Clearwater 99 Somerford Keynes Gloucestershire

CLEARWATER 99 SOMERFORD KEYNES GLOUCESTERSHIRE

ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVALUATION

CA PROJECT: 1507 CA REPORT: 03038

Author: Kate Cullen

Approved: Mark Collard

Signed: …………………………………………………………….

Issue: 01 Date: 23RD APRIL 2003

This report is confidential to the client. Cotswold Archaeology accepts no responsibility or liability to any third party to whom this report, or any part of it, is made known. Any such party relies upon this report entirely at their own risk. No part of this report may be reproduced by any means without permission.

Clearwater 99, Somerford Keynes: Archaeological Evaluation © Cotswold Archaeology

CONTENTS

SUMMARY ...... 2

1. INTRODUCTION ...... 3

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

2. RESULTS ...... 6

3. DISCUSSION ...... 7

4. CA PROJECT TEAM ...... 7

5. REFERENCES ...... 8

APPENDIX 1: CONTEXT DESCRIPTIONS ...... 9

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Fig. 1 Site location plan Fig. 2 Location of trenches

1 Clearwater 99, Somerford Keynes: Archaeological Evaluation © Cotswold Archaeology

SUMMARY

Site Name: Clearwater 99 Location: Somerford Keynes NGR: ST 0220 9410 Type: Evaluation Date: 7th-14th March 2003 Location of Archive: To be deposited at Corinium Museum, Cirencester Site Code: CSK03

An archaeological evaluation was undertaken by Cotswold Archaeology in March 2003 at the request of Scott Wilson on behalf of Conservation Builders Limited. In compliance with an approved project design, a total of 9 trenches were excavated across the development area.

No archaeological deposits or features were identified during the course of the evaluation.

2 Clearwater 99, Somerford Keynes: Archaeological Evaluation © Cotswold Archaeology

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 In March 2003 Cotswold Archaeology (CA) carried out an archaeological evaluation for Scott Wilson on behalf of Conservation Builders Limited at Clearwater Lake (centred on NGR: ST 0220 9410; Fig. 1). The evaluation was undertaken to fulfil a condition placed on planning consent for the construction of holiday homes.

1.2 The evaluation was carried out in accordance with a brief for archaeological recording prepared by Mr Charles Parry (Senior Archaeological Officer, Gloucestershire County Council), and with a subsequent detailed project specification produced by CAT (1999) and approved by the LPA acting on the advice of Mr Charles Parry. The works are being staged according to the phases of construction, all of which adhere to the original project design. Subsequent to this Mr Charles Parry has also approved the trench locations of this second phase of evaluation. The fieldwork also followed the Standard and Guidance for Archaeological Field Evaluations issued by the Institute of Field Archaeologists (1999) and the Statement of Standards and Practices Appropriate for Archaeological Fieldwork in Gloucestershire (GCC 1995).

The site

1.3 The site lies within the Cotswold Water Park, adjacent to the Lower Mill Farm Estate around Lakes 45 (Clear Lake, now Clearwater), 57 (Somerford Lagoon) and the former Lake 47, now infilled with silt (Fig. 2). The site lies adjacent to the River Thames, immediately south of the village of Somerford Keynes and 1km west of Ashton Keynes. It is accessed from the B4696 Spine Road which connects the A419 Cirencester-Swindon Road.

1.4 The underlying geology of the area is mapped as the first gravel terrace of the Pleistocene/modern era (Geological Survey of Great Britain (England and Wales) 1974). The site lies at approximately 86m AOD.

1.5 The land situated in the Upper Thames Valley has been much exploited for gravel and the flooding of previous gravel pits has created several lakes both within and adjacent to the development area. The site exists as the remaining areas of

3 Clearwater 99, Somerford Keynes: Archaeological Evaluation © Cotswold Archaeology

unexcavated gravel between the pits; previous investigations have shown extensive areas of ground forming and dumping around edges of former pits also.

Archaeological background

1.6 The site is one of known archaeological potential. The archaeological and historical background to the site and its immediate environs has been well documented in an archaeological desk based assessment previously undertaken by CA (Morton 1997), from which the following brief summary has been taken.

