Frith Farm, Frith Lane, Wickwar, South Gloucestershire Archaeological Building Recording & Watching Brief Project Planning References PK13/2892/F and PK13/2893/LB South Gloucestershire HER 20321

on behalf of

Mr Donald Duke

Andrew Young AIfA

Avon Archaeological Unit Limited July 2014

Frith Farm, Frith Lane, Wickwar, South Gloucestershire Archaeological Building Recording & Watching Brief Project

Frith Farm, Frith Lane, Wickwar, South Gloucestershire Site centred NGR ST 7179 8736

Archaeological Building Recording & Watching Brief Project (South Gloucestershire Historic Environment Record number - 20321)

CONTENTS SUMMARY ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS NOTES COPYRIGHT 1 INTRODUCTION 2 NATIONAL & LOCAL PLANNING POLICY 3 METHODOLOGY 4 GEOLOGY, TOPOGRAPHY AND LAND USE 5 HISTORICAL & ARCHAEOLOGICAL BACKGROUND 6 STANDING BUILDING RECORDING 7 THE BAKEHOUSE – STRUCTURAL PHASING 8 WATCHING BRIEF 9 FINDS 10 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 11 BIBLIOGRAPHY FIGURES Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4

Location of the Study Area. Scale 1:50,000 Boundary of the Study Area. Scale 1:1250 Footprint of the Watching Brief area for the Farmhouse Extension and location of the Bakehouse and Garage. Scale shown The Bakehouse Building – Summary of Structural Phasing

PHOTOGRAPHS Cover right Cover left

The Bakehouse during archaeological cleaning and recording. Looking N Excavation of foundations for the farmhouse extension. Scale 2m.

Photograph 1

Detail showing Phase 5 masonry joining the northwest corner of the bakehouse building with the farmhouse. Scale 2m The bakehouse fire-bay after initial cleaning with context numbers. Scale 1m The fire-bay and tapered chimney stack. Scale 1m Detail of interior of the fire-bay showing entrance of oven 105 and later blocking (109). Scales 500 mm Fire-bay showing side wall 103 and Phase 6 blocking (108 and 109). Scales 500mm Detail of Flue 114 and associated features. Scales 1m and 500mm Curing chamber (Feature 116) and associated masonry. Scale 500mm

Photograph 2 Photograph 3 Photograph 4 Photograph 5 Photograph 6 Photograph 7

Avon Archaeological Unit Limited - July 2014 South Gloucestershire HER 20321

Frith Farm, Frith Lane, Wickwar, South Gloucestershire Archaeological Building Recording & Watching Brief Project Photograph 8

The rear of the south gable wall after cleaning showing remains of external oven structure and interior of chimney stack. Scales 2m and 500mm Photograph 9 Detail of external oven structure showing curved foundation of oven retaining wall (126). Scales 2m and 500mm Photograph 10 External oven structure partially reconstructed. Scale 1m Photograph 11 Detail of oven structure 121 with raking-hole in Fire-Bay. Scale 1m Photograph 12/13 The west wall after cleaning showing open and blocked window openings and doorway. Scales 1m and 500mm Photograph 14 Photograph 15 Photograph 16 Photograph 17

The interior of the north gable wall showing doorway. Scale 1m The internal elevation of the east party wall showing cement tanking and upper courses of brickwork. Scale 1m Excavation of new foundation trenches for the farmhouse extension. Looking N. Scale 2m Sterile foundation trenches for the farmhouse extension showing foundations of the main farmhouse. Looking SW. Scale 2m

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Frith Farm, Frith Lane, Wickwar, South Gloucestershire Archaeological Building Recording & Watching Brief Project

Summary Avon Archaeological Unit Limited was commissioned by the owner of Frith Farm, Mr Donald Duke, to undertake a programme of archaeological building recording and watching brief during redevelopment of the site. Development work involved the partial demolition and refurbishment of a detached bakehouse building and the excavation of new foundation trenches for a extension to the farmhouse building. The archaeological recording work was undertaken in accordance with Conditions attached to planning consent by South Gloucestershire Council. Clearance and recording of the Bakehouse building, in particular structures and fabric forming the large and well preserved fire-bay and south gable wall, indicated a complex structural history and six phases of structural development overall, although the dating of that sequence is tentative and based up qualitative characteristics, specifically structural relationships and historic fabric. No direct dating evidence for the building was recovered. The earliest building fabric (Phases 1 and 2) of the bakehouse was preserved as part of a large open fire-bay built directly inside the south gable wall. The west and north gable walls of the bakehouse were of a similar Phase 1 fabric indicating that the long axis of the earliest extant phase of the building was aligned north to south with windows and doors in both the west and north gable walls from the outset. Later development of the building included the addition of a small curing-chamber (Phase 3) alongside the fire-bay and subsequent large scale remodelling in the later post medieval period (Phase 4) involved the construction of a large brick-lined oven whose superstructure extended out from the rear of the south gable wall. The bakehouse building was originally detached from the main farmhouse, a characteristic that is consistent with the building having been originally used as a kitchen or brewhouse. Other examples of this type of early detached kitchen or brewhouse building are recorded elsewhere in the locality, for example the Granary building at Tockington Manor Farm, Tockington, which is dated to the late 17th century. No independent dating evidence was recovered to determine the chronology of the earlier structural phases (Structural Phases 1 to 3) although, on the basis of the qualitative characteristics of the masonry alone, the fabric and bonding, a late medieval origin is considered possible and an early post-medieval origin of the 17th to 18th century likely. The proposed structural development and typological chronology of the bakehouse, if correct, is significantly earlier than the mid-19th century date and development suggested by the documentary and cartographic sources examined by McLaughlin Ross previously. In addition the structural development suggested by cartographic sources from the 1840’s onward appears to differ from that indicated by the physical remains. It has not been possible to reconcile these differences in dating or development. Evidence recorded during the watching brief monitoring of new foundations for the farmhouse extension was entirely negative and confined to undisturbed deposits of natural origin. No evidence of any kind was recovered to support the suggested medieval origin of the farmstead at Frith Farm.

