Land at Cossham Street Mangotsfield South Gloucestershire

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LAND AT COSSHAM STREET MANGOTSFIELD

SOUTH GLOUCESTERSHIRE

ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVALUATION

For THE ENVIRONMENTAL DIMENSION PARTNERSHIP

on behalf of

TAYLOR WIMPEY BRISTOL

CA PROJECT: 2865 CA REPORT: 09088

MAY 2009

LAND AT COSSHAM STREET MANGOTSFIELD SOUTH GLOUCESTERSHIRE

ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVALUATION

CA PROJECT: 2865 CA REPORT: 09088

prepared by Jonathan Bennett, Project Supervisor

date 27 May 2009

checked by Mark Collard, Head of Contracts

date 28 May 2009

approved by Mark Collard, Head of Contracts

signed

date 28 May 2009

issue 01

This report is confidential to the client. Cotswold Archaeology accepts no responsibility or liability to any third ` at their own risk. No part of this report may be reproduced by any means without permission.

© Cotswold Archaeology Building 11, Kemble Enterprise Park, Kemble, Cirencester, Gloucestershire, GL7 6BQ Tel. 01285 771022 Fax. 01285 771033 E-mail: [email protected] © Cotswold Archaeology Land at Cossham Street, Mangotsfield, South Gloucestershire: Archaeological Evaluation

CONTENTS

SUMMARY...... 2

1. INTRODUCTION ...... 3

The site ...... 3 Archaeological background...... 4 Archaeological objectives ...... 4 Methodology ...... 5

2. RESULTS (FIG 2) ...... 5

3. DISCUSSION...... 6

4. CA PROJECT TEAM ...... 6

5. REFERENCES ...... 7

APPENDIX A: CONTEXT DESCRIPTIONS ...... 8

APPENDIX B: OASIS REPORT FORM...... 11

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Fig. 1 Site location plan (1:25,000) Fig. 2 Trench location plan (1:2000)

1 © Cotswold Archaeology Land at Cossham Street, Mangotsfield, South Gloucestershire: Archaeological Evaluation

SUMMARY

Project Name: Land at Cossham Street, Mangotsfield Location: Mangotsfield, South Gloucestershire NGR: ST 6655 7590 Type: Evaluation Date: 12–18 May 2009 Location of Archive: City of Bristol Museum and Art Gallery Site Code: LMF09

An archaeological evaluation was undertaken by Cotswold Archaeology in May 2009 at the request of The Environmental Dimension Partnership (EDP), on behalf of Taylor Wimpey Bristol, on land at Cossham Street, Mangotsfield, South Gloucestershire. Eleven trenches were excavated.

Two undated linear features and two undated pits were identified during the evaluation. No other archaeological features were identified and no dating material was recovered.

2 © Cotswold Archaeology Land at Cossham Street, Mangotsfield, South Gloucestershire: Archaeological Evaluation

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 In May 2009 Cotswold Archaeology (CA) carried out an archaeological evaluation for The Environmental Dimension Partnership (EDP), acting on behalf of Taylor Wimpey Bristol, on land at Cossham Street, Mangotsfield, South Gloucestershire (centred on NGR: ST 6655 7590; Fig. 1). The evaluation was undertaken to accompany a planning application for residential development of the land within the site.

1.2 The evaluation was carried out in accordance with a detailed Written Scheme of Investigation (WSI) for archaeological evaluation (CA 2009), guided in its composition by a Specification for Archaeological Evaluation prepared by EDP (ref: H_EDP390_05b_030409_AC_hb; April 2009) and approved by David Evans, Archaeological Officer for South Gloucestershire Council. The fieldwork also followed the Standard and Guidance for Archaeological Field Evaluation issued by the Institute of Field Archaeologists (2008), the Statement of Standards and Practices Appropriate for Archaeological Fieldwork in Gloucestershire (GCC 1995) and the Management of Archaeological Projects (English Heritage 1991). It was monitored by David Evans, including a site visit on 18 May 2009.

The site

1.3 The site is located on the north-eastern edge of Bristol, approximately 4km south- east of the junction of the M4 and M32 motorways. It lies immediately south of the B4465, 0.5 km west of the A4174 Bristol ring road. The site is bounded by Mangotsfield Football Club to the north-east, the grounds of Cleeve Rugby Football club to the south-east, Mangotsfield School to the south and south-west with Rodway Hill Road and residential houses to the north-west. Public footpaths run adjacent to the site on its east, west and south sides (Fig. 2). The site lies at approximately 80m AOD, with a slight dip in the landscape (approximately 79.7m AOD) running south-west to north-east across the centre.