1.7 Much of the evidence for Palaeolithic occupation in Gloucestershire comes from the upper Thames Valley, and a number of flint handaxes have been found in the vicinity of Somerford Keynes. Settlement and funerary evidence from the Neolithic and Bronze Age also is mainly concentrated on the upland Cotswolds. In 1992 excavations in advance of gravel quarrying at Shorncote Quarry, approximately 3km north of the development site, revealed a late Bronze Age settlement dated to the 9th/8th centuries BC. Excavations to the north and west of this site identified a small Neolithic and Bronze Age barrow cemetery.

1.8 Archaeological interest in the site arises from a number of previously excavated areas, particularly in what is now Spinney Lake. There is major evidence for Iron Age and Roman settlement throughout this region, identified through aerial photography. A dense complex of cropmarks with multiple ditches was identifiable, subdividing the area into roughly rectangular features, within which there are indications of a D-shaped enclosure and subcircular enclosures thought to be of Iron Age and Roman date. Excavations in 1986 by the Oxford Archaeological Unit revealed a large aisled Roman building, adjacent to a Roman road junction. Although the majority of this site was destroyed by gravel quarrying, several features emerging from this site may be preserved. This includes a trackway running from the east of Spinney Lake towards Lower Mill Farm, and further possible features to the south and north of the lake. Another series of cropmarks identified to the south of Clearwater Lake, and thought to be of Iron Age/Roman date, have also been destroyed by quarrying activities. Some boundaries, however, may be preserved in the areas between the lakes.

1.9 The village of Somerford Keynes is thought to be Anglo-Saxon in origin on the basis of early documentary evidence. It also has a well-documented medieval history

4 Clearwater 99, Somerford Keynes: Archaeological Evaluation © Cotswold Archaeology

which has been tied in with the de Keyne family. This connection survives in the village place name, and in several other villages in the area. No evidence has been recovered, however, to indicate comparable settlement within the development site which would largely appear to have had an agricultural history. The earliest cartographic coverage of the site is an Inclosure map of 1807. This shows the location of a possible mill building, and may suggest an earlier date for the present 19th-century mill building, a listed Grade II red-brick construction which still contains much of its original milling machinery.

1.10 In September 2000 CAT carried out an evaluation on land to the north of the current development area, on the north-eastern edge of Somerford Lagoon, adjacent to Lower Mill Farm. Romano-British activity in the form of pits, gullies and ditches was excavated. However, the southern part of that evaluation area was heavily disturbed by landscaping activities (CAT 2000). A subsequent excavation (centred on NGR SU 0240 9435) was then carried out in 2001, during which a Roman ditch system, medieval ditch system and post-medieval quarrying activity was recorded (CAT 2001 unpublished).

Archaeological objectives

1.11 The objectives of the evaluation were to establish the character, quality, date, significance and extent of any archaeological remains or deposits surviving within the site. This information will assist the Local Planning Authority in making an informed judgement on the likely impact upon the archaeological resource by the proposed development.

Methodology

1.12 The fieldwork was originally to comprise the excavation of 18 1.5m x 50m trenches. Only nine were excavated, as the remaining nine could not be excavated due to their location within dense woodland or on areas of extensive landscaping activity and no other alternatives were available. This modification was agreed with Mr Charles Parry (Senior Archaeological Officer, Gloucestershire County Council). Those excavated were modified as necessary to avoid roads, services and bridges, also with Mr Charles Parry’s approval.

5 Clearwater 99, Somerford Keynes: Archaeological Evaluation © Cotswold Archaeology

1.13 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 the CA Technical Manual 1: Excavation Recording Manual (1996).

1.14 Deposits were assessed for their palaeoenvironmental potential in accordance with the CA Technical Manual 2: The Taking of Samples for Palaeoenvironmental/Palaeoeconomic Analysis from Archaeological Sites (1994). No samples were taken.

1.15 The archive from the evaluation are currently held by CA at their offices in Kemble. Subject to the agreement of the legal landowner the site archive will be deposited with Corinium Museum, Cirencester.

2. RESULTS

2.1 No archaeological features or deposits were encountered during excavation, however, it should be noted that the natural substrate was often difficult to locate due to the presence of several metres of landscaping and levelling overburden within the trenches.

2.2 This section provides an overview of the evaluation results; detailed summaries of the recorded contexts are to be found in Appendix 1. The excavated trenches are shown in Fig 2.

