Westcroft Road, Carshalton, Sutton.
TQ 2847 6477; (Jennifer Proctor); evaluation, September 1996; excavation, June 1997; Barratt (South London) Ltd; WCR97
This site is located at the northern foot of the North Downs in the Wandle Valley.
During the evaluation six archaeological trenches were excavated one of which revealed
evidence of prehistoric activity in the form of three pits containing ceramic material
dating to the Late Bronze Age. A further two trenches were excavated during the rescue
excavation one of which revealed a number of Late Bronze Age features. The natural
deposits were of Thanet sand recorded at 35.5m OD in the south of the site (TR.7) and
Tertiary gravels recorded at 34.64m OD to the north (TR.8). The Bronze Age features were
divided into three main phases of activity. The first phase was represented by a E-W ditch
measuring 3m wide by 0.4m deep recorded to the south of the site. During the next phase a
series of post holes and shallow pits were recorded in both trenches with to the north
(TR.8) a N-S ditch and a NNW-SSE ditch measuring 1.15m wide x 0.18m deep and 0.48m wide
x 0.42m deep respectively.
There then followed a period of ritual activity (with many features containing deposits
of material which had been placed in a planned and orderly fashion) to the south of the
site (TR7). A semi-circular ditch measuring 5.1m x 2.35m x 0.35m deep contained two oval
pits ([62] and [82]) at each butt end. A horse skull with quern stones and fired clay
arranged around it was placed at the base of the north pit [62]. The backfill of pit
[62] contained worked flint, pottery, perforated slab fragments and fragments of at least
four different quern stones. Pit [82] to the south-east contained a large number of flint
nodules and flakes. A further pit [77], with three stakeholes cut into its base, contained
a deposit sealed by large flint nodules over which a copper/bronze object had been placed,
with deer skull and antler fragments placed around and over the flint. Seven further pits
were associated with this phase, with one containing burnt animal bones and others
purposely arranged flint nodules, with worked flint and pottery being recovered from most
of the pit fills. These pits ranged in size from 0.36m x 0.33m x 0.31m deep to 2.9m x
1.88m x 2.14m deep. All these deposits were sealed by a deposit of "plough soil" which had
been cut by a Post-Medieval ditch and covered by a modern car park.
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