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Frith Farm, Frith Lane, Wickwar, South Gloucestershire Archaeological Building Recording & Watching Brief Project

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The archaeological project was wholly funded by Mr & Mrs Donald Duke of Frith Farm to whom thanks are due. The writer also wishes to acknowledge the assistance of Brendon Jones, Director of Hill Construction SW Limited, in setting up the project and the goodwill and assistance given by specialist conservation consultants DMC Building Limited throughout the course of the site work. NOTE Whereas Avon Archaeological Unit have taken all care to produce a comprehensive summary of the known and recorded archaeological evidence, no responsibility can be accepted for any omissions of fact or opinion, however caused. ABBREVIATIONS aOD BRO BCL HER NGR NMR OS SMR

above Ordnance Datum Bristol Record Office Bristol Central Reference Library Historic Environment Record National Grid Reference National Monuments Record, Swindon Ordnance Survey Sites and Monuments Record

COPYRIGHT The copyright to the following text, drawings and photographs is, unless otherwise credited, the property of the author and Avon Archaeological Unit Limited. Full joint copyright passes to the commissioners of the project upon the full settlement of the project account. All enquiries should be addressed to: Avondale Business Centre, Woodland Way, Kingswood, Bristol BS15 1AW Telephone and Facsimile 0117 960 8487 E-mail [email protected] Visit our Website at: www.avonarch.freeserve.co.uk Plans and maps based on the Ordnance Survey Sheets are reproduced by permission of the Controller of Her Majesty's Stationery Office. © Crown Copyright Reserved. Licence number AL 100005802

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Frith Farm, Frith Lane, Wickwar, South Gloucestershire Archaeological Building Recording & Watching Brief Project

1

Introduction (see Figures 1 and 2)

Avon Archaeological Unit Limited has been commissioned by the owner of Frith Farm, Mr Donald Duke, through appointed agents Hill Construction (SW) Limited, to undertake a programme of archaeological monitoring and recording (comprising Watching Brief and Standing Building Recording) during groundworks and associated development works at Frith Farm, Frith Lane, Wickwar, South Gloucestershire (Figures 1 and 2). Frith Farm is located at NGR ST 7179 8736, approximately 1km to the south of the village of Wickwar and consists of a Grade II* listed farmhouse accompanied by a range of agricultural outbuildings. The farmhouse plot is bounded by open fields on three sides and fronts Frith Lane. The farmhouse principally dates to the late 17th century although reused roof trusses of 16th century type indicate that it possibly replaced, and indeed may incorporate elements of, an earlier building. The architectural style and fabric of both the farmhouse and its outbuildings has been reviewed recently by Messer McLaughlin Ross (McLaughlin Ross LLP 2011) where it is characterised as a high class vernacular/gentry house of the later 17th century. The placename ‘Frith’, possibly associated with woodland or a woodland settlement, is documented in 1347 indicating medieval settlement on or in the vicinity of the site by that date. The programme of Building Recording and Archaeological Monitoring during ground disturbance was requested by the Archaeological Officer of South Gloucestershire Council as a condition of the Planning Permission (Planning Reference Numbers PK13/2892/F and PK13/2893/LB) and in accordance with the guidelines set out in the National Planning Policy Guideline (NPPF 2012) and to accord with Policy L11 of the South Gloucestershire Local Plan (Adopted) and Policy CS9 of the SGC Local Plan Core Strategy. The project was commissioned in order to satisfy the condition attached to planning consent, which required that groundworks for a residential extension to the main farmhouse and associated works were monitored archaeologically in order to ensure that all archaeological deposits revealed by such are properly identified and recorded. The project also included recording of a ruined bakehouse, which is located adjacent to but detached from the main farmhouse, in advance of its refurbishment. Avon Archaeological Unit Limited (The Unit) were commissioned by Mr Donald Duke, through Hill Construction (SW) Limited, to carry out the archaeological recording and monitoring work as above and in accordance with the Relevant Guidelines of the Institute of Field Archaeologists, English Heritage’s “Management of Archaeological Projects (2)”. The archaeological work is to be undertaken in accordance with the guidelines for Watching Brief projects issued by The Institute for Archaeology (IfA), the guidelines for archaeological projects set out in MoRPHE (Management of Research Projects in the Historic Environment), English Heritage Level II building recording (English Heritage 2006) and the standard procedures of Avon Archaeological Unit Limited. All standard aims, objectives and procedures for this type of archaeological work, as set out by The County Archaeologist and the Institute for Archaeology (IfA) are to be followed and no omissions are intended. In view of the recognised architectural importance and historical origins of the farm the County Archaeological Officer requested that, in addition to the monitoring of groundworks for a new extension to the north side of the farmhouse (see Figure 3), an English Heritage Level II record should be made of historic fabric and architectural elements of the adjacent and largely ruined bakehouse building (the location also shown on Figure 4), Avon Archaeological Unit Limited - July 2014 South Gloucestershire HER 20321

