SSP Trench Cliveden Buckinghamshire

Cliveden is a Grade I listed mansion with an associated Grade I listed park surrounding it. Intrusive works to dig a long SSP trench through areas of the ground to the north of
the house were monitored archaeologically although partly due to the shallow depth of
the trench no significant archaeological features were encountered. The two main areas
of investigation were within the overflow car park and on the east side of the Grand Avenue.
The trench in the overflow car park passed through an area where a tree-lined avenue is shown on a plan from 1749 but no clear evidence of this avenue was found. From laying
the historic map over a modern one it appears that the trench may have been just to the east of the main avenue which would have had a hard surface in the early and mid 18th century. It appears that the trench would have been located at the corner of a field and
also on the western side of the grassed 'rond-point'. This would have been the type of
surface feature which would leave little archaeological evidence.
Historic maps suggest that the area which now comprises the overflow car park may have had a temporary use during the First World War and then probably during the Second
World War a distinct smaller area was laid out with simple tracks and this area later became the National Trust's overflow car park.
The current investigation has uncovered evidence of various 20th-century alterations and it is likely that they relate more to the Second World War phase than the First World War.
The evidence includes modern make-up layers beneath the main exit road and also in the section of trench immediately to the south of it. The section of trench immediately to the
north of the road also contained a large quantity of ballast which was probably laid down during the Second World War phase to level the ground but in the sections further to the
north the trench had less modern material.
The trench alongside the Grand Avenue was found to largely comprise made ground(rubble, concrete etc).