COMMUNITY ARCHAEOLOGY

ARCHAEOLOGICAL MONITORING OF WORKS AT

RUFFORD ABBEYS WILDLIFE POND

NCA-049
Emily Gillott
December 2015

Contents
Page no.
1.0
2.0
3.0
4.0

5.0

List of figures and plates, Acknowledgements

Introduction
Site Location
Site Background
Archaeological Monitoring
4.1 Clearance Work
4.2 Pipe Trench
4.3 Observations in wider area
Conclusions and Advice

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4
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5
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List of figures and plates

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Plate 1
Plate 2
Plate 3
Plate 4
Plate 5
Plate 6
Plate 7
Plate 8
Plate 9

Location of Rufford Country Park in relation to Ollerton

Location of the works within the Country Park
Extract of Series 2 25 inch OS map showing gardens and riverside
path.

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Page no.
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Images of worked stone from wildlife area

Humic topsoil, gravels and clay
South facing section of pipe trench
Rough-faced sandstone from humic layer
Stone surface
Wider view of the stone surface
General overview of the trench prior to backfilling
Stonework observed at the base of the nearby bridge
Early 20th C photo of riverside walk

Acknowledgements
Thanks are due to the Environment Agency, Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust and EMEC for
commissioning the work and their cooperation and assistance on site.

Written By

Read by

Signed off

Report date

EG

UMS

UMS

2015

1.0 Introduction
The Environment Agency commissioned Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust (NWT) to undertake
works in the wildlife area at Rufford Abbey Country Park. Archaeological remains were not
known or expected from the area, but given the overall heritage significance of the Abbey
and its park and garden, monitoring was undertaken by Nottinghamshire Community
Archaeology to ensure that the works caused no damage to previously unknown
archaeological features.
The main works involved the excavation of a pipe trench between the wildlife pond and the
river Rainworth to create a new water inlet to the pond, thereby improving water quality
and flow. The pipe trench was sited at the narrowest point between the pond and the river
to minimise ground disturbance. It was approximately 0.6m wide and 11m in length, and
dug to a depth slightly below the water level in the river.
In addition a low area near the pond outlet was cleared of stumps and prepared for reed
planting. The depth of ground disturbance here was minimal and a watching brief
unnecessary, although the contractors were advised to set aside any stonework disturbed
by this work.
An NCC Community Archaeologist attended to monitor the excavations on Thursday 17th
December 2015.

2.0 Site Location

Rufford Abbey Country Park is located around 1.6 miles to the south of Ollerton village in
the parish of Rufford, and formerly in the Liberty of Rufford. It is centred on OC NGR SK
6467 6203. The wildlife area at Rufford Abbey is located in the south-east portion of the
Country Park and lies directly to the west of the river Rainworth. Gallow Hole Dyke joins the
Rainworth just to the east of the wildlife area.

