Nottinghamshire Community Archaeology

Watching Brief
On works for the construction of a disabled access
ramp at Rufford Abbey, Ollerton, Nottinghamshire.

August 2009

Report on
Watching brief on works for the construction of a disabled access ramp at
Rufford Abbey, Ollerton, Nottinghamshire, June 2007

By Emily Gillott

NCA Report Number 002

Prepared By

Nottinghamshire Community Archaeology

Nottinghamshire County Council
Trent Bridge House
Fox Road
West Bridgford
Nottinghamshire
NG2 6BJ

Tel: 0115 9 823 823

Fax: 0115 9 772 418

Site Code: RADA07

NGR: 464580, 364725

Contents

Illustrations

Introduction

Site Location

Archaeological and Historical Background

Aims and Objectives

Methodology

Results

10

Conclusion

14

Project Information

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Illustrations
Page
6

- Fig 1: Showing the location of Rufford Abbey and the watching brief.

- Fig 2: Map showing the location of the drain uncovered by the trench.

- Fig 3: Overview of the work area.

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- Fig 4: View of the drain feature from above.

10

- Fig 5: View of the interior looking NE.

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- Fig 6: View of the interior looking SW.

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- Fig 7: Showing the wall divided into sections.

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- Fig 8: Showing wall-section C sat directly on top of section B.

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- Fig 9: Showing the different layers identifiable in the section of the

hole made for the works.

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- Fig 10: The lens of glass within layer 9 of the stratigraphy.

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- Fig 11: Fragment of glass with quatrefoil decoration.

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- Fig 12: Centre of a piece of crown glass.

Introduction

In 2007 an extensive programme of improvement works took place at Rufford

Abbey.

Part of the improvements involved the construction of a disabled

access ramp. The ramp is located between the Coach House and Orangery,
and is to provide access from the Coach House courtyard to the gardens.
There was the likelihood that work would uncover archaeological remains,
and so a watching brief was carried out by the County Council Archaeologists.

The work on site by contractors initially uncovered a brick-built drain, which

was found to contain water. This then required the extension of the trench,
which then revealed a brick-built wall.

Photographs were taken inside the drain feature, and the wall was cleaned
and photographed. Photographs were also taken of the side of the trench in
order to give an idea of the stratigraphy.

Site Location

Fig 1: Showing the location of Rufford Abbey and the watching brief.

Rufford Abbey Country Park is located approximately 2 miles south of Ollerton

to the east of the A614 road. There are a number of main buildings on the
site; one of which is the Coach House (now a coffee shop). The work to
construct a disabled access ramp took place directly to the east of this
building.

Figure 1 shows the location of Rufford Abbey Country Park, on the A614 Old
Rufford Road which runs between Ollerton in the north and Nottingham in the
south.

Fig 2: Map showing the location of the drain uncovered by the works.

Figure 2 shows the location of the works in relation to the buildings (orange
areas). The grey areas represent tarmac footpaths. The drain and wall both
run NE-SW.

The geology in the area is Sherwood Sandstone.

Archaeological and Historical Background

The earliest recorded lord of Rufford is a Saxon named Ulf. After the Norman
invasion of 1066 William I gave the land at Rufford to Gilbert de Gant. The
Domesday Book contains a reference to the village of Rugforde. The village
was small, and may not be on the site of Rufford Abbey. Gilbert de Gant gave
a gift of land to the Cistercian Order, and the villagers were evicted when the
abbey was founded in 1146.

The original abbey building was a wooden one, which was replaced in stone
from around 1160 onwards. The abbey established 21 outlying granges, and
its chief source of income was from the wool trade.
During the 15th century Rufford Abbey met with a period of decline, and the
Abbey was frequently unable to pay all of the taxes it owed to the King. It was
one of the first to be dissolved by Henry VIII. In 1537 Rufford Abbey and its
land were granted to George Talbot, 4th Earl of Shrewsbury.
The 6th Earl was the first to have any real interest in the abbey. He turned the
abbey into a country house, which was added to on numerous occasions over
the years. The country house passed into the hands of the Savile family in
1626. The Savile family were responsible for removing most of what was left
of the mediaeval abbey for the construction of a grand new wing. In the late
1800s the 1st Baron Savile was the last in his family to make extensive
renovations to the estate, and it was during this period that the estate
experienced something of a golden age.

The two World Wars had a

devastating effect on the estate, and in 1938 it was sold off. Rufford Abbey is
now owned by the County Council as part of a Country Park for public usage.

Recent improvements have led to the construction of a disabled access ramp

to the east of the Coach House. Work uncovered a wall of several phases
and a drain, both constructed in hand-made brick.

Aims and Objectives

The objectives of the archaeological work were to;

1) Take photos from inside the brick-built drain to try to establish how far it
went, and the internal construction.
2) To try to establish what the wall-feature was and what the phases of
construction were.
3) To try to date either feature.

Methodology

The original trench was dug by contractors, who uncovered the wall and drain
during the course of their work.
investigate.

Archaeologists were then brought in to

Photographs were taken of the inside of the drain using a 4

megapixel digital camera. The clean-up of the wall was done by hand using
trowel, hand shovel, and brush. Heavy rain the previous night meant that the
work area was sodden underfoot, and a lot of material had been washed in
from the sections. Photographs were taken of the wall of the trench from a
variety of angles.

