Priory Lade, North End, Ravenstone, Olney, Milton Keynes: Archaeological Mitigation

Albion Archaeology carried out a programme of archaeological investigations associated with the dwelling known as Priory Lade, The work followed an archaeological field evaluation (carried out in 2013).The site is located on the high ground at North End, Ravenstone, a short distance to the north-west of the parish church immediately south of the site of Ravenstone Priory. Priory Lade is a T-shaped range of single-storey, former farm buildings. Evidence for medieval activity was typified by the recovery of artefacts from buried soils and probable robber trenches. Wall 600, was the only surviving structural element that might have medieval origins. however there was little scope for investigation of this wall. Other traces of walls that may have related to the original priory buildings were visible in the form of robbed-out foundation trenches in pad-pits for the southern extension. Layers of demolition rubble were recorded across the area. These were usually of a significant depth and contained high concentrations of fragmentary limestone, mixed with relatively small quantities of domestic refuse. Whilst it is tempting to attribute the build-up of this material to the demolition of the priory following its dissolution, historical mapping indicates that agricultural buildings subsequently occupied the site. The artefactual material recovered from these layers broadly dates them to the post-medieval and modern periods. In summary,these layers are unlikely to have originated as a direct result of the demolition of Ravenstone Priory, although they do include reworked demolition deposits that contain residual fragments of medieval stained glass, stonework and pottery