Earthworks near St Giles' Church

Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places

Overview

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1005954
Date first listed:: 30-Nov-1925

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Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1005954
Date first listed:: 30-Nov-1925

Location

The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.

County:: Surrey
District:: Mole Valley (District Authority)
Parish:: Non Civil Parish
National Grid Reference:: TQ 19219 58119

Summary

Earthworks 126m north-west of St Giles’ Church.

Reasons for Designation

The earthworks 126m north-west of St Giles’ Church are clearly visible in the landscape east of Ashstead Park and have been shown by excavation to contain important archaeological remains relating to the history and use of the site. These indicate that the earthworks were the site of Iron Age activity and were subsequently occupied in the Roman period, possibly as a defensive settlement. The significance of the monument is enhanced by later use as a trackway in the medieval period.

History

See Details.

Details

This record was the subject of a minor enhancement on 18 November 2014. The record has been generated from an "old county number" (OCN) scheduling record. These are monuments that were not reviewed under the Monuments Protection Programme and are some of our oldest designation records.

The monument includes an earthwork, defined by a broad and shallow ditch, and associated buried archaeological remains. It is situated on a gentle slope on the west side of Ashstead Park, partly within the western boundary of the Graveyard at St Giles’ Church. The ditch runs south-west to north-east before curving eastwards at the northernmost end for a distance of about 40m. Partial excavation carried out in 1933-34 and 1963, revealed archaeological structures and remains dating to the Iron Age, Roman and medieval periods. The Iron Age finds included a circular clay-lined hearth and pottery remains. The pottery was found alongside Roman sherds in a buried v-shaped ditch with an internal bank, on the south side of the earthwork, which has been dated to the 1st and 2nd Century AD. Further to the south are the buried remains of a Roman building including a wall, fragments of wall plaster, roof tiles and flue tiles. The Roman building has been robbed out and the material used in the east and south walls of St. Giles’ Church. The archaeological remains indicate a site that was occupied in the Iron Age, with later use and development in the Roman period, possibly as a defensive site. The site is marked as a ‘Roman Camp’ on an Ordnance Survey map of 1877 (1:2500). The earthwork was later used to form a trackway to a nearby manor in the medieval period. Finds associated with medieval use have included an iron arrowhead, two hobnails, an iron horseshoe, and a few pieces of glazed pottery dating to the 15th century. The form of the earthwork was further altered by the extension of the graveyard in the 20th century. Part of the site lies within Ashtead Park, which is a registered park and garden.

Further archaeological remains survive in the vicinity of this monument, but are not included because they have not been formally assessed.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:: SU 25
Legacy System:: RSM - OCN

Sources

Other
Surrey HER 149, 2030, 2031, NMR TQ15NE33, PastScape 397272.

Legal

This monument is scheduled under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 as amended as it appears to the Secretary of State to be of national importance. This entry is a copy, the original is held by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.