Fig 3: Overview of
the work area. The
hole into the drain
is

beneath

paving
the

the

slab,
drain

and
runs

parallel to the wall

from SW to NE.

Results

The Drain

Fig 4: View of the drain

feature from above showing
the hole made into it.

The drain or culvert is constructed of hand-made bricks. It runs NE-SW and

lies at a depth of approximately 1.5m below present ground level.

The

thickness of the upper section of the drain, which is arched, is 23cm (13
inches). At the point where the hole was made through the roof of the drain it
was possible to see around 5m up and down the tunnel with the aid of the
flash. As far as can be seen to the NE (see Fig 5) the lower section of the
wall is constructed in large faced pieces of sandstone. There dont seem to
be any branches or changes in directions along this section to the NE.

Fig 5: View of the interior looking NE

Fig 6: View of the interior looking SW

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To the SW (see Fig 6) the lower section is only constructed in stone for
approximately 2m. After this it looks like there is possibly a vertical access
shaft, although it is very difficult to tell from the photos. Beyond this the arch
of the tunnel begins again, though the profile of the upper arch seems slightly
different to the preceding section, and it looks to be constructed entirely of
brick. It also seems to have taken on a more westerly course,

The feature could be contemporary with the construction of the coach house
or stable block. It is currently full of foul water, and is clearly out of use, but it
could once have been a freshwater culvert. If this is the case it could be to do
with managing water to the Orangery (constructed in 1725) or various phases
of water-features in the gardens. The use of stone in the construction could
mean that the brick part of the culvert was built onto an existing, older
structure. There is another possibility that the stone may have been reused
from elsewhere, or readily available, and made use of in this way.

The Wall
The technique of the construction suggests that it is not later than Georgian
in date. It consists of three separate phases, which have been labelled on Fig
7 as A, B and C.

Fig 7: showing the wall

divided into sections
representing likely
phases of construction.

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Wall-sections A and B may be alterations to the same structure, but C is a

separate, later construction. Part B looks to be some sort of boundary wall,
intended to be seen above ground, and constructed in an earlier Jacobean
style (a width of a brick-and-a-half). It is not clear whether A was built before
or after B. Wall-section A is only keyed into B by two bricks, so perhaps A is a
terminal, added at a later date as an alteration.

Fig 8: Shows wall-section C sat directly on

Fig 9: showing the different layers identifiable

top of section B.

in the side of the hole made for the works.

Section C is sat on top of the earlier wall (see Fig 8) and is made from similar
hand-made bricks. This is a substantial stepped brick footing; which may be
for a substantial building, or it may have been over-engineered, which is
common in earlier brick structures where builders are still applying masonry
techniques to brick constructions. The footing sits directly on top of wallsection B, and for a foundation to be built at this level there must have been
substantial movement of earth to bring the level of the ground up.

The wall (B and A) may have been demolished down to a lower level, and the
ground around it filled with levelling material. The stratigraphy of the material
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surrounding the wall supports this. Layer 9, shown on Fig 9, appears to be

one thick layer of assorted levelling material. It includes a variety of building
and construction rubble including tiles, bricks, pebbles and mortar. This layer
also contains a lens of glass laid down in a single deposit or dump, which was
observed in the west-facing section of the hole dug for the works. Figure 10
shows the lens of glass within layer 9. Some of the glass fragments appear to
have been painted, and Figure 11 shows the remains of an apparent
quatrefoil design.

The preservation of the paint was so poor it could be

destroyed simply by touching it.

Fig 10: The lens of glass within layer 9 of the

Fig 11: Fragment of glass with quatrefoil

stratigraphy.

decoration, in what appears to be white and

pale blue paint.

One of the pieces of glass appears to be the centre or bullseye of a piece of

crown glass (see Fig 12). In some parts of Europe crown glass was being
made as early as the 14th century, but in Britain its production is more likely to
be from the Tudor period and onwards.
This piece could have been used for
decorative purposes, or it could be a
waste fragment from a larger piece
which was brought to the site to be
cut to size.

The lens of glass

represents a single-phase dump of

material
Fig 12: The centre of a piece of crown glass.

which

may

have

been

removed as a result of renovations.

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Conclusion

There has been a substantial amount of earth movement and water

management in this area. This is not surprising given the proximity of this
section of drain or culvert to the water tower, Orangery (originally a bathhouse), and stable blocks. Culverts would have been needed to transport
fresh water, and drains needed to channel waste water down to the river. The
gardens also had extensive water features, and the drain may have fed into
these.

If the culvert is contemporary with the Orangery it could be expected

to be from around 1725, though an earlier date may be possible given that
part of the culvert is constructed in stone.

The adjacent brick structure seems to actually be two structures; the earlier of
which contained two phases. The earlier structure is a wall, no earlier that
post-medieval and no later than Georgian in date given its construction, with a
terminal added as a later alteration. Later it seems the wall was demolished
to a lower level, and then the ground built up around it. A new structure was
then built, with one of the stepped footings resting on the earlier wall.

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Project Information

NCA Project Code RADA 07

NCA Report Number 002
Watching brief undertaken by Emily Gillott on 13th and 20th of June 2007.

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