Byways, Altwood Close, Maidenhead, Berkshire
An Archaeological Watching Brief
For Linkturn (UK) Limited
by Steve Ford
Thames Valley Archaeological Services Ltd
Site Code BAM05/134
December 2006 Summary
Site name: Byways, Altwood Close, Maidenhead, Berkshire
Grid reference: SU 8683 8026
Site activity: Watching Brief
Date and duration of project: 14th December 2005–18th August 2006
Project manager: Steve Ford
Site supervisor: Sean Wallis
Site code: BAM05/134
Summary of results: No deposits of archaeological interest were observed.
Location and reference of archive: The archive is presently held at Thames Valley Archaeological Services, Reading and will be deposited at Reading Museum in due course.
This report may be copied for bona fide research or planning purposes without the explicit permission of the copyright holder
Report edited/checked by: Steve Preston920.12.06
i
Byways, Altwood Close, Maidenhead, Berkshire An Archaeological Watching Brief
by Steve Ford
Report 05/134
Introduction
This report documents the results of an archaeological watching brief carried out at Byways, Altwood Close,
Maidenhead, Berkshire (SU 8683 8026) (Fig. 1). The work was commissioned by Mr Glenn Draper of Linkturn
(UK) Limited, Suite 3 Lower Harwood, Spring Lane, Cookham Dean, Berkshire, SL6 6PW.
A planning consent (02/39065) has been granted by the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead to erect a new house within the garden of the existing property at Byways. The consent is subject to a condition
(11) which requires the implementation of an archaeological watching brief to be carried out during groundworks. This is in accordance with the Department of the Environment’s Planning Policy Guidance,
Archaeology and Planning (PPG16 1990), and the Royal Borough’s policies on archaeology. The field investigation was carried out in accordance with a brief provided, and to a specification approved, by Mr Mike
Hall, acting archaeological officer for Berkshire Archaeology, advisers to the Royal Borough. The fieldwork was undertaken by Sean Wallis, Richard Oram and Jennifer Lowe between 14h December 2005 and 18th August
2006 and the site code is BAM 05/134.
The archive is presently held at Thames Valley Archaeological Services, Reading and will be deposited at
Reading Museum in due course.
Location, topography and geology
The site is located in south-western Maidenhead on the north side of Altwood Close. The site consists of a rectangular plot of land to the west of the existing house (Fig. 2). The site lies on level ground at approximately
44m above Ordnance Datum. The underlying geology is Upper Chalk (BGS 1981) but a clay cap was noted above the chalk in the trenches exposed.
Archaeological background
The archaeological potential of the site is derived from its location within an area of east Berkshire which is relatively rich in archaeological finds of prehistoric and Roman dates (Ford 1987, 83). There a number of Roman find spots in the environs of the site, most notably the Roman villa at Cox Green to the south. This winged corridor villa was excavated in 1959 and shown to have been constructed in four phases, probably in use from
1
the early Antonine period (early 2nd century AD) to the second half of the 4th century (Bennet 1962). A Roman corn-drying oven and well lie just within the boundaries of the properties on the south side of Altwood Bailey. A recent watching brief also on Altwood Bailey to the south revealed a ditch possibly of early Saxon date, and an undated but probably associated posthole (Coles 2005).
Objectives and methodology
The purpose of the watching brief was to excavate and record any archaeological deposits affected by the new construction work. This was to involve examination of areas of topsoil stripping, ground reduction and the digging of trenches for foundations and services for the new house.
Results
Observations carried out during several visits comprised inspection of the digging of the foundation trenches
(Fig. 3). The trenches were typically 0.60m wide and 1.1m deep and showed a stratigraphy of 0.10m of topsoil, over 0.25m of brown silty clay subsoil over the natural geology (Fig. 4). The natural geology comprised an orange brown sandy clay above chalk. The eastern part of the site was partly occupied by a former extension and some truncation of the upper part of the stratigraphy had taken place with some made ground present. No deposits of archaeological interest were observed.
A service trench was also observed at the northern portion of the site. The trench was approximately 1m wide and 0.5m deep and revealed 0.25m of Tarmac and modern made ground above a grey brown silty clay. The natural geology was not exposed.
Conclusion
This watching brief did not reveal any archaeological deposits in the observed trenches. No artefacts (other than modern material which was not retained) were recovered from the spoilheaps or the trenches themselves.
References Bennet, C, 1962, ‘Cox Green Villa’, Berkshire Archaeol J, 60, 62–91 BGS, 1981, British Geological Survey, 1:50 000, Sheet 269, Solid and Drift Edition, Keyworth Coles, S 2005, ‘Glengariff, Altwood Bailey, Maidenhead, Berkshire, an archaeological watching brief’, Thames Valley Archaeological Services rep 05/32, Reading Ford, S, 1987, East Berkshire Archaeological Survey Dept Highways and Planning, Berkshire County Council Occas Pap 1 PPG 16, 1990, Archaeology and Planning, Dept of the Environment Planning Policy Guidance 16, HMSO
2 SITE
82000
81000
SITE
80000
79000
78000
SU86000 87000 88000 BAM05/134 Byways, Altwood Close, Maidenhead, Berkshire, 2006 An Archaeological Watching Brief
Figure 1. Location of site within Maidenhead and Berkshire.
Reproduced from Ordnance Survey Pathfinders SU88/98 and SU87/97 at 1:25000. Ordnance Survey Licence 100025880 80300
SITE
80200
SU86800 86900
BAM05/134 Byways, Altwood Close, Maidenhead, Berkshire, 2006 An Archaeological Watching Brief
Figure 2. Location of site on Altwood Close.
Scale: 1:1250 N
Service trench
Footing trenches
SU86850
80250
BAM06/134 Byways, Altwood Close, Maidenhead, Berkshire, 2006 An Archaeological Watching Brief
Figure 3. Detailed location of watching brief observation.
Scale: 1:200 Byways, Altwood Close, Maidenhead, Berkshire, 2005
Topsoil
Subsoil
Natural geology (orange brown sandy clay)
Natural geology (chalk)
Base of trench
0 1m
Figure 4: Representative section of foundation trench. BAM05/134