Flints and frying pans: excavations at 11–13 Point Pleasant and the Morganite Works, Wandsworth CHRIS JARRETT, BARRY JOHN BISHOP, NICK BRANCH, ENID ALLISON, ROB BATCHELOR, CHRIS GREEN and CHRIS PICKARD Excavation of two sites at Point Pleasant, Wandsworth recorded archaeological evidence dating from the Mesolithic period through to the 20th century. A scatter of Mesolithic flints was the earliest indication for humanactivityandthisisdiscussedwiththeotherevidenceintheWandlevalleyforactivityduringthisperiod. AninfilledwaterchannelorcreekdatingfromtheEarlyBronzeAgewasalsorevealedandtheenvironmental evidence from this feature is also discussed. From the early 17th century Point Pleasant was the location for industrialactivity,initiallyformakingironfryingpansandotherkitchenwares,andthenchangingintheearly 18th century to a copper mill. From 1770 industrial activity was concerned with vinegar production and dye manufacture for the local cloth and calico industries, the latter probably associated with the site at the start of the 19th century. Although no products associated with these industries were recovered from the excavation, features, waste and a small number of items associated with these localised industries were recorded and are relatedtothehistoricalbackground.From1820theexcavationareabecamethesiteoftheBritishSchooland therearofhousingfrontingontoPointPleasant.Structures,rubbishpitsandculturalmaterialassociatedwith this period were excavated and are described here. Introduction Archaeological excavation was undertaken by Pre-Construct Archaeology Ltd on two adjacent sites at 11–13 Point Pleasant (site code: POI05) and the Morganite Works, Osier Road (site code: MPP04) in the London Borough of Wandsworth. The Morganite site was centred at TQ 2525 7512 and was located on the east side of Point Pleasant immediately opposite the site at 11–13 Point Pleasant, which was situated on the west side of the road at TQ 2520 7510 (fig 1). The archaeological work took place during June and August 2005 and was initially a strip-mapping exercise and a watching brief on ground reduction and enabling works at the Morganite site, which led to the excavation of a large trench across a palaeochannel running along the eastern boundary of the site. At 11–13 Point Pleasant six evaluation trenches were followed by an excavation of two main areas – north and south (fig 2). The sites lie on low-lying ground close to the southern bank of the Thames. Point Pleasant is located in the valley of the river Wandle, about 200m upstream from its confluence with the river Thames and about 200m west of the Wandle. In this lowest reach of its course, the Wandle valley cuts through the Kempton Park Terrace of the Thames and London Clay bedrock underlies the valley floor. The site is mapped by the British Geological Survey (1998) as Made Ground over Alluvium. Previous investigations in the Wandle valley by Gibbard (1994), close to the site, recorded c 1.67m of gravel overlying London Clay at c 0.55m OD and overlain by c 1.11m of alluvium and peat with an upper surface at c 3.3m OD. Archaeological excavations at the former Shell Oil Terminal (Perry & Skelton 1997), Prospect Reach foreshore (Perry & Skelton 1995), south of the site at Garratt Lane (MoLAS 2004), Strathville Road (Giorgi etal 1995) and north-east at Queenstown Road (Mackinder 2002) have also uncovered peat deposits. The archive comprising written, drawn and photographic records and artefacts from the sites will be deposited at the London Archaeological Archive and Research Centre, 46 Eagle Wharf Road, London N1 under site codes MPP04 and POI05. Surrey Archaeological Collections, 95, 139–167, 2010