Archaeological finds - drainage pipe channel, Lydiard Conference Centre

A collection of finds discovered when digging a drainage pipe channel for the former conference centre swimming pool on the north side of Lydiard House. The finds included 42 oyster shells, 1 human bone, 12 animal bones, 4 clay sherds, one piece of glass and three pieces of clay pipe.

The area, possibly a former waste dump, would have been to the rear of the former service wing that was removed in the early part of the 19th century. The oysters found in this channel probably belong within the 16th-18th century period, though medieval oyster and fish breeding tanks were discovered in a 1980, during an excavation by Julian Heath at the north end of the lower lake.