Test Pits 18 & 19

Test Pits 18 & 19. Appletun, Abbey Hill

Property description and location

Appletun is a modern property on the northern edge of the modern settlement core of Cross Street. Situated at the top of Abbey Hill it faces the flint and brick boundary wall of Abbey Farm. The oldest parts of the wall, being c.13th century in date, are the sole visible remnants of the former Priory (HXN 004) and are Grade II listed (NHLE No. 1374922). Skynners map shows the garden as an open field, with the Red Lion pub on the road corner to the south, and a similar layout is shown on the tithe map although Abbeyview to the south is now shown. The plot is named in the tithe apportionment as 'House Orchard etc' owned by Sir Edward Kerrison and the 1st Edition OS shows the garden as lightly wooded. The Red Lion was damaged by fire and demolished in 1963.

Test Pit description

Test Pit 18 was positioned c.7m from the road frontage in an area of flat lawn which is raised some distance above the road-level. Excavated to a depth of c.0.4m it showed a consistent profile of dense topsoil, Context 1.

Test Pit 19 was placed in the south-west corner of the property, c.38m from the road frontage, in an area of flat lawn. Excavated to a depth of 0.6m it showed a thick topsoil, Context 1, overlying the natural clay subsoil.

Test Pit finds summary

Fragments of GRE dating to the 16th-18th century were present in both pits, and later Georgian and Victorian pottery.

Test Pit Discussion

Both test pits showed a dense topsoil containing small quantities of post-medieval material, corresponding with the mapping evidence which shows that the plot was beyond the periphery of post-medieval Cross Street. There was no indication of any medieval material, perhaps surprising given the sites proximity to the Priory, but as Pit 18 did not identify the base of the topsoil it is quite possible that medieval deposits along the road frontage could still be preserved at depth.