Monument record 46/9/10 - Walled orchard, College Farm

Walled orchard which was depicted on a map of 1696. It was still extant in 1999, when archaeological investigation showed that it was still enclosed by the original wall. Now demolished.

{1} The earliest plan of College Farm is on a map of 1696. The western half of College Farm is marked as ‘College Home Close and Orchard’ (five acres). A stone boundary wall encloses both College Farm and College Home Close and Orchard. The Orchard is enclosed by a square (artificial) watercourse which extends westwards to the boundary of College Farm. From the farm boundary it joins the head of a natural watercourse, the Hobrook.
A map of 1763 shows the buildings and gardens of the farm in detail. The walled garden as at present, including the square ‘Orchard’ area shown on the previous plan, and with a central path continued outside the walls to the west as an avenue.
A map of 1812 shows no trees where there was once a square orchard: this area appears to have been combined with a plot of land to the east to form a larger rectangular plot of land that extends right to the main house.
The Ordnance Survey 1st Edition 25” plan of 1883 shows two small rectangular buildings at the west end of the orchard (Building I).

{2} Trench 5: A robber trench cutting through the subsoil. The trench was 0.9m deep and 1.2m wide. It was filled with grey silty clay and capped with a layer of limestone slabs, perhaps as stabilising material. The wall was clearly removed at a late date. From its position and orientation it is likely that the robbed wall formed the east side of the enclosed 16th-century orchard. The line of the wall is shown on the OS Second Edition 25 inch map, which indicates that it was demolished quite recently.
Trench 7: The orchard wall is approximately 0.6 m wide at ground level, but wider below ground. The footings of the orchard wall, which were constructed with a pronounced batter, are amongst the earliest features identified.
A stone-lined channel had been built parallel to the wall. This channel as found had low stone side walls and a capping of limestone slabs, some of which were still in place. The channel was silted-up but water still flowed out of the section. The capping was sealed by layer of mid brown silt clay, which was mounded up against the remains of a second east-west wall. The wall appears to comprise a rubble and mortar core with a south face of roughly squared stones. However the facing stones were the wrong way around, with their squared faces against the mortar core and their irregular edges facing outwards. This suggests that the facing stones originally formed part of a structure over the water channel. The channel perhaps was then reduced in height and capped-off and the facing re-used with the addition of the mortar and rubble core to create a wall or similar structure to the south. The rubble and mortar structure overlies a rough paving of slabs in the south part of the trench. This paving was probably associated with the original water channel structure.
The orchard wall is cut by Building II of the farm which is dated to the 19th century.

<1> OXFORD ARCHAEOLOGICAL UNIT, 1999, Land at College Farm, Aynho, Northamptonshire: Archaeological Desk Based Assessment and Building Recording, (checked) (Report). SNN43379.

<2> Scott, I., 1999, College Farm, Aynho, Northamptonshire, Archaeological Evaluation Report, p.7-9 (checked) (Report). SNN101731.

<3> Bashford, R., 2001, College Farm, Aynho, Northamptonshire: Archaeological Watching Brief Report, p.6 (checked) (Report). SNN101391.

Record last edited

Jan 19 2021 2:15PM