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Frith Farm, Frith Lane, Wickwar, South Gloucestershire Archaeological Building Recording & Watching Brief Project

which is to be repaired and renovated as part of the development programme. Health and Safety considerations were paramount throughout the recording exercise and took precedence over all archaeological objectives. All site work was undertaken in accordance with the Health & Safety requirements of the client and principal contractor Hill Construction (SW) Limited under Director Brendon Jones. The building recording and watching brief work was undertaken as required and periodically by archaeologist Andrew Young between December 2013 and the May 2014. The project and all records made during the site work have been assigned South Gloucestershire Historic Environment Record (HER) 20321.

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National & Local Planning Policies

Planning policies both national and local which have direct implications for the site under consideration here, cascade down in the following order of primacy:  National Planning Policy Framework, March 2012, Dept of Communities and Local Government. See especially Section 12, Conserving and Enhancing the Historic Environment, 30-32. The policies in section 12 of the Framework refer to the concept of a heritage asset, which is defined as a building, monument, site, place, area or landscape identified as having a degree of significance meriting consideration in planning decisions, because of its heritage interest. Heritage asset includes designated heritage assets and assets identified by the local planning authority (including local listing). The policies in section 12 of the Framework place an emphasis on significance, which is defined as the value of a heritage asset to this and future generations because of its heritage interest. That interest may be archaeological, architectural, artistic or historic. Significance derives not only from a heritage asset’s physical presence, but also from its setting.  South Gloucestershire Council Local Plan Core Strategy 2006-2027, Objectives Policy, adopted December 2013. Matters relating to archaeology are dealt with as part of Chapter 8, Managing the Environment & Heritage, where the local authority’s rationale in regard to the protection of archaeology and heritage assets is outlined as follows: Policy CS9 Ensure that heritage assets are conserved, respected and enhanced in a manner appropriate to their significance – that development will not be permitted where it would involve significant alteration or cause damage to nationally important archaeological remains (whether scheduled or not) or would have a significant impact on the setting of visible remains.

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Frith Farm, Frith Lane, Wickwar, South Gloucestershire Archaeological Building Recording & Watching Brief Project

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Methodology

3.1

Standing Building Recording

The ruined remains of the detached bakehouse (see Figures 2 and 3 for location) was recorded both prior to and during refurbishment work by means of written notes, scaled drawings, and photographs, to the English Heritage Level 2-3 specification (English Heritage 2006, 14) and related to an accurate ground plan of the building in its current condition. All recording work was undertaken by the writer.

Identified historic fabric and architectural features were recorded internally and externally to the Level 2-3 specification of the Royal Commission on the Historic Monuments of England (RCHME 1996, 4 and English Heritage 2006, 14). The recording exercise included detailed examination of:     

Built fabric and structural phasing The exterior of the building The interior of the building (so far as access allowed) Exterior structural features relating to the building e.g. boundary walls etc. Other relevant historic and industrial features or structures as identified

Annotated and measured sketch plans of internal features and elevations were produced to illustrate the form, layout, location and relationships of structural features. A selective black and white photographic record together with a full colour (digital SLR) photographic record was compiled. Images include general views of the exterior of the building, the overall appearance of principal internal spaces, and selected internal and architectural detail. The written record includes a description of the physical dimensions, fabric and structural relationships of the building together with a general description of its plan form and developmental sequence, where it was possible to ascertain such. All significant architectural and built fabric details were recorded as appropriate.

3.2 Watching Brief Monitoring was undertaken during preliminary ground works undertaken for the construction of the new residential extension to the farmhouse. Excavation of the new foundation trenches was undertaken using a 5 ton slew-tracked machine equipped with toothed and grading buckets. The writer was present on site during the excavation of the trenches and all deposits and features of potential archaeological significance were examined and recorded by standard written and photographic means. Ample opportunity was given to the writer to examine features and deposits of potential archaeological significance.

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Frith Farm, Frith Lane, Wickwar, South Gloucestershire Archaeological Building Recording & Watching Brief Project

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Geology, Topography and Landuse

The underlying solid geology derives from the Mercia Mudstone Group of the Early Triassic date that locally consists of variable calcareous mudtones and siltstones (OS 1962 and BGS online). An Ordnance Survey spot height in the road carriageway outside the Study Area has a value of 84.7 m above Ordnance Datum.

