Monument record 0803700000 - Chessvale Bowling Club, East Street

Evaluation carried out by BUFAU in January 2003 identified 2 probable Middle Bronze Age pits containing pottery, flint, burnt animal bone, charcoal, hazelnut shell fragments, a single burnt cereal grain and environmental evidence (mollusca) indicative of fairly dry, short chalk grassland habitats. Colluvium deposits elsewhere on the site contained Late Mesolithic to Late Neolithic or Bronze Age flintworking debitage and possibly intrusive medieval and post-medieval pottery and tile. Postholes cut through the colluvium included ?residual Roman pottery, 13th or 14th to 20th century century pottery, possibly indicating the presence of temporary structures on the colluvium 'terrace' from the medieval period. A large post-medieval pit, possibly a quarry pit was also present (B1).
Subsequent excavations carried out by BUFAU in March 2004 and watching brief in October 2004 uncovered further Late Neolithic to Early Bronze Age pits with finds including pottery and flintwork, clustered around a small chalk-cut ring ditch 6.5m in diameter with steeply sloping sides and a flat base. A Middle Bronze Age pit contained pottery, flintwork and animal bone and two Late Bronze Age or Iron Age pits contained pottery and flintwork. Residual finds included Mesolithic flints, Middle Neolithic pottery, Romano-British pottery and medieval pottery. A number of rubbish pits were thought to relate to the disposal of domestic rubbish in the rear gardens of properties fronting onto the High Street during the medieval and post-medieval period. See report for detail (B2).