Archaeological Desk-Based Assessment in Advance of the Proposed Development of Land at Street Farm, Stoke Road, Hoo St. Werburgh, Kent. ME3 9BH National Grid Reference TQ 578587 172633 Report for Esquire Developments Ltd Date of Report: 3rd May 2018 SWAT ARCHAEOLOGY Swale and Thames Archaeological Survey Company School Farm Oast, Graveney Road Faversham, Kent ME13 8UP Tel; 01795 532548 or 07885 700 112 www.swatarchaeology.co.uk Land at Street Farm, Stoke Road, Hoo St. Werburgh, Kent Archaeological Desk-Based Assessment Contents 1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................. 6 1.1 Project Background ......................................................................................... 6 1.2 The Site ............................................................................................................ 7 1.3 The Proposed Development ............................................................................ 8 1.4 Project Constraints .......................................................................................... 8 1.5 Scope of Document ......................................................................................... 8 2 PLANNING BACKGROUND .................................................................................................. 9 2.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................... 9 2.2 Heritage Assets ................................................................................................ 9 2.3 National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) .................................................. 9 2.4 Planning Policy Guidance .............................................................................. 14 2.5 Statutory Protection ...................................................................................... 15 2.6 Local Policies ................................................................................................. 17 3 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES ..................................................................................................... 19 3.1 Introduction ................................................................................................... 19 3.2 Desk-Based Assessment – Chartered Institute for Archaeologists (2017) ... 20 4 METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................................... 21 4.1 Introduction ................................................................................................... 21 4.2 Designated Heritage Assets ........................................................................... 21 4.3 Sources .......................................................................................................... 22 5 ARCHAOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT ........................................................ 24 5.1 Introduction ................................................................................................... 24 5.2 Designated Heritage Assets ........................................................................... 24 5.3 Previous Archaeological Works ..................................................................... 25 5.4 Archaeological and Historical Narrative ........................................................ 31 5.5 Cartographic Sources and Map Regression .................................................. 35 5.6 Aerial Photographs ........................................................................................ 37 5.7 Walkover Survey............................................................................................ 39 5.8 Summary of Potential .................................................................................... 39 6 IMPACT ASSESSMENT....................................................................................................... 42 6.1 Introduction ................................................................................................... 42 6.2 Historic Impacts ............................................................................................. 43 6.3 Summary of Impacts ..................................................................................... 44 7 ARCHAEOLOGICAL MITIGATION....................................................................................... 44 8 OTHER CONSIDERATIONS ................................................................................................. 45 8.1 Archive ........................................................................................................... 45 8.2 Reliability/Limitations of Sources .................................................................. 45 8.3 Copyright ....................................................................................................... 45 9 REFERENCES ..................................................................................................................... 46 9.1 Bibliographic .................................................................................................. 46 9.2 Websites ........................................................................................................ 46 10 APPENDIX 1 – KCC HER Data (see Figures 20-24) ........................................................ 66 2 Land at Street Farm, Stoke Road, Hoo St. Werburgh, Kent Archaeological Desk-Based Assessment List of Plates Plate 1. Aerial photograph from 1940 Plate 2. Aerial photograph from 1960 Plate 3. Aerial photograph from 1990 Plate 4. Aerial photograph from 2003 Plate 5. Aerial photograph from 2006 Plate 6. Aerial photograph from 2007 Plate 7. Aerial photograph from 2011 Plate 8. Aerial photograph from 2013 Plate 9. Aerial photograph from 2015 Plate 10. View across the PDA from south eastern bridleway entrance (facing NW) Plate 11. View of the eastern boundary and north eastern area (facing ESE) Plate 12. View of the northern boundary on the eastern side (facing WNW) Plate 13. View of the north western corner (facing W) Plate 14. View of the southern boundary (facing SW) Plate 15. View of the rear of Street Farm Cottages (facing SSE) Plate 16. View across the PDA from the south western corner (facing NNE) Plate 17. View across site from Bridleway entrance at the northern end (facing SE) Plate 18. View of the bank in which the modern cold store was situated showing the truncated ground levels in north western corner. Scale 0.5m (facing NNE) Plate 19. View of second smaller bank half way down the western side of the PDA (facing NE) List of Figures Fig.1 Site location map and site Location plan 1:10000 Fig 2: Proposed Development Area Fig.3 Hasted, 1797 Fig.4 Tithe Map 1840 Fig.5 Historic Mapping OS 1:2500 1866 Fig.6 Historic mapping OS 1:2500 1897 Fig.7 Historic mapping OS 1:2500 1909 Fig.8 Historic mapping OS 1:2500 1930 Fig.9 Historic mapping OS 1:2500 1961 3 Land at Street Farm, Stoke Road, Hoo St. Werburgh, Kent Archaeological Desk-Based Assessment Fig.10 Historic mapping OS 1:2500 1968 Fig.11 Historic mapping OS 1:2500 1975 Fig.12 Historic mapping OS 1:2500 1988 Fig.13 Historic mapping OS 1:2500 1993 Fig.14 Historic mapping OS 1:2500 1994 Fig.15 Route of the Stop Hoo Stop Line around the north east of Hoo St. Werburgh Fig.16 Housing Allocation in 2003 Medway Council Local Plan Fig.17 Medway Council Future Local Plan (draft) Fig.18 Location of the Geotechnical Survey boreholes and pits Fig.19 Location of areas likely to need piling Fig.20 KHER Monuments Fig.21 KHER Monuments Map Fig.22 KHER Historic Landscape Character Fig.23 KHER Medway Valley Palaeolithic Project Fig.24 KHER Cropmarks 4 Land at Street Farm, Stoke Road, Hoo St. Werburgh, Kent Archaeological Desk-Based Assessment Archaeological Desk-Based Assessment in Advance of the proposed development of Land at Street Farm, Stoke Road, Hoo St. Werburgh, Kent. Summary SWAT Archaeology has been commissioned by Esquire Developments Ltd to prepare an Archaeological Desk-Based Assessment of the proposed development area (PDA) of land at Street Farm, Stoke Road, Hoo St. Werburgh, Kent. This Desk Based Assessment is intended to explore and disseminate the known and potential heritage resource within the site and the surrounding area, and to assess the likely impacts of the development proposals on this resource. Based on this data the potential for archaeological sites either on or in the near vicinity of the proposed development can be summarized as: • Prehistoric: low • Iron Age: low • Roman: low • Anglo-Saxon: low/moderate • Medieval: low • Post-Medieval: moderate • Modern: moderate This shows that the site has moderate potential for containing archaeological remains. The area of the PDA being an elevated area above the marshes on the Hoo Peninsular attracted agricultural use, and occasionally settlement for more than two millennia. The PDA is situated beyond the historical Anglo-Saxon core of the village of Hoo St. Werburgh and north of the marsh area used for salt-making in Bronze Age, Roman and Medieval periods and consequently there is always the opportunity archaeologically of chance finds. The PDA has historically been fields and orchard and in the 19th century a farmstead was added to the PDA, with the surrounding land to the agricultural buildings as fields and orchards. Due to the growth of Hoo St. Werburgh, especially with new housing estates to the east, there have been a number of evaluations and excavations. No archaeology of note has been found in the area this