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Historical & Archaeological Background

Frith Farm – The Site Setting Frith Farm is grade II* listed. The English Heritage List for England register for the property describes it as follows:

A settlement at Frith or Fryth is documented as early as 1347 and thereafter is referred to as The Fryth in 1605. The derivation of the placename is thought to come from the Saxon word fyrhđe meaning wood or woodland. Frith Wood was located immediately north of the Frith Farm lands and the boundary stream between Yate and Wickwar and a Frith House Cottage is mentioned on the 1841 tithe award for Wickwar. Certainly the present house existed by the later 17th century although as has already been noted above there is some evidence from the fabric of the house that it replaced an earlier, possibly medieval, building. Evidence for significantly earlier settlement related activity in the vicinity of the site is provided by finds of Roman coins from an earthwork to the north of Frith Lane and, slightly Avon Archaeological Unit Limited - July 2014 South Gloucestershire HER 20321

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Frith Farm, Frith Lane, Wickwar, South Gloucestershire Archaeological Building Recording & Watching Brief Project

further afield but still nearby, by the Roman small town, originally probably a 2nd century Hadrianic fort straddling a Roman road, at Hall End Farm (www.avonarch.moonfruit.com). The buildings at Frith Farm, their architecture and historical development, are the subject of a detailed report by McLaughlin Ross LLP (2011), which notes that the architectural style and fabric of both the farmhouse and its outbuildings form part of a high class vernacular/gentry house of the later 17th century. The presence in the main building of reused roof trusses of 16th century type indicate that it may have replaced an earlier building, some of whose fabric could survive in the older west wing of the house. Frith Farm was almost certainly originally part of a larger property which included Frith Wood, which became Frith Grounds. Frith Grounds is described on the 1841 tithe map for Wickwar parish, and included a Frith House Cottage. In addition the report notes that the history of the present house is not absolutely clear and that it remains uncertain whether the present farmhouse represents the original Frith House, to which Frith Cottage belonged, or whether it represents a development of Frith Cottage attached to a Frith House that no longer exists. The report (ibid) goes on to conclude that the detached bakehouse building, the subject of the building recording in this report, is of mid-19th century origin, based upon architectural style and cartographic evidence. In view of the archaeological potential of the site identified through the documentary sources a programme of watching brief and recording was considered appropriate in order to ensure that all unforeseen archaeological remains preserved on the site and revealed during the course of ground works were identified and recorded in advance of destruction.

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Standing Building Recording

The Bakehouse Building Figures 2, 3 and 4 General At the time of the project the bakehouse was attached to the southeastern corner of the main farmhouse although it was clear that it had originally been entirely detached and only later joined by a short stretch of masonry (Photograph 1). Overall the building measured 6.12m long (from north to south) and between 3.46m (north gable wall) and 3.63m wide (south gable wall). The building was un-roofed with standing masonry surviving to a maximum height of c 4.25m in the fire-bay stack that was built inside the south gable wall. Elsewhere the masonry survived to a height of 2.75m in the west wall, 3.1m in the east wall and 3.6m in the north gable wall. On arrival the interior space of the building was undivided but filled to a depth of some 1m with collapsed rubble masonry, elements of roof structure and general rubbish. This material was moved by hand to expose the southern fire-bay and the eastern half of the internal floor space.

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Frith Farm, Frith Lane, Wickwar, South Gloucestershire Archaeological Building Recording & Watching Brief Project

The Fire-Bay Figures 3 and 4, Photographs 2, 3, 4 and 5 The fire-bay was located at the southern end of the bakehouse building and constructed inside and as part of the south gable wall (101). In its latest form it consisted of a series of structural elements that indicated a complex sequence of structural development that involved several discreet phases (see Structural Phasing below). In its latest form the entire fire-bay recess had been blocked with rendered brickwork (109), the void behind the brickwork being filled with a highly mixed deposit of loose rubble and brick fragments (108). Part of this blocking had been opened prior to archaeological recording and it was therefore possible to expose the interior of the fire-bay after clearance by hand of a collapsed masonry and general debris that had accumulated against the front of the bay. The fire-bay projected into the room by means of two side walls (102 and 103), the former a narrow freestanding block of masonry approximately 230mm wide and slightly splayed. The eastern side of the fire-bay was formed of a solid block of masonry (103) that had been repaired with machine-cut brickwork and rendered with a thick cement mortar. Overall these features defined a fire-bay opening that was 1.54m wide and 710mm deep overall. Both the side walls butted the masonry forming the rear gable wall (101) whilst the top of the fire-bay was formed by a reused wooden lintel (119), the underside of which was 1.4m above the level of an internal flagstone apron (111) laid immediately outside the front of the bay. The lintel was 1.98m long and 232mm high and 220mm deep with a deep chamfer inside. Evidence of its reuse was provided by four rectangular mortice joints that were sunk symmetrically into the timber on opposing sides. The mortice-holes were all of similar size measuring approximately 150mm by 55mm and 85mm deep. The earliest masonry element of the fire-bay was represented by the rear wall (101), which was formed of randomly coursed and faced sandstone rubble bonded with a friable pinkish to yellowish-red fine sandy-silt clay. Both the tapered chimney stack and the remains of the south gable wall on the eastern side of the fire-bay were formed of similar masonry fabric. This masonry was interpreted the represent parts of the earliest phase, Phase 1, of the bakehouse building. What remained of the original fire-bay suggested that it initially consisted of a simple large rectangular recess formed of the slightly splayed side walls (102 and 103) and the wooden lintel (119), which in turn carried the tapered chimney stack. Although the structure overall probably represented a single phase of building the fabric of the side walls, both of which were bonded with a slightly coarser mortar with some lime fragments, coupled with their relationship to the rear wall (101), indicated that in detail two phases of construction were represented. A small part of the fire-bay floor (110) was revealed although no trace of an original flagstone base or similar was preserved.

