Woodview Lambourne Road, Chigwell: Archaeological Evaluation

Wessex Archaeology was commissioned by Aedifice Partnership to undertake an archaeological evaluation of a 1.1 hectares parcel of land located in Lambourne Road, Chigwell, Essex, IG7 6HH centred on NGR 545691 192957. The evaluation comprising a T-shaped trench targeting the axis of the proposed accommodation block measured 30m x 1.8m and 40m x 1.8m. The work was undertaken between the 23rd and 24th October 2017. Archaeological remains were recorded dating to Post-medieval period. Some of them featured a high level of truncation which also altered the natural horizon. Thick deposits of made ground that contained construction debris and rubble, certainly as a result of building demolition, were observed. The remains of a demolished building were recorded, formed by a possible cellar wall and the foundation of an external wall. A thin brickwork wall associated with a slate floor represents a later internal alteration of the space to locate an unknown structure. Three brickwork drains were also investigated and are presumed to belong to the abandoned dwelling as run from the house towards the southeast to probably merge into a soakaway or cess pit further down. The analysis of brick samples retrieved from all the structures suggests a 18th to late 19th century construction, probably contemporary to the existing Victorian house. The 1862 OS map shows the existence of a rectangular building (glass house) that coincides with the location of those structures found in trench 1. This building pre-dates Savills house and is possibly early 19th century.