3.0 Site Background

Rufford Abbey and Park was bought by Nottinghamshire County Council in 1952, and the
Abbey ruins transferred to the care of the Ministry of Works in 1956. The site is now jointly
managed by Nottinghamshire County Council and English Heritage, with the abbey remains
in English Heritage guardianship. 10.3 hectares of the Country Park is a Scheduled Ancient
Monument; this includes the areas known as Abbey Meadow, Abbey Lawn and Long
Meadow.
The underlying geology is the Nottingham Castle Sandstone Formation. To the east is a
valley formed by the Rainworth Water and Gallow Hole Dyke where superficial alluvial
deposits make the soil more fertile. Coal mining activities in the 20th century have led to
significant changes in ground level resulting in a number of flood alleviation and mitigation
works in the immediate vicinity of the park.
Rufford Abbey was founded in 1146 by Gilbert de Ghent, Earl of Lincoln, and completed in
1170. It was a Cistercian foundation dedicated to St Mary the Virgin. It was a fairly small
abbey, but moderately wealthy, and one of the first to be affected by the Dissolution in
1536. After the Dissolution it passed into the hands of the Talbot family and then to the
Saviles who built their country estate around the medieval ruins. Part of the medieval fabric
survives where it was incorporated into the grand house built by the Sixth Earl of
Shrewsbury. The West Cloister range has been described as the best preserved among all
the Cistercian abbeys in England (www.english-heritage.org.uk). The estate was auctioned
off in 1938, and partial demolition carried out in 1956, under the aegis of the Ministry of
Works.
The area of the monitored works is known to have been in an area of ornamental gardens
associated with the country house, and is depicted on contemporary mapping as laid out in
a grid of pathways with central features and including a well. Shown adjacent to this on the
Series 2 25 inch:1 mile OS map is a riverside walkway (Fig. 3). A roughly contemporary early
20th C photograph (Plate 9) may show this feature in detail. Photos, maps and accounts
attest to extensive formal and informal gardens with a variety of water features, including,
canals, ponds, wells, waterfalls and fountains in the extensive gardens that surrounded the
house. Some of these water features may have been adapted out of pre-existing features
created by the monks, whom we now believe to have had an extensive and very complex
water management system possibly extending over many hectares.
To the north east of the area of works there is a former watercourse (HER; L5517) which
runs parallel to the Rainworth Water and is visible as an earthwork. This was the subject of
archaeological investigation in 1987 when work was carried out to remedy mining
subsidence. These investigations uncovered the remains of a substantial structure, with
faced sandstone blocks, bricks and large timbers. One in-situ wall was revealed, held
together with green-grey clay and pinkish mortar. At the time this was interpreted as a
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revetment for the artificial watercourse; it may alternatively have been part of the
foundations of a Medieval mill. This structure was associated with a dump of wasters and
other CBM, which indicated that there was a Medieval tile kiln somewhere close by. On the
1st Edition O.S. map of the area a rectangular structure is marked straddling the channel,
while a mill is depicted here on the 1725 estate map.
To the south and west of the wildlife area there is a large earthwork dam (L4107) suspected
to be medieval in origin, across the top of which runs a former water channel and the
current access road. It is no longer in use but appears on several maps.
Between the dam and the river is Snake Pond which includes a dam, stone wall and sluice
(M18349 and L11764).

4.0 Archaeological Monitoring

4.1

Clearance work

The work was carried out on the 17th December 2015 under dull but dry conditions. In some
of the initial clearance work in the wildlife area the contractors had recovered a large piece
of faced sandstone with an associated iron brace or strap (Plate1). This was recovered from
a low area being cleared near the pre-existing outlet. It appears it may have been designed
to be sunk into the ground; the more slender portion of the stone is cleanly faced, whereas
the bulkier portion is rough-faced and perhaps intended to anchor the stone into the
ground. Fragments of concrete or mortar are attached to the sandstone. This worked stone
was moved to the stone store at Rufford.

4.2

Pipe trench

A trench was dug at the narrowest point between the wildlife area pond and the river
Rainworth, for the laying of a plastic pipe of around 40cm diameter. The channel was dug
by mini digger using a 50cm toothed bucked and working from the pond to river. The final
width of the excavated trench was around 65cm on average. The sections were not cleaned
but several discrete layers were observed.
The topsoil along the length of the trench was dark blackish-brown sandy silt, with a high
humic content. This layer appears to be a combination of rotting leaf mould and river
dredgings.
Immediately below the topsoil at the pond end were yellowish -brown sandy gravels
appearing to overlay clean grey clay (Plate 2). This latter material is interpreted as lining for
the wildlife pond.
Moving away from the pond more distinct layers were observed (Plate 3). The clay pond
lining petered out, while the sandy gravel above it continued. The section was not cleaned,
due to access issues, but contained alternating bands of rich humic and leached humic
material, presumably dredged from the river. Sandier layers were also noted, and the
whole became very dry and sandy at the lowest parts of the excavated area. The darkest
layer, around 30cm from the surface, contained a significant amount of rough-faced
sandstone at a distance of around 2m from the river (Plate 4). This stonework was
surrounded by humic material dredged from the river and may indicate a demolished
structure in the vicinity such as the retaining wall visible in Plate 9.

