Old Bakery, 28 Shillington Road, Pirton, Hertfordshire. Archaeological Monitoring (OASIS ID: heritage1-160805)

In order to characterise the archaeological potential of the site of a proposed new extension to the north-east elevation at The Old Bakery, 28 Shillington Road, Pirton, Hertfordshire, the Heritage Network was commissioned by the owner to undertake the archaeological monitoring of the footings trenches for a new side extension. This work was a requirement of the planning consent granted by the local planning authority. It was considered that such investigation had the potential to contribute to an increased understanding of the development and extent of settlement at Pirton, from the Roman period onwards, the transition from the Romano-British to the Anglo-Saxon period and the shrinking of Pirton during the later medieval period. The north-east elevation of the house forms part of a rear extension added to a 16th century or earlier hall house in the 20th century. All the features to this elevation are of modern date. Monitoring of the development groundworks revealed evidence for significant modern disturbance on the north-eastern side of the dwelling. A number of modern services were noted in the footings trenches and fragments of brick and tile were observed in the overburden. These presumably relate to the former extension on the site. The remains of a possible former yard surface of compacted chalk were encountered in the north-eastern corner of the footings trenches. This sat on a sand bedding layer, which was directly above the natural chalk. No other archaeological features, deposits or finds were encountered during the course of the groundworks.