1.4 The site covers an area in the region of 5ha and is currently rough grassland with areas of scrub.

3 © Cotswold Archaeology Land at Cossham Street, Mangotsfield, South Gloucestershire: Archaeological Evaluation

1.5 The underlying solid geology of the area is mapped as solid geology comprising Upper Carboniferous Coal Measure sandstones and shales (BGS 1967). The natural substrate of sandstone and shale was encountered within the evaluation trenches, as were some Coal Measure veins and sandy clay which coincided with the dip in the landscape.

Archaeological background

1.6 A desk-based assessment was undertaken by EDP as a preliminary stage of archaeological analysis, and reference should be made to that document for the detailed archaeological background (EDP 2008). The only known archaeological remains within the site boundary refer to a complex of cropmarks visible on aerial photographs. These have been interpreted as the remains of anti-aircraft defences constructed during World War Two. Although the overwhelming majority of the known archaeological sites, monuments and findspots, within the immediate vicinity of the site boundary, are of post-medieval date, extensive remains of a Romano- British settlement, with an associated field and enclosure system, have previously been excavated on the north side of Cossham Street. These excavations also identified a wide scatter of Mesolithic and later flint artefacts, as well as more substantive remains of Bronze Age and Iron Age activity, including the plough- damaged remains of an Early Bronze Age cremation cemetery. It has also been suggested that the former medieval settlement of Mangotsfield may have extended into the north-west corner of the site. There is no direct evidence for this, especially given that the parish church is the only surviving medieval building in the core of the settlement. Nonetheless, whilst the site would probably have been on the periphery of the medieval settlement, there is potential for archaeological remains of this period to survive within its north-western boundary.

Archaeological objectives

1.7 The objectives of the evaluation were to establish the character, quality, date and extent of any archaeological remains or deposits surviving within the site. This information will assist South Gloucestershire Council in making an informed judgement on the significance of the archaeological resource, and the likely impact upon it from the proposed development.

4 © Cotswold Archaeology Land at Cossham Street, Mangotsfield, South Gloucestershire: Archaeological Evaluation

Methodology

1.8 The fieldwork comprised the excavation of 11 trenches; nine were 50m long and 1.8m wide and two were 25m long and 1.8m wide (Trenches 2 and 3), in the locations shown on the attached plan (Fig. 2). Trenches 2 and 3 had been revised from one trench to two due to live services, with the approval of David Evans.

1.9 All trenches were excavated by mechanical excavator equipped with a toothless grading bucket. All machine excavation was undertaken under constant archaeological supervision to the top of the first significant archaeological horizon or the natural substrate, whichever was encountered first. Where archaeological deposits were encountered they were excavated by hand in accordance with CA Technical Manual 1: Fieldwork Recording Manual (2007).

1.10 Deposits were assessed for their palaeoenvironmental potential in accordance with CA Technical Manual 2: The Taking and Processing of Environmental and Other Samples from Archaeological Sites (2003); no deposits were identified that required sampling and no artefacts were recovered.

1.11 The archive from the evaluation is currently held by CA at their offices in Kemble. The archive will be deposited with City of Bristol Museum and Art Gallery. A summary of information from this project, set out within Appendix B, will be entered onto the OASIS online database of archaeological projects in Britain.

2. RESULTS (FIG 2)

2.1 This section provides an overview of the evaluation results; detailed summaries of the recorded contexts are to be found in Appendix A.

2.2 The natural geological substrate, consisting of a mid brownish red sandy clay in a weathered sandstone matrix, was revealed at between 0.3 to 0.5m below present ground level in all trenches. Variations to this were observed, for example, at the south-west end of Trench 7 and the north-west end of Trench 8, where occasional coal measure veins were identified in a light yellowish brown sandy clay. The

5 © Cotswold Archaeology Land at Cossham Street, Mangotsfield, South Gloucestershire: Archaeological Evaluation

substrate was sealed by subsoil, 0.1m thick, identified in all trenches apart from Trenches 9 and 10. This was cut by a small number of pits and linear features.

2.3 A large pit, 505, was identified in Trench 5; the fills 503 and 504 contained black ashy silt and dumped sandstone. No dating was recovered. Another large undated pit, 606, was identified in Trench 6; the fill 605 was similar to 504, containing a large amount of stone rubble in the backfill. Two linear features, or possible ditches, were identified in Trench 6. Ditch 604 ran north-south and 608 ran north-east to south- west; both were undated and were filled by the same rubble backfill as 505 and 606. These were sealed by the topsoil, which was 0.3m thick.

3. DISCUSSION

3.1 Despite the archaeological potential of the application area, the evaluation identified no archaeological remains of significance. Other than a number of modern agricultural field drains, only a small number of undated features were identified. These were seemingly backfilled almost immediately after excavation and could be part of an effort to drain the field in the form of soakaways and drainage ditches or they may simply be localised stone quarries. The absence of archaeological deposits and the very shallow topsoil and subsoil may indicate that the site has been levelled at some point, possibly in connection with the construction of World War Two anti-aircraft defences, or that they did not extend into the site.

