PCA Winchester was commissioned to conduct an archaeological excavation (strip, map and sample) and archaeological watching brief (monitoring and recording) at The Old Mansion site in Stoneham. The site was the subject of a residential development for which planning permission was granted by Test Valley Borough Council.

The archaeological strip and map and watching brief formed part of a staged approach to understanding and addressing the archaeological implications of the proposed development and was in keeping with the advice of the County Archaeological Officer.
The Old Mansion Site is an area of approximately 8.4 hectares and is located south of North Stoneham Park.

North Stoneham Park has a long history that dates to the late Saxon period, when King Athelstan granted the land to a thegn named Alfred which was then subsequently given to St Peters Abbey of Hyde. At some point in the Middle Ages, North Stoneham Park was established as a deer park. The first house had been built at some point before 1638 and by 1680 a walled garden had been constructed. North Stoneham House was built c.1818 in a Greek Revival style. North Stoneham House was used as an auxiliary hospital for wounded Belgian soldiers during the First World War. During the 1920s and 1930s, the house was divided into flats and inhabited by several families. In 1939, the mansion was demolished due to the poor condition of the building.

The archaeological mitigation as set out in the approved WSI was proposed to comprise two components: An initial topsoil strip to expose the upper part of the buried remains, which was then be subject to archaeological ‘cleaning’, sufficient to expose wall bases and ground floor surfaces. This was to be followed by an archaeological watching brief on the removal of rubble from the basements (where they exist) and recording of the basements and any other below ground remains revealed.

The archaeological strip and map exercise targeted the site of North Stoneham House and its associated service buildings. It took place in January 2022. It uncovered the tops of the extant walls of North Stoneham House.
The archaeological watching brief took place during the groundwork’s contractors enabling works to remove obstructions for piling. These groundworks removed the remaining walls of North Stoneham House apart from under an east-west access road thorough the centre of the site, where the walls have been left in situ and in a tree protection area to the north-west.
Both phases of work produced many finds which inform on the use and history of the house. These include household fittings, cooking and kitchenware, pottery, bottles, hygiene vessels, tablewares, architectural fittings and some bottles and ceramic items which related to the use of the building in the 20th century.