Chelsea Academy Training Ground, Cobham, Surrey - Archaeological Evaluation Report

Wessex Archaeology

The evaluation located a concentration of possible Bronze Age archaeological activity comprising at least five separate ditches at the eastern end of the Site. A further two isolated ditches with similar characteristics were found towards the centre and western end of the Site. The lack of finds from these features suggests that they were probably not located in the vicinity of a settlement and may therefore have functioned as field boundaries.
A single ditch containing medieval pottery and two undated postholes were also found at the western end of the Site.

An assemblage of probable Bronze Age flint artefacts was recovered from the subsoil at the western end of the Site. Although few archaeological features of that date were found in this area they do confirm the presence of Bronze Age activity in the area and also point towards a possible focus of this activity to the west of the Site.

The overall lack of topsoil across the majority of the evaluation area, in particular the western half of the Site, suggests that some landscaping or levelling has occurred in the past. This may have resulted in the destruction of archaeological remains and could explain the dearth of prehistoric features in the vicinity of the spread of flint artefacts recovered from the subsoil.