72-76 Old Church Lane, Stanmore

Evaluation
In July 1998 the Oxford Archaeological Unit carried out a field evaluation at 72-76 Old Church Lane, Stanmore, Middlsex on behalf of Village Homes (south east) Limited. A single had-exavated trench contained one archaeological feature. This shallow irregular cut, which is most likely to be medieval in date, was located at the eastern end of the trench. The fills contained a mixture of Saxon and medieval pottery and a small quantity of Roman brick/tile. The feature was overlain by garden soil containing post-medieval finds, as well as very small quantities of residual prehistoric and medieval material.
The function of the single medieval feature is uncertain, but its regular profile suggests that it may be of natural origin, perhaps a tree bole. The feature produced metal-working slag in sufficient quantity to suggest that it is not entirely residual. The single environmental sample from this feature produced a divers and well-preserved assemblage of charred polant remains, but no other environental/ economic indicators. Animal bones were recovered only from the post-medieval garden soils.
The mixture of prehistoric, Roman and Saxon material recoverd from a single small trnech, even in such small quantities, may indicate the presence of a multi-period settlement in the vicinity, although it is clear that all of the pre-medieval artefacts found are residual in later contexts.
Watching brief
A watching brief carried out in June 1999 indentified the feature from the evaluation but found no further fetures of archaeological interest.