Landscape record 1170701000 - Rectory House gardens

First edition 6-inch OS map shows house and grounds to the west of church, with small pond and semi-formal garden leading down to a larger pond at the rear. Recent AP's unable to clarify due to tree cover although the gardens seem intact. Recent maps show no detail of garden (B2-3).
Evaluation trial trenching carried out by Oxford Archaeology in October 2003 identified over 0.9m of modern redeposited material, backfilling a large feature 3m to the SW of the stable/coachhouse (trench 1). The report suggests that this may be the remains of a pond or leat associated with the medieval moat and fishpond complex in the field to the S, but it could equally be a later feature perhaps associated with the small pond shown to the rear of the buildings on the 19th century OS map. In trench 2 a shallow 18th century ditch and posthole were sealed by a buried topsoil layer 0.35m thick, interpreted as the remains of a lawn contemporary with the house. The ditch fill included residual finds of medieval pottery. See report for detail (B4).