German Road, Bramley ,

An Archaeological Watching Brief

For George Wimpey West London

by James McNicoll-Norbury

Thames Valley Archaeological Services

Ltd

Site Code GRB 08/19

December 2008 Summary

Site name: German Road, Bramley, Basingstoke, Hampshire

Grid reference: SU 6592 5869

Site activity: Watching Brief

Date and duration of project: 13th June – 20th November 2008

Project manager: Steve Ford

Site supervisor: James McNicoll-Norbury

Site code: GRB 08/19

Area of site: 9.5ha

Summary of results: No archaeological features identified

Monuments identified: None

Location and reference of archive: The archive is presently held at Thames Valley Archaeological Services, Reading and will be deposited with Hampshire Museum Service 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 Ford9 13.01.09 Steve Preston9 12.01.09

i Thames Valley Archaeological Services Ltd, 47–49 De Beauvoir Road, Reading RG1 5NR Tel. (0118) 926 0552; Fax (0118) 926 0553; email [email protected]; website : www.tvas.co.uk

German Road, Bramley, Basingstoke, Hampshire An Archaeological Watching Brief

by James McNicoll-Norbury

Report 08/19

Introduction

This report documents the results of an archaeological watching brief carried out at the former Central

Armaments Depot, German Road, Bramley, Hampshire (SU 6592 5869) (Fig. 1). The work was commissioned by

Mr Nigel Phillips on behalf of George Wimpey West London Ltd, Stratfield House, Station Road, Hook,

Hampshire, RG27 9PQ.

A planning consent has been gained on appeal (BDB64044) from Borough Council for the construction of new housing with associated car parking, access roads and landscaping. The consent is subject to a condition relating to archaeology that requires an archaeological watching brief to take place during groundworks.

This is in accordance with the Department of the Environment’s Planning Policy Guidance, Archaeology and Planning (PPG16 1990), and the Borough Council’s policies on archaeology. The field investigation was carried out to a specification approved by Mr David Hopkins, County Archaeologist at Hampshire County

Council, adviser to the Borough on matters relating to archaeology. The fieldwork was undertaken by James

McNicoll-Norbury between 13th June–20th November 2008 and the site code is GRB 08/19.

The archive is presently held at Thames Valley Archaeological Services, Reading and will be deposited at

Hampshire Museum Service in due course.

Location, topography and geology

The site is located on German Road in Bramley in Hampshire which is located to the west of the A33 between

Reading, to the north, and Basingstoke to the south (Fig. 1). It and lies adjacent to the railway line between

Reading and Basingstoke to the south of the village. The site lies north of the Bow Brook which flows from west to east and forms a tributary of the River Loddon (Fig. 2). The underlying geology is mapped as London Clay

(BGS 1981). The site lies at a height of 55m to 65m above Ordnance Datum (sloping down from north to south).

The site was an irregular ‘L’ in shape, with a spur to the south, in total covering an area of approximately 9.5ha.

The site was previously the site of a Ministry of Defence ammunition dump between 1918 and 1987 as well as

1

being the centre of the Royal Army Ordnance Corps, School of Ammunition after 1922. Two large buildings used during this time are still present on the site.

Archaeological background

The archaeological potential has been considered in a desk-based assessment for the site (Hawkins 2004). In summary the site lies 1km south east of Bulls Down, an Iron Age hillfort. It is possible that contemporary settlement sites would be present in its environs. The site also lies within an area surveyed by the Loddon Valley

Fieldwalking Survey (Ford et al. 1995) which revealed a range of sites of prehistoric, Roman and Medieval dates in the area. A recent watching brief to the west of the site did not reveal any deposits of interest (Bennett and Ford

2006). The London Clay geological outcrop is generally considered to have low archaeological potential.

Objectives and methodology

Decommissioning and remediation of the former Ordnance Depot involved removal of topsoil from extended areas of the site. The purpose of the watching brief was to monitor the stripped surface episodically, and to excavate and record any archaeological deposits threatened by the development. Where exposed deposits were not to be further disturbed, they were to be planned and recorded, and if possible dated from surface finds, but not further excavated. All archaeological finds and artefacts were to be retained, though all but a sample of some classes of building material will be discarded after recording. In the event of any discovery of extensive and complex archaeological deposits, the scope of the recording action was to be discussed in consultation with the client and the county archaeological officer.

Results

The area of the site was stripped using a 3600 machine fitted with a ditching bucket. Topsoil and subsoil (where present) and made ground that ranged from 0.10m to 1.90m deep was removed. This exposed the top of the natural geological horizon, (Fig. 3). The topsoil consisted of a loamy soil, with grass and brickwork and many tree roots, the made ground comprised a mixture of demolition debris, fine and coarse gravel, along with concentrations of training landmines and fragments of spent ordnance dating from 1914 onwards, from a variety of nations.

2

Some areas of the site had been deeply disturbed and the archaeologically relevant horizons removed (Fig.

2). Other parts of the site were variously lightly or heavily disturbed buy ruts and foundations. No deposits of archaeological interest were recorded.

Finds

No finds of archaeological interest were retrieved during the fieldwork.

Conclusion

Despite the site’s proximity to the Iron Age hill fort of Bulls Down and it’s location within a wider area known to have a range of prehistoric, Roman and Medieval sites, no archaeological features were identified during the course of the project.

References Bennett, N and Ford, S, 2006, ‘New Substation, Sherfield Road, Bramley Green, Basingstoke, Hampshire: an archaeological watching brief’, Thames Valley Archaeological Services rep 06/87, Reading Ford, S Weaver, S and Bellamy R (forthcoming) ‘Loddon Valley (Hampshire) Fieldwalking Survey 1994/95 ’Thames Valley Archaeological Services project 94/1, Reading Hawkins, D, 2004, ‘Land at German Road, Bramley, near Basingstoke, Hampshire, archaeological desk-based assessment’, CgMs, London BGS, 1981, British Geological Survey, 1:50000, Sheet 284, Solid and Drift Edition, Keyworth PPG 16, 1990, Archaeology and Planning, Dept of the Environment Planning Policy Guidance 16, HMSO

3 SITE

Basingstoke

60000

SITE

59000

SU65000 66000 GRB08/19 German Road, Bramley, Basingstoke, Hampshire, 2008 Archaeological watching brief

Figure 1. Location of site within Bramley and Hampshire.

Reproduced from Ordnance Survey Explorer 144 & 159 at 1:12500 Ordnance Survey Licence 100025880 N

59200

59100

59000 No access

Badly disturbed 58900

Badly disturbed

58800

58700 SITE

58600 SU65700 65800 No access

58500

65900 66000 66100 66200 66300 66400

Areas of deep truncation GRB 08/19

German Road, Bramley, Basingstoke, Hampshire, 2008 Archaeological watching brief

Figure 2. Detailed location of site, highlighting areas of deeper truncation viewed.

Reproduced from Ordnance Survey digital mapping under licence. Crown copyright reserved. Scale: 1:5000