TEST PITS
ARCHAEOLOGICAL TEST PITS IN BINGHAM
List of Test Pits
LA07
24 LONG ACRE
SUMMARY
- This pit was set in the front garden of 24 Long Acre, which is well set back from the road. A modern bungalow has since been built close to the road in what would have been the front garden of the traditional land holding. The new bungalow possibly overlies any original cottages on this site. The original land holding extends from Long Acre in the north back to The Banks
- There is a long history of occupation of this site. In 1586 a cottager named Ralph Bannister had a cottage and barn on this plot, but the likelihood is that these were close to road, possibly where the modern bungalow now is.
- In 1776 this same plot was occupied by the widow Elizabeth Skinner and in 1841 another Skinner occupied it. By now the house was where it currently is, that is well back from the road, and the land behind it to The Banks was an orchard. The house is clearly shown to be in its current location on the 1883 map.
- In the test pit the basal layer of glacial clay is overlain by about 10cm of hard standing made of cobbles, skerry stones and brick. It is thought that this was a yard in front of the house. This means that none of the soil in this pit is in its original position. Pottery and clay pipes from within the hard standing date it to second half of the 18th C.
- The topsoil contains hardly any finds and is likely to have been laid during a fairly recent landscaping event. There is a layer of gravel between the topsoil and the underlying soil.
- The soil below the gravel, though called subsoil, is likely to have been transported to its present location from elsewhere. The finds in it show no stratigraphical arrangement and range in date from the late 13th C to modern.
- Among the pottery in the soil there are only two sherds of late 13th– early 14th C Nottingham Green Glazed Ware, but several of Light-bodied Gritty Ware, which post-dates the Black Death.
- Nothing older than late 13th C was found and it is likely that this area only became inhabited after the Black Death .
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