5 Castle Street, Farnham, Surrey. Archaeological Watching Brief and Historic Building Recording (OASIS ID: heritage1-129130)

In response to a condition placed on the planning permission for development at 5 Castle Street, Farnham, Surrey, the Heritage Network was commissioned by the developer to undertake a programme of building recording and archaeological monitoring of the development groundworks. It was considered that the present investigation had the potential to contribute to an understanding of the development of the building and the origins and development of settlement in the core of the historic town. The building recording, together with the cartographic evidence obtained for the historic building impact assessment (Brook and Kerr 2011) demonstrate that the West Range of the building had undergone a number of alterations from the 1830s onwards. These changes had left their mark in breaks within the brickwork at the western end of both the north and south elevations of Room GF13. Evidence recorded in the test pits in the cellar, in the service pit in Room GF1, and in the service trenches and area of ground reduction outside the building, indicated that the footprint of the building had been terraced into the hill, removing any earlier stratigraphic deposits. No features or deposits pre-dating the house were revealed, suggesting that earlier evidence has either been destroyed or deeply buried by post-medieval activity.