2.3 Trenches 4, 9, 10 and 18 were positioned around the western shore of Somerford Lagoon and revealed evidence of recent filling activity above the silt beds of the old quarry lakes, indicating that no archaeological remains are likely to remain in these areas. Trench 10 also contained a large pit filled with modern waste material associated with site formation for the current building project.

2.4 Trenches 8 and 12 were positioned in an area previously used for a concrete plant next to Clearwater Lake and again revealed no archaeological deposits. Nearly 2m

6 Clearwater 99, Somerford Keynes: Archaeological Evaluation © Cotswold Archaeology

of redeposited gravels were excavated by machine, finally giving way to what appears to be the natural gravels beneath.

2.5 Trenches 11, 16 and 17 were located south and west of Flagham Brook and again revealed no archaeology. The concrete road previously running in a north-south direction through the site to Howell’s Barn was revealed in all these trenches, along with its associated make-up layers. Trenches 16 and 17 contained orange-brown clay heavily disturbed by roots, which when tested by the digging of sondages, gave way to the blue-grey clay of the lining of the silt beds.

2.6 Trenches 1-3, 5-7 and 13-15 could not be excavated due to the reasons stated above in 1.12.

3. DISCUSSION

3.1 It is clear that much of the development area has been subject to extensive landscaping activity. Both the previous gravel quarrying and associated works and subsequent landscaping activity have largely removed the levels at which archaeological remains would be expected, and no archaeological remains were excavated. In the areas where trenches were not excavated, it is likely from observation of the local landform that a similar situation would be encountered.

4. CA PROJECT TEAM

Fieldwork was undertaken by Kate Cullen, assisted by Heather Hirons, John Webster, Dave Sabin, Alistair Barber and Nick Corcos. The report was written by Kate Cullen. The illustrations were prepared by Pete Moore. The archive has been compiled by Kate Cullen, and prepared for deposition by Ed McSloy. The project was managed for CA by Mark Collard.

7 Clearwater 99, Somerford Keynes: Archaeological Evaluation © Cotswold Archaeology

5. REFERENCES

CAT 1999 Land at Lower Mill Farm, Somerford Keynes, Near Cirencester, Gloucestershire: Project Design for an Archaeological Evaluation.

CAT 2000 Lower Mill Farm, Somerford Keynes, Gloucestershire, Archaeological Evaluation. CA Report No. 001240

Geological Survey of Great Britain (England and Wales) 1974 Swindon Sheet 252. 1 inch to 1 mile.

Morton, R, 1997 Lower Mill Farm, Somerford Keynes, Gloucestershire: Archaeological Assessment. Unpublished CAT Typescript Report No. 97510.

APPENDIX 1: CONTEXT DESCRIPTIONS

Trench 4A (Top of trench 86.68m AOD, base 85.01m AOD) 401 Topsoil. Dark greyish brown sandy clay. 0.3m in depth. 402 Redeposited mid grey-blue silty clay. 0.08m in depth. 403 Banded silty clay bonded brownish yellow redeposited gravels. 0.62m in depth. 404 Dark blue-grey silty clay with gravel lenses. 0.65m in depth.

Trench 4B (Top of trench 86.41m AOD, base 85.94m AOD) 405 Topsoil. Dark greyish brown sandy clay. 0.28m in depth. 406 Redeposited mid grey-blue silty clay. 0.72m in depth. 407 Banded silty clay bonded brownish yellow redeposited gravels. 1m+ in depth. 408 Light greyish yellow sandy gravels, redeposited.

Trench 4C (Top of trench 87.42m AOD, base 86.57m AOD) 409 Topsoil. Dark greyish brown sandy clay. 0.29m in depth. 410 Redeposited mid grey-blue silty clay. 0.61m in depth. 411 Natural gravel, light greyish yellow. 0.9m+ below current ground level.

Trench 8 (Top of trench 86.34m AOD, base 84.50m AOD) 801 Modern gravel make-up relating to old concrete road surface. 0.17m in depth. 802 Concrete surface. 0.07m in depth. 803 Light yellow very soft loose sand. 0.86m in depth. 804 Redeposited yellow gravels mixed with modern material. 0.8m in depth. 805 Possible natural substrate of yellow gravels. 1.9m+ below current ground level.

