117 High Street, Rainham
TQ 8150 6590; (Hanne Rendall-Wooldridge); evaluation; 6 - 13 March 2002; KHSR02.
Two trenches were investigated at the site. Natural brickearth was recorded at 36.94m OD.
Evidence of Medieval activity was uncovered in the form of a chalk wall foundation and the subsoil that contained Medieval pottery. The nature of the construction with chalk footings or 'Dwarf walls' possibly represents the presence of a Medieval vernacular structure. The alignment does not seem to respect the High Street and this also supports an early age for the building, perhaps contemporary with a nearby church that is of Medieval origin.
Two of the trial trenches revealed the remains of a building (The Old Vicarage) known to have occupied the site until the 1950's, the original phase of which was thought to belong to the 17th century. This phase was represented archaeologically by a hearth surrounded by chalk/flint rubble walls. One wall showed the use of roof tile fragments laid vertically against the wall to create a smoother face. Bricks used in the hearth area were unfrogged, hand-made with a soft, dense orange-red sandy fabric. Comparison with the photographic archives of the building suggests that this hearth area corresponds to the more south-easterly of the two chimney stacks that may have formed the core of the original 17th century building.
Much of the remaining masonry seems to have related to a second phase of building, on the same alignment, but overlying or truncating earlier features. This phase is thought to represent 18th century rebuilds and extensions to the original building. A floor surface and possibly a courtyard seem to belong to this phase.
The third phase of the building is represented in particular by a number of masonry contexts forming a 'new range' in the SE corner of the site. This distinct stepped-in plan of this addition is clearly represented on the 1873 Ordnance Survey. Additional repairs or minor additions to the NW-SE frontage facing onto the High Street included hard, dense bricks of a dull orange colour common with sharp rises and v-shaped frogs, with the appearance of being machine produced.
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