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Frith Farm, Frith Lane, Wickwar, South Gloucestershire Archaeological Building Recording & Watching Brief Project

The Oven Photographs 8, 9 and 11 The simple early fire-bay arrangement was subsequently reorganised with the insertion of a brick-built oven chamber (104/105) on the left side of the rear wall, the entrance for which measured 510mm wide and 350mm high and extended through the gable wall (101) into an oval brick-lined oven chamber (127/131/132) to the rear. An in-situ iron door latch set into the side of the entrance indicated that the oven originally had an iron door. The brick-lined oven chamber (105) was in turn surrounded by a curved wall of sandstone rubble (127) with the two elements of masonry construction separated by a narrow void (131), a feature possibly designed to aid insulation of the oven chamber. The interior of the oven was subcircular in plan and c 1m deep and approximately 450mm high, all of which was lined with machine-cut fire-bricks. The roof of the oven chamber, although largely destroyed, was formed of similar wedge-shaped fire-brick voussoirs. A stonework facing (122) capped with bevelled bricks (107) was butted against Wall 101 to the right hand side of the oven opening in the rear of the fire-bay. The rubble stonework was bonded with a coursed brick facing (121) directly below the oven opening where a narrow gap was left between the brickwork and the earlier masonry – the gap formed a vertical slot into which spent oven fuel could be raked and subsequently removed from a small squared opening in the base of the brickwork ( Photograph 11). The form and construction of the oven chamber and its stone retaining structure was most clearly revealed to the rear of the south gable wall where the oven had been substantially disturbed and in part destroyed (Photograph 8). As a consequence the tiled floor (132) of the oven had slumped outwards and in places collapsed. The sequence here indicated that the oven chamber (105/132) had been built against the plastered exterior (123) of the south gable wall (101). The oven chamber was at waist height and built over a loosely consolidated plinth of rubble and soil (125) that was in turn surrounded by a curved retaining wall (126) up to 250mm wide and formed of randomly coursed tabular sandstone rubble bonded with a coarse lime-based mortar. In places only the lowest course of the retaining wall (126) survived where it had originally been curved although the masonry was best preserved where it had been supported and protected by a later stone buttress (128). A further portion of the same curved retaining wall was preserved higher up (127), where it was built into the earlier masonry (101) of the south gable wall. It was at this point that the narrow gap (131) separating the curved retaining wall from the oven lining (105) was evident. The roof structure of the oven had been entirely destroyed although a line of coarse lime plaster or mortar (124) indicated that it was possibly originally formed of either domed plasterwork or corbelled masonry.

Feature 114 Photograph 6 A narrow and poorly preserved flue or opening (114) was inserted through the south gable wall (101) in the recess to the right hand side of the fire-bay. The masonry surrounding the opening was heavily sooted and largely disturbed although a set of three battered and sooted bricks with traces of lime plaster were preserved at the base of the feature. The overall dimensions of the flue were not clear but the opening appeared to have originally been some 700mm high and 250-300mm wide. No trace of any associated internal Avon Archaeological Unit Limited - July 2014 South Gloucestershire HER 20321

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Frith Farm, Frith Lane, Wickwar, South Gloucestershire Archaeological Building Recording & Watching Brief Project

structure or feature was preserved although it is considered likely that the flue served a large kettle or water boiler. Feature 116 Photograph 7 A poorly preserved rectangular opening (116) capped with a small stone lintel (120) was preserved just above the level of the wooden lintel (119) to the left hand side of the firebay. The opening was approximately 500mm high and between 200 and 350mm wide and led to an irregular and highly sooted recess that had a narrow opening into the main chimney flue. The masonry (117) into which the recess was built was formed of roughly coursed and faced tabular rubble bonded with a soft to firm grey gritty clay containing coarse lime and charcoal inclusions. The masonry was in part covered with a modern cement tanking. The opening appear to represent the poorly preserved remains of a small smoker or curing chamber. The West Wall Photographs 12 and 13 The west wall was overgrown and supported by external scaffolding due to a perilous outward lean. It was in the main formed of a single phase of randomly coursed and roughly faced sandstone and limestone rubble masonry up to 510mm thick that was bonded with variable yellowish-red to brown friable sandy clay. The wall was preserved to a maximum height of 2.75m where it was bonded with the north gable wall (137) and incorporated two window openings of 1.1m and 1.17m width. Both window openings were slightly splayed and the northern was completely blocked. A doorway was located centrally, some 950mm wide. Overall the masonry forming the wall had a fabric broadly equivalent to that of the Phase 1 masonry of the fire-bay and south gable wall (101). The wall was completely demolished during refurbishment work due to being unstable. The North Gable Wall Photograph 14 The north gable wall was overgrown with ivy adhering but clearly formed of a single phase of randomly coursed and roughly faced sandstone and limestone rubble masonry up to 500mm thick that was bonded with variable yellowish-red to brown friable sandy clay. The gable was preserved to a maximum height of 3.6m where it was bonded with the west and east walls (Walls 136 and 137), the latter representing a substantially later phase of masonry. The masonry incorporated a central doorway opening some 970mm wide. Overall the masonry forming the wall had a fabric broadly equivalent to that of the Phase 1 masonry of the fire-bay and south gable wall (101) and the west wall (136).