Trench 9 (Top of trench 87.34m AOD, base 86.10m AOD) 901 Topsoil. Mid greyish brown silty sand, highly disturbed. 0.3m in depth. 902 Mid brownish grey silty sand to clay. 0.51m in depth. 903 Light greyish yellow silty sand gravels, redeposited. 0.31m in depth. 904 Dark blue-grey clay from silt beds. 0.81m+ below current ground level. 905 Mid greyish yellow silty sand to clay. 0.81m+ below current ground level. 906 Dark blackish brown silty sand, highly disturbed, contaminated soil, recently backfilled. 0.48m in depth.

Trench 10 (Top of trench 87.07m AOD, base 85.62m) 1001 Topsoil. Dark greyish-brown silty clay with frequent modern building debris. Landscaping deposit. 0.26-0.8m in depth. 1002 Redeposited light yellow gravel with occasional clay lenses. Landscaping deposit. 0.25m in depth. 1003 Dark greyish blue silty clay, silt bed material. 1.45m+ below current ground level. 1004 Cut for large modern pit, machine dug with vertical sides. 1005 Fill of 1004. Dark grey mixed clay with abundant modern material. Base not revealed, at least 1.8m in depth.

Trench 11B (Top of trench 87.25m AOD, base 87.11m AOD) 1101 Made up ground, mid greyish brown sandy clay with occasional gravels. 0.25m in depth. 1102 Hard light yellow gravels, probable old road surface. 0.25m+ below current ground level.

Trench 11A (Top of trench 87.00m AOD, base 86.89m A)D) 1103 Overgrown hard standing area, vegetation. 0.1m in depth. 1104 Natural light yellow gravels. 0.1m+

Trench 12 (Top of trench 86.52m AOD, base 85.91m AOD) 1201 Made up ground, mid greyish brown sandy clay with occasional gravels. 0.12m in depth. 1202 Banded gravels deposits contaminated with diesel. 0.58m in depth. 1203 Blue-grey gravels. 0.2m in depth.

1204 Natural pale yellow sandy gravels. 0.7m in depth. 1205 Concrete surface (associated with concrete plant) seen in 1202 as lenses. 0.08m in depth.

Trench 16A (Top of trench 87.31m AOD, base 85.84m AOD) 1601 Light orange-brown clay bonded gravel, landscaping deposit. 0.25m in depth. 1602 Old turf. 0.03m in depth. 1603 Former topsoil layer, greyish brown sandy silt. 0.3m in depth. 1604 Mid light orange brown clay silt with occasional gravels. 0.1m in depth. 1605 Gravel deposit within orange brown silty sand 1606 Sandy gravel, light reddish grey. 0.2m in depth. 1607 Road make-up, gravels. 0.3m in depth. 1608 Concrete surface of old road. 1609 Mid brown silty clay and gravel make-up for road. 0.7m in depth. 1610 Mid brown clay, intensive root action, old reed beds near lake. 1611 Landscaping cut through 1601 – 1604 and 1607. 0.95m+ below current ground level. 1612 Fill of 1609, mid brown sandy silt with many lenses or gravels, etc. 1613 Light orange-brown sandy gravel, possible natural substrate.

Trench 16B (Top of trench 87.35m AOD, base 86.20m AOD) 1614 Dark blue grey silty clay, silt beds of quarry lake. 1.8m+ below current ground level.

Trench 17 (Top of trench 86.98m AOD, base 86.2m AOD) 1701 Mid greyish brown sandy silty clay. Landscaping deposit. 0.55m in depth. 1702 Mid yellowish brown silty clay with intensive root action, same as 1610. 0.55m+ below current ground level.

Trench 18 (Top of trench 87.30m AOD, base 86.51m AOD) 1801 Mid brown sandy clay landscaping layer. 1m in depth. 1802 Redeposited cream gravels mixed with mid brown silt clay, banded make up layers. 1.6m in depth. 1803 Possible natural gravels. 3.65m+ below current ground level.

10 Site

Fig. 1 Location plan 021 022 023

942

Somerford Lagoon Clear Lake (Lake 57) (Lake 45) 8

941

El Sub Sta 11 10

Water Gravel940 Pit Gravel Pit Brook 16 Flagham

Water

Silt bed (formerly Lake 47) Water 18

939

SU Water

Evaluation trench

0 150m

Fig. 2 Location of trenches

Howell's Barn