4. CA PROJECT TEAM

Fieldwork was undertaken by Jonathan Bennett, assisted by Andrew Loader and Hazel O’Neill. The report was written by Jonathan Bennett. The illustrations were prepared by Rachael Kershaw. The archive has been compiled by Victoria Taylor. The project was managed for CA by Mark Collard.

6 © Cotswold Archaeology Land at Cossham Street, Mangotsfield, South Gloucestershire: Archaeological Evaluation

5. REFERENCES

CA (Cotswold Archaeology) 2009 Land at Mangotsfield, South Gloucestershire: Written Scheme of Investigation for an Archaeological Evaluation

BGS (British Geological Survey) 1967 Geological Survey of Great Britain (England and Wales), Sheet parts of 250, 251, 264, 280, 281, Bristol District, Scale 1:50,000

EDP (Environmental Dimension Partnership) 2008 Land at Mangotsfield, South Gloucestershire: Archaeological Desk-Based Assessment, Ref: H_EDP390_04

7 © Cotswold Archaeology Land at Mangotsfield, South Gloucestershire: Archaeological Evaluation

APPENDIX A: CONTEXT DESCRIPTIONS

Trench 1

No. Type Description Length Width Depth Spot- (m) (m) (m) date 100 Topsoil Dark brown loose sandy silt with moderate small 0.26 sandstone fragments 101 Subsoil Mid red brown firm slightly sandy clay with freq 0.25 sandstone fragments 102 Natural Mid red brown friable silty sandy clay with abundant angular sandstone towards SE end of trench

Trench 2

No. Type Description Length Width Depth Spot- (m) (m) (m) date 200 Topsoil Dark orange brown loose sandy silt with common 0.2 small sandstone fragments 201 Subsoil Mid orange brown friable sandy clay with common 0.1 sandstone fragments 202 Natural Mid red brown friable silty sandy clay with abundant angular sandstone

Trench 3

No. Type Description Length Width Depth Spot- (m) (m) (m) date 300 Topsoil Dark orange brown loose sandy silt with common 0.25 small sandstone fragments 301 Subsoil Mid orange brown friable sandy clay with common 0.18 sandstone fragments 302 Natural Mid red brown friable silty sandy clay with abundant angular sandstone

Trench 4

No. Type Description Length Width Depth Spot- (m) (m) (m) date 400 Topsoil Dark orange brown loose sandy silt with common 0.2 small sandstone fragments 401 Subsoil Mid orange brown friable sandy clay with common 0.11 sandstone fragments 402 Natural Mid red brown friable silty sandy clay with abundant angular sandstone in slightly orange sandy clay matrix

Trench 5

No. Type Description Length Width Depth Spot- (m) (m) (m) date 500 Topsoil Dark orange brown silt with occasional small 0.23 sandstone fragments 501 Subsoil Mid reddish brown brown friable sandy silt with 0.04 common sandstone fragments 502 Natural Mid red brown sandy clay with abundant angular sandstone 503 Fill Primary fill of 805, black silt/ash? 0.13 504 Fill Secondary fill of 805, flat stone fragments within red 0.55 brown silt 505 Cut Possible quarry pit 0.68

Trench 6

No. Type Description Length Width Depth Spot- (m) (m) (m) date 600 Topsoil Dark orange brown silt with occasional small 0.37 sandstone fragments 601 Subsoil Mid reddish brown brown friable sandy silt with 0.04 common sandstone fragments 602 Natural Mid red brown sandy clay with abundant angular sandstone 603 Fill Fill of 604, medium flat angular sandstone 1.1 0.27 fragments in brown silt matrix 604 Cut N-S ditch/linear 1.1 0.27 605 Fill Fill of 606, description same as 603 0.8 0.34 606 Cut Possible quarry pit or drainage ditch due to linear 0.8 0.34 form 607 Fill Fill of 608, description same as 603 - unexcavated 608 Cut NE – SW ditch/linear - unexcavated

Trench 7

No. Type Description Length Width Depth Spot- (m) (m) (m) date 700 Topsoil Mid reddish brown silty clay with frequent sandstone 0.4 fragments 701 Subsoil Light brownish red silty clay with frequent sandstone 0.1 fragments 702 Natural Mid brownish red sandy clay in weathered sandstone rock matrix, occasional coal measure veins observed at SW end of trench in yellowish brown sandy clay 703 Fill Fill of 704, Redeposited clay 704 Cut Field drain