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Frith Farm, Frith Lane, Wickwar, South Gloucestershire Archaeological Building Recording & Watching Brief Project

The East Wall Photograph 15 The east wall was formed of a single phase of roughly coursed and roughly faced sandstone and limestone rubble masonry up to 480mm thick that was bonded with a hard and coarse lime-based mortar. The wall was preserved to a maximum height of 3.1m where it was bonded with the north gable wall (138) and butted the south gable wall (Walls 101 and 117 etc). Approximately the lower half of the elevation had been tanked with modern cement render although a series of horizontal wooden shelf pegs were preserved in-situ. The uppermost part of the wall was formed by three courses of modern machine-cut brickwork. The masonry forming the wall had a distinctly different fabric from the other standing elements of the bakehouse, a feature indicating that it represented a later wholesale replacement of the original east wall, which was probably constructed as a new party wall when the adjacent modern garage was built.

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The Bakehouse - Structural Phasing See Figure 4

The evidence gathered during the clearance and recording of the bakehouse building indicates six principal structural phases in its development. These phases were represented by: Phase 1 – the earliest masonry of the detached bakehouse building that is preserved in the rear of the fire-bay (101) and the majority of the west wall (136) and north gable wall (137). The building was single storey with at least two window openings and a doorway in the west wall – a symmetrical arrangement of the same in the original east wall is considered likely. A further doorway was located centrally in the north gable wall. Overall the Phase 1 masonry is characterised by randomly coursed and roughly faced tabular sandstone rubble that is bonded with a friable natural yellowish-red to brown sandy silt clay. Lime-based bonding agent is essentially absent and foundations are very shallow, less than three courses where observed beneath the west wall. No artefactual or stratigraphic dating evidence was recovered for this phase although the qualitative characteristics of the fabric alone could indicate a possible later medieval (15th century) or probable earlier post-medieval (17th – 18th century) date. Phase 2 – a second phase of construction associated with the formation of the fire-bay by the insertion of side walls 102 and 103 and, by inference, the construction of the tapered chimney stack. The masonry of the side walls is characterised by a light yellowish-brown gritty silt clay mortar with common lime fragments. The phase is undated but quite possibly formed an integral if slightly later part of the initial Phase 1 build – on that basis likely to be of earlier post medieval date, 17th to 18th century. An enigmatic section of curved masonry (134) that butted the rear of the south gable wall behind masonry 103 and which is cut by Phase 4 structures, raises the possibility that an original oven structure was blocked behind Phase 3 masonry 117 and Structure 116 (see below). Phase 3 – a third phase of construction involving the blocking of the recess to the left hand side of the fire-bay and the construction of a small curing or smoking chamber (116) at the level of the fire-bay lintel. Possibly also involving the replacement of an original wooden lintel and the laying of the flagstone fire apron (111). The fabric of the masonry Avon Archaeological Unit Limited - July 2014 South Gloucestershire HER 20321

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Frith Farm, Frith Lane, Wickwar, South Gloucestershire Archaeological Building Recording & Watching Brief Project

characterised by a light grey gritty clay containing coarse lime and charcoal inclusions. Later post medieval, probably 18th century or later. Phase 4 – major refurbishment of the fire-bay during the 19th or early 20th century involved the construction of a new brick-lined bread/baking oven (105) with external superstructure (125/126) and the construction of a new flue (114) that possibly served a water boiler located in the recess to the right hand side of the fire-bay. Phase 5 – Demolition and replacement of the east wall as part of the construction of the 20th century garage. Phase 6 – final blocking of the fire-bay by Wall 109 in the 20th century

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Watching Brief Monitoring Photographs 16 and 17

Site monitoring and recording work was undertaken by the writer during the excavation of new strip foundations for the farmhouse extension (see Figure 3 for location). The excavations revealed an entirely uniform sequence of undisturbed natural sandy clay substrate (201) that was revealed directly below a layer of modern scalpings (Photograph 16). In addition the shallow foundation courses of the farmhouse building were also exposed (Photograph 17). No archaeologically significant structures, features, deposits or finds of any kind were revealed during the course of the excavation of the new foundations.

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Finds

A few fragments of modern pottery and iron ferramenta, also of patently modern origin was present in collapsed deposits inside the bakehouse but no significant stratified archaeological finds of any kind were recovered during the course of the archaeological building recording or watching brief monitoring.

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Summary and Conclusions

Avon Archaeological Unit Limited have undertaken and completed a programme of archaeological building recording and watching brief on behalf of Mr Donald Duke during the groundwork stage of redevelopment at Frith Farm, in accordance with Conditions attached to planning consent for the development. Clearance and recording of the Bakehouse building, in particular structures and fabric forming the large and well preserved fire-bay and south gable wall, indicated a complex structural history and six phases of structural development overall, although the dating of that sequence is tentative and based up qualitative characteristics, specifically structural relationships and historic fabric. No direct (i.e. independent scientific or artefactual) dating evidence for the building was recovered.

