The dig - some interesting finds

We have continued excavating the path foundation and have come across a group of interesting finds including the whitewashed cement capping of a brick wall which must have been somewhere around the garden. There were also several pieces of oolitic limestone including one shaped like a keystone from the top of a small window or niche. There were also three pieces which appear to be from a drip course. This is a horizontal projection from a wall which is designed to throw off any rainwater running down it. The moulding on it is unusual and my snap reaction is that it comes from the 17th century. A lot of oolitic limestone has turned up in the Honeywood garden. I think the stone is probably from Portland on the Dorset coast which is rather odd. Portland stone was very fashionable in the 17th and 18th century, but it was expensive. It has never been found in the early structure of Honeywood and I would not expect to find it there: the house was not grand enough. Two pieces of stone from the garden have carving which matches the finals on the Water Tower in West Street. It is possible that Honeywood was occupied by masons working on the Carshalton House buildings, but I am not aware of the drip course being used there.

The other possible source of the stone is the massive house which Thomas Scawen planned for Carshalton Park. A huge amount of stone was cut, but the house was never built. The stone was sold off in the later 18th century and some of it can still be found scattered around Carshalton. A lot of stone chips have been found in previous excavations at Honeywood which suggests work on site rather than the reuse of already cut blocks. The stone at Honeywood is odd and needs a good deal more investigation.
 
The photos of the individual objects illustrated have not yet been done. I will probably add them tomorrow.

The group of finds partly excavated