171 Bermondsey Street
TQ 3348 7951; (Lorraine Darton;) evaluation 25 - 30 July 2002, excavation 31 July - 5 August 2002; BYG02
A single trench was investigated at the site. Natural sand was recorded at -2.44m OD.
The trench contained a thick Bronze Age peat layer overlying a thick layer of bluish silt, indicating the site was within a minor channel between the Horsely Down eyot to the N and Bermondsey eyot to the S. A further layer of alluvial silt was deposited above the peaty layer that contained flecks of black organic material. This alluvium contained no dateable anthroprogenic material but must have been deposited between the early Iron Age and early Medieval periods. This layer also represents deposition in conditions of standing or slow moving water, suggesting the site was once again within a channel.
The later and more substantial NE-SW ditch within the trench contained a high density of well preserved organic materials and finds, including five turned wooden bowls and seven leather shoes from the Medieval period. This ditch was re-cut to remove excess silt and a feeder ditch was dug running E-W from the W of the site.
Late 16th - early 17th century dump layers sealed a substantial NE-SW ditch and were cut by two phases of well in the NW corner of the trench. The earlier well was lined with two wooden barrels, the base of the upper barrel fitted inside the top of the lower barrel. Both barrels were truncated by an 18th century brick lined well revealed in the section of the trench. Fragments of an 18th century brick floor and an E-W aligned internal brick wall were recorded in the SW corner of the trench.
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