Monument Number 1030491 |
| Hob Uid: 1030491 | |
Location :
Surrey
Epsom and Ewell
Non Civil Parish
|
| Grid Ref : TQ2216062770 |
| Summary : Hollow way in Nonsuch Park. It forms part of a longer routeway known as The Portway, which extended from Leatherhead to Ewell to Cheam, passing through the village of Cuddington (TQ 26 SW 104), which was demolished in 1538 to make way for Nonsuch Palace. Almost all the trackway can only be traced as a continuous, fairly straight line in the Medieval street pattern, but at the eastern end of Vicarage Lane it survives as an earthwork hollow way. It is also a public right of way, despite having been cut short at approximately TQ 223 628 by the creation of Nonsuch Little Park. An archaeological survey by RCHME field staff in 1994 identified it as an earthwork extending for a distance of 245 metres, and had a depth of up to 1.9 metres. Dent regards the date of the trackway as Medieval, but it may be Early Medieval or Roman in origin. |
More information : (TQ 2216 6277 - TQ 2247 6299) Between 1993 and 1995 RCHME's Cambridge Field Office carried out an archaeological survey of Nonsuch Park, following a request from Professor Martin Biddle. This included analytical earthwork surveys at 1:1000 scale of the former gardens of Nonsuch Palace (TQ 26 SW 105) and at 1:2500 scale of the modern area of the remainder of Nonsuch Park, together with documentary and cartographic research. (1)
Vicarage Lane is part of a longer routeway known as The Portway, which extended from Leatherhead to Ewell to Cheam, passing through the village of Cuddington (TQ 26 SW 104), which was demolished to make way for Nonsuch Palace (TQ 26 SW 105). Almost all the trackway can only be traced as a continuous, fairly straight line in the Medieval street pattern, but at the eastern end of Vicarage Lane it survives as an earthwork hollow way. It is also a public right of way, despite having been cut short at approximately TQ 223 628 by the creation of Nonsuch Little Park c.1540.
RCHME surveyed the hollow way at 1:1000 scale in January to February 1994. It survives as an earthwork for some 245m and cuts into the natural slope to a depth of up to 1.9m. It is unclear whether the west to east section of The Avenue (TQ 26 SW 146) is part of the same route.
Dent regards the date of the trackway as 'Medieval' (1a), but the name and relationship with the Late Medieval street pattern and the name may suggest an earlier origin, possibly Early Medieval or Roman - the proximity to the Roman settlement at Ewell may be significant.
For further details see RCHME Level 3 client report and surveys at 1:1000 and 1:2500 scales. (1) |