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Frith Farm, Frith Lane, Wickwar, South Gloucestershire Archaeological Building Recording & Watching Brief Project

The earliest building fabric (Phase 1) of the bakehouse was preserved in the rear wall of the fire-bay and the south gable wall, where the masonry was formed of random to roughly coursed and faced sandstone rubble bonded with a soft to friable sandy silt clay. Both the west and north gable walls of the bakehouse were of a similar Phase 1 fabric indicating that the long axis of the earliest extant phase of the building was aligned north to south with windows and doors in both the west and north gable walls from the outset. A similar arrangement of inward splayed windows and opposing central doorway in the original east wall seems likely. The building was originally detached from the main farmhouse, a characteristic that is consistent with the building having been originally used as a kitchen or bakehouse. Other examples of this type of early detached kitchen building are recorded elsewhere in the locality, for example the Granary building at Tockington Manor Farm, Tockington, which is dated to the late 17th century (Rodwell 2006). The structural relationships and fabric of the side-walls that define the large fire-bay in the south gable-end indicate that it represents a separate phase of construction (Structural Phase 2), the masonry having been bonded using a coarser mortar containing lime fragments and the walls butted against the south gable wall. Despite this the lintel of the fire-bay, which is carried by the side walls, clearly carries the tapered chimney stack, the fabric of which was indistinguishable from Phase 1 masonry in the rear of the fire-bay. As such the practical order in which the fire-bay and stack must have been built suggests that they effectively represent a single phase of construction, albeit perhaps having been undertaken by different individuals on different days. Subsequent development of the building during Phase 3 appears to have primarily involved the infilling of the recess to the left hand side of the fire-bay and the construction of a small smoking or curing chamber (Feature 116). Whether this construction covered in and replaced an earlier oven feature, a possibility indicated by the curved Phase 3 masonry (134) located to the rear at the SE corner of the south gable wall, remains unknown as the smoke-chamber was preserved insitu during refurbishment work. The fire-bay was substantially remodelled in Structural Phase 4, the late 19th or early 20th century, with the insertion of a large brick-lined oven (Feature 105 etc.), incorporating a refractory lining of machine-cut fire-brick and voussoir. Further modification was made in the recess to the right hand side of the fire-bay where a new flue (114) was opened through the gable wall, most likely to serve a large kettle or brewing/malting vat. The new oven structure involved a new opening through the gable wall and the construction of a plinth and curved retaining wall to the rear to retain the oven lining. It seems almost certain that the external oven structure was originally covered by a corbelled or domed roof structure although none had survived. The arrangement of brickwork in the rear of the firebay, below the oven door, indicates that it was both fired and raked-out from the front. Subsequent structural development of the bakehouse in the 20th century (Phases 5 and 6) involved the complete rebuilding of the east (party) wall during the construction of the modern garage (that is alongside). This was accompanied by the raising of the bakehouse roof structure and the blocking of the fire-bay and one of two original windows in the west wall. No independent dating evidence was recovered to determine the chronology of the earlier structural phases (Structural Phases 1 to 3) although, on the basis of the qualitative characteristics of the masonry alone, the fabric and bonding, a late medieval origin is at least possible and an early post-medieval origin of the 17th to 18th century is considered likely. The proposed structural development and typological chronology of the bakehouse, Avon Archaeological Unit Limited - July 2014 South Gloucestershire HER 20321

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Frith Farm, Frith Lane, Wickwar, South Gloucestershire Archaeological Building Recording & Watching Brief Project

if correct, is significantly earlier than the mid-19th century date suggested by the documentary and cartographic sources examined by McLaughlin Ross previously. For the moment it is not possible to reconcile these differences in dating, one of which is based on solid documentary and (especially) cartographic evidence, the other (the subject of this report) wholly based upon recorded historic fabric and structural relationships. Finally, evidence recorded during the watching brief monitoring of new foundations for the farmhouse extension was entirely negative and confined to undisturbed deposits of natural origin. No evidence of any kind was recovered to support the suggested medieval origin of the farmstead at Frith Farm and no evidence was identified to suggest the presence of significant buried archaeology in areas of the site adjacent to the new residential extension.

11

References

Annis, Richard, 1994. “Recording Before Demolition”, in Buildings Archaeology: Applications in Practice, edited by Jason Wood, Oxbow Books, Oxford, pp. 209-218. Brodie, Brunskill, R. W., 2000. Vernacular Architecture. An Illustrated Handbook, Faber DCLG, March 2012. National Planning Policy Framework, Department for Communities and Local Government, London. English Heritage 1991 Management of Archaeological Projects (2). HMSO London. English Heritage, April 2006. Understanding Historic Buildings: a guide to good recording practice, English Heritage, Swindon. NPPF DCLG, March 2012. National Planning Policy Framework, Department for Communities and Local Government, London. Mills, A.D., 1993. English Place-Names, Oxford. Moore, J. (ed.), 1982. Domesday Book vol.15, Gloucestershire, Chichester. MoRPHE, April 2009. Management of Research Projects in the Historic Environment: The MoRPHE Project Managers’ Guide, English Heritage, Swindon. Newns, S. 2013 Land at Nos 31-39 Gloucester Road North, Filton, South Gloucestershire – Archaeological Desk-based Assessment. Unpublished client report. Avon Archaeology Limited RCHME, 1996. Recording Historic Buildings: A Descriptive Specification, Royal Commission on the Historic Monuments of England, Swindon. Rodwell, K. A. 2006 The structural development of TOCKINGTON OLVESTON,S GLOUCESTERSHIRE. Unpublished typescript report.

