144-150 Old South Lambeth Road, London Borough of Lambeth - Archaeological Evaluation Report

Wessex Archaeology

The works showed that the site had been severely impacted upon by the construction of a late 19th century building and subsequent large underground fuel tanks and other installations associated with a service station constructed in the 1960s.

Between the areas effected by the 19th century building and the service station, deposits of undisturbed material survived. These comprised a 0.90m thick layer of homogenous, dark grey clayey silt. This deposit contained small quantities of material dating for the most part to the 18th – 19th century. This deposit, which almost certainly represented the remains of a mixed soil, was seen to seal a 1.40m thick layer of homogenous yellow clayey silt, which contained 19th century pottery, and occasional small fragments of brick. This layer represented a mixture of dumps and soil.

The report concludes that the site was probably open farmland until the building of a row of shops and houses in the 19th century. The site was then heavily truncated by the construction of several large underground fuel tanks and other installations, associated with the former Thistle Service Station.