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The remains of two wells were identified during the ongoing watching brief at Nosterfield Quarry. The features were located 1m apart, in the area of the quarry to the west of Flasks Lane and were allocated F426 and F444 (Plate 1).
F426 was made of unbonded limestone blocks and reached a depth of 1.10m (Plate 2). The limestone wall of the well shaft was built on top of a wooden raft, which consisted of four curved timbers overlapped at the ends and fixed with iron rivets. This raft surrounded a half-barrel lining, consisting of a series of 17 staves with evidence of three, now deteriorated, hoop bindings. A shaped circular piece of limestone formed the base of the well shaft and was positioned tightly in the base of the barrel (Plate 3).
Dating material recovered from the backfill of F426 were of modern date and included a complete plastic fertiliser bag and a glass bottle marked 'ESSOLUBE' associated with agricultural machinery. Material recovered from the backfill within the barrel in the base of the well included an iron rivet and several structural wood fragments. No dating material was recovered from the backfill of the construction cut for the well.
The southern most well was made of identical unbonded limestone blocks and upon excavation F444 reached a depth of approximately 0.30m with four large foundation slabs of limestone (Plate 4). The backfills of the well shaft and the construction cut yielded no dateable material.
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| Wells, features 426 & 444 | Well, feature 426 | Well, feature 426 | Well, feature 444 |
The watching brief is also ongoing within the area known as The Flasks, in the north-eastern corner of Nosterfield Quarry. To date, topsoil stripping has revealed the brick footings of two modern buildings, allocated F1 and F2, which represent the probable remains of outbuildings associated with a water treatment works known to have stood in the area (Plate 5).
A flint scatter was revealed, allocated F3, which consisted of a small concentration of flint material within a very shallow deposit. Each flint fragment recovered by hand was 3-D located and samples of the soil deposit were recovered for fine-mesh recovery (Plate 6). A series of modern animal burials tied with baler twine were also observed in a pit on the site.
Areas of peat deposit were revealed, monitored and mapped, though yielded no evidence for archaeological remains.
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| Outbuildings | Flint scatter |