• BINGHAM: AN OVERVIEW
• HISTORY OF BINGHAM
  • Introduction
  • Prehistoric times
  • Iron Age
  • Roman Bingham
  • The Anglo-Saxons
  • Medieval Bingham
  • Tudor times
  • Stuart times
  • Georgian times
  • Victorian Bingham
  • 20th Century
  • 21st Century
• ARCHAEOLOGY
  • Project Details
  • Field Walking
    • Summary
    • Field Walking Method
    • Database Design
    • Details about the Parish
    • Protocol
    • Description of Finds
      • Introduction
      • Flints
      • Stone Axes
      • Iron Age
      • Roman
      • Anglo-Saxon
      • Saxo-Norman
      • Medieval
      • Post Medieval
      • Stoneware
      • Clay Pipes
      • Glass
      • 19th-20th C
      • Miscellaneous
    • Analysis of Results
      • Introduction
      • Prehistory
      • Iron Age
      • Roman
      • Anglo-Saxon
      • Medieval
      • Tudor-Stuart
      • 18th Century
      • Modern
    • References
    • Conclusions
  • Crow Close
    • Purpose and location
    • Historical background
    • Topographical survey
    • Geophysical surveys
    • Analysis of results
    • Discussion/conclusions
    • References
    • Acknowledgements
  • Test Pits
    • Market Place Dig
    • Robert Miles Jnr School
    • Archaeological test pits
    • Churchyard
  • Warner's Paddock
  • STUDY OF OLD MAPS
    • Bingham in 1586
      • Introduction
      • Interpretation
      • Town Centre
      • Additional Holdings
      • The Open Fields
        • Furlongs/Holdings/Strips
        • South Field
        • East Field
        • West Field
        • North Field
      • Holdings and Strips
        • Reconstructing holdings
        • Analysis of holdings
        • Sizes of holdings
      • Street and road names
    • Bingham in 1776
      • The Estate Terrier
      • Town Map
      • The Fields
      • Homesteads
      • Shared Tenancies
    • Bingham in 1841
      • Apportionment
      • Town Map
      • Life in 1841
      • Analysis
      • 1841-1901
  • BUILT HERITAGE
    • Introduction
    • Development of Bingham
    • House Histories
    • Old and New Views
    • Architectural Details
    • Street Names
    • St Mary Church
  • CRIME AND PUNISHMENT
  • FARMING IN BINGHAM
  • BINGHAM AT WAR
    • World War I
    • World War II
  • BINGHAM'S RAILWAYS
  • CHURCHYARD
    • Introduction
    • Search the Churchyard
    • Churchyard Map
    • Genealogical Charts
    • Inscriptions
    • Species List
  • ORAL HISTORY
  • NATURAL HISTORY
    • Wildlife and Flora
    • Natural History Surveys
    • Linear Park
  • GEOLOGY

TEST PITS

ARCHAEOLOGICAL TEST PITS IN BINGHAM

List of Test Pits

CCLM12
50, ABBEY ROAD
 
SUMMARY

• The pit is situated in land that was used only for agricultural purposes until the 1960s when the housing estate was built. It was within the Porter estate in 1586, but in 1776 the land was categorized as “sundry freehold” with no owner named. It is likely that it was still within the Porter estate.
• By 1841 the land was used for grazing by William Pilgrim, the landlord of the Chesterfield Arms. There is no information about land ownership after 1851.
• The soil profile was simple and short. Topsoil was no more than 10 cm thick overlying subsoil to 33 cm depth. In the western part of the pit the basal clay had been dug into to form a trench that was bottomed at 50 cm.
• Like the other pits in this estate the topsoil has been re-deposited after building work. All the building material found is present only in the topsoil. There is some glass, however, in the topsoil and the subsoil and two pieces are thin window glass, not likely to be associated with the current housing.
• The subsoil seems to be in situ and merges gradually downwards into the underlying clay. This clay is free of any inclusions and is thought to be a lake clay deposit in the prehistoric lake. The lake was silted up by Roman times.
• This pit site is close to the Roman villa found in Carnarvon Primary School, but no Roman pottery was found. The oldest pottery is a piece of medieval ware from the 13th– mid 14th C. The absence of anything older is reflected in the school where there is nothing from the end of the Roman period to the late 13th C.
• There were only 16 pottery sherds, which were spread through the whole of the sequence including the trench. Most of the modern pottery found is 20th C, but there are sherds of Midland Black Ware (late 16th –17th C) and an 18th C stoneware bowl. Among the clay pipe fragments is a one of a fluted bowl from1770-1830 and another dated 1675-1725. Overall these show that there was activity here from at least the 17th C, but the finds are in such insufficient quantity as to be no more than accidental losses.
• The trench contains relatively modern material and was probably dug in the 20th C.

Click here for a detailed account of the pit.

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