The dig – work resumes

Work resumed today (5 September). We excavated an area of scattered chalk which looked like it might be the top of the foundations of the front wall of the original house. It didn’t work out that way. There is some sort of foundation in a small area at the Pound Street end of the trench but the rest of it is not at all convincing and may be scattered rubble.

We then decided to excavate an area of mortar in the middle of the trench. We have wondered if this was the base of a chimney but on examination the deposit seems to be tightly packed crushed mortar rather than a bonded foundation. We have now removed part of it and there is a brick foundation underneath it. This is next to a Victorian stoneware drainage pipe which we have already partly excavated. The drain appeared to end against a stone block but on further excavation we found that this was a stone slab with a cavity beneath it. The slab has a layer of mortared roof tiles next to it which looks like another, perhaps older, drain running into the foundation. All very confusing. It is probably early 19th century, but we can’t be certain at this stage. Work continues tomorrow.

The Victorian stoneware drainpipe with the stone slab towards the top of the photo. The suspected tile drain is to the left of the slab with the foundations towards the left edge of the picture. The drain appears to have been put in to remove ground water sometime after the demolition of Honeywood