PARK

Ross, K. 2011a, b and c Historical Building Report – Frith Farm, Frith Lane, Wickwar, South Gloucestershire. Unpublished client reports. McLaughlin Ross LLP

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FARM,

Frith Farm, Frith Lane, Wickwar, South Gloucestershire Archaeological Building Recording & Watching Brief Project Rudder, S., 1779. A New History of Gloucestershire. Edited and with a new Introduction by N.M.Herbert, 2006. Nonsuch. South Gloucestershire Council HER passim

Frith Farm, Frith Lane, Wickwar, South Gloucestershire Archaeological Building Recording & Watching Brief Project SGHER 20321 Report prepared by Andrew Young Principal Archaeologist - July 2014

Avon Archaeological Unit Limited - July 2014 South Gloucestershire HER 20321

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Frith Farm, Frith Lane, Wickwar, South Gloucestershire WSI for Archaeological Building Recording & Watching Brief Project

Figure 1 Frith Farm, Frith Lane, Wickwar, South Gloucestershire General Location of the Study Site N

Ordnance Survey © Crown copyright 2005 All rights reserved. Licence Number AL 100005802

Avon Archaeological Unit Limited – July 2014 SGHER 20321

Frith Farm, Frith Lane, Wickwar, South Gloucestershire Archaeological Building Recording & Watching Brief Project

Figure 2 Frith Farm, Frith Lane, Wickwar, South Gloucestershire Location and Boundary of the Study Site

ST 717E

N

ST 873N

Scale 1:1250

Ordnance Survey © Crown copyright 2005 All rights reserved. Licence Number AL 100005802

Avon Archaeological Unit Limited – July 2014 SGHER 20321

Frith Farm, Frith Lane, Wickwar, South Gloucestershire WSI for Archaeological Building Recording & Watching Brief Project

Figure 3 Frith Farm, Frith Lane, Wickwar, South Gloucestershire Layout showing footprint of watching brief for the farmhouse extension & detail of Bakehouse Building & Garage N

Garage

Bakehouse

Footprint of watching brief to monitor new foundation trenches for farmhouse extension

detail

Avon Archaeological Unit Limited – July 2014 SGHER 20321

Scale shown – courtesy of Hill Construction (SW) Limited

Frith Farm, Frith Lane, Wickwar, South Gloucestershire Archaeological Building Recording & Watching Brief Project

Figure 4 Frith Farm Bakehouse Building - Summary of Structural Phasing

N Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3 Phase 4 Phase 5

Flue 114

Buttress 128

Flagstones 111

Bakehouse

Curing Chamber

Oven 105

?Flue 134

Oven Structure 126/127

Fire Bay

Phase 6

Garage

Not to scale

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Frith Farm, Frith Lane, Wickwar, South Gloucestershire Archaeological Building Recording & Watching Brief Project

Photographs

1

Phase 5 wall joining farmhouse and detached bakehouse. Scale 2m

116 117

101 119 119

101 102

103

109

114

See Plate 4

101 113 111 2

The Bakehouse Fire-Bay after cleaning. Scale 1m

Avon Archaeological Unit Limited – July 2014 SGHER 20321

Frith Farm, Frith Lane, Wickwar, South Gloucestershire Archaeological Building Recording & Watching Brief Project

3 Fire-Bay showing tapered chimney stack with remains of plasterwork and location of Flue 114. Scale 1m

101

118

101

114

111 4 Detail of interior of Fire-Bay showing entrance of oven and later blocking (109). Scales 500 mm

101

103

105

121

104

101

103 107

108

121 122

109 102 110 Avon Archaeological Unit Limited – July 2014 SGHER 20321

Frith Farm, Frith Lane, Wickwar, South Gloucestershire Archaeological Building Recording & Watching Brief Project

5 Fire-Bay showing side wall 103 and Phase 6 blocking 108 and 109. Scales 500mm

103

121 107

109 108 115

122

111

110

101

114 102

101 117

113

116 103

111

6 Detail of Flue 114 and associated features. Scales 1m and 500mm

Avon Archaeological Unit Limited – July 2014 SGHER 20321

7 Feature 116 and associated masonry. Scale 500mm

Frith Farm, Frith Lane, Wickwar, South Gloucestershire Archaeological Building Recording & Watching Brief Project

101

128 124

127

105

114 132

131

128

123 126 101

125

8 The rear of the south gable wall after cleaning showing remains of external oven structure and interior of chimney stack. Scales 2m and 500mm

Avon Archaeological Unit Limited – July 2014 SGHER 20321

Frith Farm, Frith Lane, Wickwar, South Gloucestershire Archaeological Building Recording & Watching Brief Project 9 Detail of external oven structure showing curved foundation of oven retaining wall (126). Scales 2m and 500mm.

11 Detail of oven structure 121 with raking-hole in Fire-Bay. Scale 1m

10 External oven structure as part reconstructed. Scale 1m

Avon Archaeological Unit Limited – July 2014 SGHER 20321

Frith Farm, Frith Lane, Wickwar, South Gloucestershire Archaeological Building Recording & Watching Brief Project

12 and 13 The west wall after cleaning showing open and blocked window openings and doorway. Scales 1m and 500mm

14 The interior of the north gable wall showing doorway. Scale 1m

Avon Archaeological Unit Limited – July 2014 SGHER 20321

Frith Farm, Frith Lane, Wickwar, South Gloucestershire Archaeological Building Recording & Watching Brief Project

15 The internal elevation of the east party wall showing cement tanking and upper courses of brickwork. Scale 1m

16 Excavation of new foundation trenches for the farmhouse extension. Looking N. Scale 2m

17 Sterile foundation trenches for the farmhouse extension showing foundations of the main farmhouse. Looking SW. Scale 2m

Avon Archaeological Unit Limited – July 2014 SGHER 20321