Trench 8

No. Type Description Length Width Depth Spot- (m) (m) (m) date 800 Topsoil Dark reddish brown silty clay with frequent 0.3 sandstone fragments 801 Subsoil Mid red brown silty clay with frequent sandstone 0.1 fragments 802 Natural Mid brownish red sandy clay in weathered sandstone rock matrix, changes to light yellowish brown sandy clay at NW of trench 803 Cut Field drain 804 Fill Fill of 803, sandstone 805 Cut Field drain 806 Fill Fill of 805, sandstone 807 Cut Service trench 808 Fill Fill of 807, redeposited clay 809 Cut Field drain 810 Fill Fill of 809

Trench 9

No. Type Description Length Width Depth Spot- (m) (m) (m) date 900 Topsoil Mid reddish brown silty clay with frequent sandstone 0.3 fragments 901 Natural Mid reddish brown sandy clay in sandstone matrix

Trench 10

No. Type Description Length Width Depth Spot- (m) (m) (m) date 1000 Topsoil Mid reddish brown silty clay with frequent sandstone 0.3 fragments 1001 Natural Mid reddish brown sandy clay in sandstone matrix

Trench 11

No. Type Description Length Width Depth Spot- (m) (m) (m) date 1100 Topsoil Dark brown silt with occasional stone fragments 0.23 1101 Subsoil Mid reddish brown silty clay with occasional stone 0.04 fragments 1102 Natural Orangey red clayey silt with small to medium stone fragmenst 1103 Fill Fill of 1105, medium flat angular sandstone 0.13 0.12 fragments 1104 Cut Field drain 0.13 0.12 1105 Fill Fill of 1106, description same as 1103 1106 Cut Field drain 1107 Fill Fill of 1108, redeposited clay 1108 Cut Field drain 1109 Fill Fill of 1110, redeposited clay 1110 Cut Field drain 1111 Fill Fill 1112, redeposited clay 1112 Cut Field drain

APPENDIX B: OASIS REPORT FORM

PROJECT DETAILS

Project Name Land at Cossham Street, Mangotsfield, South Gloucestershire Short description An archaeological evaluation was undertaken by (250 words maximum) Cotswold Archaeology in May 2009 at the request of Environmental Dimension Partnership (EDP) on behalf of Taylor Wimpey Bristol on land at Cossham Street, Mangotsfield, South Gloucestershire. Eleven trenches were excavated.

Two undated linear features and two undated pits were identified during the evaluation. No other archaeological features were identified and no dating material was recovered. Project dates 12-18 May 2009 Project type Archaeological evaluation (e.g. desk-based, field evaluation etc)

Previous work Desk-Based Assessment (Environmental Dimension (reference to organisation or SMR numbers etc) Partnership 2008)

Future work Unknown PROJECT LOCATION Site Location Mangotsfield, South Gloucestershire Study area (M2/ha) 5 ha Site co-ordinates (8 Fig Grid Reference) ST 6655 7590 PROJECT CREATORS Name of organisation Cotswold Archaeology Project Brief originator Environmental Dimension Partnership (EDP) Project Design (WSI) originator Cotswold Archaeology

Project Manager Mark Collard Project Supervisor Jonathan Bennett PROJECT ARCHIVES Intended final location of Content (e.g. pottery, archive animal bone etc) (museum/Accession no.) Paper City of Bristol Museum Trench Recording and art gallery sheets, Drawings Digital City of Bristol Museum Digital photos, Digital and art gallery plan BIBLIOGRAPHY

CA (Cotswold Archaeology) 2009 Land at Cossham Street, Mangotsfield, South Gloucestershire: Archaeological Evaluation. CA report 09088

11 Reproduced from the 1998 Ordnance Survey Explorer map with the permission of Ordnance Survey on behalf of The Controller of Her Majesty's Stationery Office N c Crown copyright Cotswold Archaeological Trust 100002109

0 2.5km

COTSWOLD ARCHAEOLOGY

PROJECT TITLE Land at Mangotsfield South Gloucestershire FIGURE TITLE South Site location plan Gloucestershire

DRAWN BYSCALE PROJECT NO. FIGURE NO. RK 1:25,000@A4 2865 1 Reproduced from the 2002 Ordnance Survey Explorer map with the permission 667 of Ordnance Survey on behalf of The Controller of Her Majesty's Stationery Office N c Crown copyright Cotswold Archaeological Trust 100002109 665 6 6 5

T3 T4 760 T11 T5

pit feature 505 608 T6

T8 feature 604 pit 606 T7

T10

758

ST 0 200m

COTSWOLD ARCHAEOLOGY

PROJECT TITLE site Land at Mangotsfield evaluation trench South Gloucestershire FIGURE TITLE archaeological feature Trench location plan showing archaeological features DRAWN BYSCALE PROJECT NO. FIGURE NO. RK 1:2000@A4 2865 2