More information : [SU 32940968] Earthwork [A.T.] (1)
Saltpetre House, Ashurst, was probably in use for the
manufacture of saltpetre from about 1560, when monopolies for
its manufacture in England were granted to Germans, until the
end of the 16th.c.
It now consists of banks and hollows of various sizes enclosed
in a rectangular area about 300ft. by 150ft. Two marshy places
were possibly pits, and entrances appear in the north-west and
south-west corners and in the middle of the east side. (2)
This feature now comprises a series of irregular banks and
hollows covering a rectangular area some 140 metres north-east
to south-west by 50 metres across. The banks vary in height
from 0.4m. to 2.2m. and from 4.0m. to 12.0m. in width.
Published N.S.L. 1/2500 correct. (3)
An inclosure of approximately 4/100th ac. for the manufacture
of salt petre, the works not having been perfected, it was
advised by the General Surveyor of Woods in a Decree of 26th
Elizabeth [1584] that the inclosure be laid open, and that
certain trees in the Old Park which had been reserved for salt
petre manufacture should be used for other purposes. (4)
Surveyed by RCHME at 1:500 scale, June 1995. (5) |