Watching Brief at West End Farm, Merton

The topsoil from the footprint of the tennis court was removed using a 360 excavator, with 11.7m of the footprint being reduced to the natural horizon. The excavation area which reached the archaeological horizon was located in the south east of the tennis court footprint, with an area of 16.4m by 11.7m. The overburden removed from the excavation area was then consolidated in the north-western side of the excavation area in order to mitigate the slope of the hill, raising the ground level for the tennis court build. The archaeological horizon was not impacted outside of the defined excavation area. Due to the lack of variety of features, the usefulness in answering questions raised from the Solent-Thames Research Framework is limited, but not negligible. Feature 10 was the only posthole within the excavation area, so does not immediately suggest the existence of a wider posthole structure. Due to the relative isolation of the feature, with no others of a similar types to the north, if it were part of a larger structure here then this has since been lost to erosion over time. It is possible that the posthole could be an outlier of a structure continuing either south or east past the southern limit of excavation. No dating material was recovered from deposit (11), the fill of posthole 10, and so a medieval date cannot be secured for the feature and it is possible that posthole 10 relates to a later phase within the area. Later activity has been observed with material from Victorian or later within the fill of a pit inside the excavation area, and of course there is the wider post-medieval construction of West End Farm and its associated grounds, and related activities. Posthole 10 may be part of such activity, perhaps as the remains of a fence post setting. Dating evidence ranging from the late 9th century was recovered from deposit (05), the fill of pit 04 with the pottery overall providing a terminus post quem of late 10th century. This was amongst the earliest dating evidence from the site, along with residual early/ middle Anglo Saxon pottery recovered from deposit (13), the fill of pit 12. Deposit (13) has a terminus post quem of the 13th century, which together with the earlier dating evidence may indicate ongoing occupation from the early-medieval period onwards although a break in activity represented between the earliest dating evidence and the latest cannot be disproved. Pit 12, located approximately 6m to the north of pit 04 (Fig. 2), was of a similar shape and form to the latter, and likely of a similar purpose. Both fills, deposit (13) and deposit (05), contained Cotswold-type Ware and St. Neots Ware pottery as well as sheep/ goat bone and that of other large mammals. Although Pit 12 contained a larger range of pottery than Pit 04 with a later terminus post quem in the 13th century the date ranges for the pottery of both these pits overlap and so they may have been contemporary. Cut feature 08 extended beyond the limit of excavation, and has a different form to the other pits. It is possible that feature 08 is the terminus of a linear feature continuing south-south-east, which may suggest the boundaries or field systems of the village of Merton as extended to the north of West End Farm. The collection of features, alongside the lack of any structures, indicate that the excavation area likely revealed features on the edge of the wider shrunken medieval village of Merton. The animal remains from the fills of pits 04, 08, and 12 all suggest domestic food wastage as may be expected on the edge of a medieval settlement. The small size of the excavation area limits a wider interpretation, but the evidence recovered indicates the wider extent of the activities associated with the shrunken medieval village of Merton as existing on the northern side of West End Farm.