enquiries of the possibilities of trial-trenching by machine on
the main area of the car park, after the concrete had been broken up, but this
did not prove possible and we had to be content, through the good offices of
Lovells, the developers, with being allowed access to observe' whilst their
clearance and excavation of the site took place. Jennie Cobban, wearing three
hats as HADAS, BLHS and Barnet Museum, was appointed Co-ordinator.
The observations confirmed that the site overall was
like our trial trenches - up to a metre of black organic soil over the natural sandy
gravel; no structures (apart from the Victorian ones we knew about and had seen
being knocked down) and no earthworks apart from a pit (which turned out to
have Victorian sherds in the bottom) and the ditch referred to in the Summary
above. Again, there were no finds earlier than post-medieval.
The post-medieval finds included some metalwork,
discovered through the willing and helpful co-operation of the Herts and
District Metal Detecting Society in searching spoil heaps; one of these finds
was a farthing of William III and Mary.
The front part of the Methodist Church including the
twin towers were not demolished, but within the towers the contractors
excavated to below the concrete footings and in the south tower, below the
concrete of the footings resting on the sandy gravel natural, we noted two
U-shaped intrusions of darker earth, one in the E baulk and one in the S baulk,
clearly indicating a ditch running at 45 degrees NE to SW across the corner
below the tower. Later, when No 111 High Street (see Plan 2) was demolished, an
excavation was made by the contractors at the rear, exposing the footings of
the wall of No 109, which showed similar signs of the continuation of the ditch
in the same direction, as well as a brick-lined well; the brickwork has been
tentatively dated to about 1800, but as the hole was promptly concreted in we
were unable to get any dating evidence from the bottom of the well.
The front part of No 111 had a deep basement which
would have destroyed any archaeological levels.
FINDS
AND RECORDS
In the terms of both our licence, and the
developer's contract, all finds are the property of the LBB who have agreed
they should be passed to the custodianship of BLHS for the Barnet Museum, and
this has been done. It is intended to lodge the original notebooks of the
excavation and site-watching similarly with Barnet Museum.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Whilst the mainly negative results of this exercise
are unexciting, they are useful, and the operation as a whole has been a
splendid example of co-operation between HADAS, BLHS, and Herts and District
Metal Detecting Society. We are grateful for the support and advice we had from
the Museum of London's Department of Greater London Archaeology, including a
site visit to our open trenches by Harvey Sheldon and Peter Mills, and for the
efforts by Lovells and their Manager, Cam Lavin, to help us within their tight
schedule. Mr Nickolls of Linden Villas kindly gave us access to store tools (as
well as tea!) whilst we were digging. Those from BLHS and HADAS who helped,
whether by research, advice, digging, pot- washing, or site-watching include:
Brigid Grafton Green, Ann Trewick, Paddy Musgrove,
Alec Gouldsmith, Marjorie St Clair, Esther Isaacs, Pat Allison, Michael
Bardill, John Whitehorn, Gillian Gear, Victor Jones, Alan Lawson, Ned Oak,
George Sweetland, Anne Young, John Enderby, Robin Ford, Joanna Stent, John
Heathfield, and Howard Bowdler.