The only other finds were a few fairly modern tiles, of which a sample was bagged. These
were recovered at a depth of from approximately 80 cm, suggest a considerable amount of
ground disturbance and show that none of the layers observed are of great age.
Immediately adjacent to the river, and around 10cm below the water level, the work
uncovered a dressed sandstone flagstone and parts of at least three others (Plates 5 and
6). It was possible to measure the thickness of one at the western edge, revealing a
thickness of only 8cm, but it was not possible to confirm that on any other edges. The full
east-west spread of the feature was at least 1m, but it was not possible to measure this
more accurately. It is not known how far the feature extends to the north or south. This
was tentatively interpreted as a surface or path of unknown age but likely to be part of the
19th and early 20th C garden features; and this interpretation appears to be supported by
photographic evidence (Plate 9). The feature was cleaned as well as was possible within the
confines of the trench and with water constantly seeping in. There were very clear, square
tooling marks visible on the stone, and in places the surface was beginning to shear off. This
was left in-situ after the contractors were able to amend the works to accommodate the
pipe over the stonework.
4.3 Observations in the wider area
Further stonework was observed in the immediate area of the work and is worthy of a note
here (Plate 8). The stonework is located at the base of the nearby bridge, just to the south
of where the work was taking place. Large, faced sandstone blocks form the lower courses
of the bridge. The upper courses are constructed in concrete and modern brick. The
character of the sandstone blocks is similar to the stone revetment uncovered in the dry
canal at the eastern end of the Orangery garden, investigated as part of the summer of 2015
seasons excavations (report pending). The stonework investigated in the summer is
thought to be monastic in origin, and it is possible that the stonework associated with the
bridge could have a similar origin. It was not possible to investigate more closely and it is
not known whether this stonework is in-situ or has been reused in a later structure.
In addition one of the contractors observed that there appeared to be a surface in the river
below the silt build-up to the north of the work, where the current pond outlet cuts through
to join the river. This was obscured by silt but had been felt underfoot by the contractor
when crossing the river in waders. This could not be further investigated because of the
water levels.
When the above observations are combined with the tumble of stone from the river, and
the flagstone surface seen in the pipe trench it is clear that there are remnants of former
structures or features in this area of which we previously unaware.

5.0 Conclusions and Recommendations

The watching brief appears to have uncovered a stone flagged path, which may be that
shown on mapping from the early 20th Century, and seen in detail on a roughly
contemporary photograph.
Prior to this work it had been assumed that many former garden features and earlier
structures had been dug out or otherwise destroyed as part of the many phases of
groundworks which have taken place in this area in the last 50 years. This work, however,
raises the possibility that this is not the case. It is well documented that ground levels have
changed at Rufford, in some places very dramatically and by a matter of metres. It is
entirely possible that the level of the land has in places dropped and that, contrary to
previous theories, the ground level has subsequently been raised considerably in order to
control flooding and channel the course of the river. This would account for the fairly
modern tile that was encountered at a depth of 80cm, and for the character of the discrete
layers observed in the section of the pipe trench.
The work has shown that there is the potential for preservation of archaeological features
here that was previously not expected. Plans for future work in the area should take this
into consideration and ensure appropriate mitigation measures are in place.

Figures

Fig 1: The location of Rufford Country Park in relation to Ollerton. (Source www.openstreetmap.org)

Fig 2: The location of the works within the County Park. (Source www.openstreetmap.org)
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Fig 3: Extract of Series 2 25 inch OS map showing gardens and riverside path.

Plates

Plate 1: Images of the recovered worked stone from the wildlife area.

Plate 2: Humic topsoil gave way to gravels and then clean clay. This is interpreted as lining for the
wetland pond.

Plate 3: A portion of the south facing section of the trench showing bands of humic and sandy
material.

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Plate 4: A sample of the rough-faced sandstone pieces recovered from a dark layer.

Plate 5: The stone surface. Note the nearby sandbag that was placed in an attempt to prevent
water ingress from the river.

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Plate 6: A wider view of the surface which demonstrates just how close it is to the river, and shows
clearly that it lies below the water level.

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Plate 7: A general overview of the trench shortly before the pipe was placed.

Plate 8: Stonework observed at the base of the nearby bridge.

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Plate 9 Early 20th C photo of riverside walk, photographer unknown.

All photos by Emily Gillott (Nottinghamshire County Council) unless otherwise stated.

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