Parchmarks at Chastleton revealed

In the summer of 2018 at Chastleton, parchmarks appeared in the parkland, known as Hillocky Splats, around the site of a former farm, Dudley's Farm and another large structure called Greenwood House. 

Some of the parchmarks suggested the presence of buried walls, which resulted in the yellow, dry ground seen during the hot weather. Both of these former buildings appear on a tithe map of Chastleton parish from 1843, but were probably demolished soon after. 

National Trust archaeologist Gary Marshall and Chastleton garden volunteer Anne, surveyed the location where the parchmarks appeared and found that they followed the outlines of the buildings seen on the 1843 tithe map. 

The above image shows a zig-zag mark, around a metre in width, with clear corners. It appears to be from the north-east corner of a small building or yard on the site of Dudley's Farm.

In this picture of the dovecote, you can seen a parchmark, around half a metre in width, running towards the building with a distinct curve. This is probably the course of an old drainage pipe. 

Sometimes all we find are service and drainage pipes, but they are all entered and recorded onto current archaeological survey maps and go towards helping us build up a picture of what was here before so we can share it with future generations.