Long-term readers may remember that in May 2022 we published an article about the Lost Manor of Preston Hawe, the story of a medieval manor house buried under part of the Preston estate.
The site was excavated by archaeologist Brian Hope-Taylor in the 1950’s, just prior to the building of the Preston housing estate. Because Hope-Taylor moved on to other archaeological investigations, a detailed report was not published at that time.
In 2008 a local group of volunteers, assisted by the Surrey County Archaeological Unit, started to piece together the 1950s archive to try to make sense of it. A further dig was also organised in 2011 which involved local people and school children in a dig following the traces of the earlier 1950’s dig that were still accessible.
Dig Preston 2011 – Local residents’ excavation
This has now been rectified by a detailed report published by the Surrey County Archaeological Unit and Surrey History Centre in Woking. A reference copy is now available in the Local History section of Tattenhams Community Library.
The report discusses findings on the site dating back to Bronze Age times but particularly identifies a manorial enclosure that lasted on the site from around 1170 to 1260. The plan below shows how the site may have looked around 1225.
The buildings in dark brown actually existed and the light brown are conjecture based on the typical layout of this type of manorial enclosure.
Plans are in hand to provide visible markers identifying the boundaries of key buildings on the part of the site not built on (by Preston Lane) and to replace the display case of findings currently in the foyer of the Tadworth Leisure Centre.
This aerial photograph together with a plan of the site will give readers a feel of where the key buildings of the development were located.
