Land East of Borley Crescent, Elmswell, Suffolk
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Land East of Borley Crescent, Elmswell, Suffolk Archaeological Evaluation Draft for: RPS, on behalf of Orbit Housing CA Project: SU0090 CA Report: SU0090_1 OASIS ID: cotswold2-3375075 DRAFTHER Ref: EWL 047 HER search invoice no: 9242743 January 2021 Land East of Borley Crescent, Elmswell, Suffolk Archaeological Evaluation CA Project: SU0090 CA Report: SU0090_1 OASIS ID: cotswold2-3375075 HER reference: EWL 047 Document Control Grid Revision Date Author Checked by Status Reasons for Approved revision by A 19.01.2021 L. Everett R. Gardiner Internal R. review Gardiner B 28.01.21 L. Everett R. Gardiner Consultant RPS Comments R. Review Gardiner This report is confidentialDRAFT 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. © Cotswold Archaeology © Cotswold Archaeology Land East of Borley Crescent, Elmswell, Suffolk: Archaeological Evaluation CONTENTS SUMMARY ..................................................................................................................... 1 1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................ 2 2. ARCHAEOLOGICAL BACKGROUND ................................................................ 2 3. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES ................................................................................... 3 4. METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................... 4 5. RESULTS .......................................................................................................... 5 6. THE FINDS ........................................................................................................ 7 POTTERY .......................................................................................................... 8 CERAMIC BUILDING MATERIAL (CBM) ........................................................... 11 REGISTERED ARTEFACTS .............................................................................. 13 7. THE BIOLOGICAL EVIDENCE .......................................................................... 14 PLANT MACROFOSSILS .................................................................................. 14 8. DISCUSSION ..................................................................................................... 16 9. CA PROJECT TEAM .......................................................................................... 17 10. REFERENCES ................................................................................................... 17 APPENDIX A: CONTEXT LIST ....................................................................................... 19 APPENDIX B: HER ENTRIES ......................................................................................... 23 APPENDIX C: OASIS SUMMARY .................................................................................. 24 APPENDIX D: WSI ......................................................................................................... 26 LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Blank trenchesDRAFT Table 2. Pottery by context and fabric Table 3. Fabric types Table 4. Quantity of pottery by fabric Table 5. Quantity of CBM by context, CBM type and fabric Table 6. Catalogue of struck flint Table 7. Catalogue of heat-altered stone Table 8. Summary of catalogue of the metalwork Registered artefacts © Cotswold Archaeology Land East of Borley Crescent, Elmswell, Suffolk: Archaeological Evaluation Table 9. Material recovered from flot and non-floating residues LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Fig. 1 Site location plan Fig. 2 Site location and HER entries Fig. 3 Trench location Fig. 4 Trench 1, plan sections and photographs Fig. 5 Trench 1, section and photograph Fig. 6 Trench 2, plan, sections and photographs Fig. 7 Trench 12, plan, section and photographs Fig. 8 Trench 14, plan, section and photographs Fig. 9 Trench 17, plan sections and photographs DRAFT © Cotswold Archaeology Land East of Borley Crescent, Elmswell, Suffolk: Archaeological Evaluation SUMMARY Project Name: Land East of Borley Crescent Location: Elmswell, Suffolk NGR: 599390 263990 Type: Evaluation Fieldwork dates: 7th-10th December 2020 Planning Reference: 3469/16 OASIS number: cotswold2-3375075 Location of Archive: To be deposited with SCCAS County Store Site Code: EWL 047 An archaeological evaluation was undertaken by Cotswold Archaeology on land east of Borley Crescent, Elmswell, Suffolk. Three ditches were identified across five trenches, with excavated sections of a west-northwest to east-southeast orientated ditch near the northern edge of the site producing a small assemblage of prehistoric pottery, predominantly Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age Beaker ware, and worked flint. Two ditches in the southern end of the site appeared to be of more recent origin and their alignments suggest that they may have been elements of the same field system. The low density of features and finds suggests minimal past activities within the bounds of the site itself but the prehistoric ceramic assemblage is indicative of domestic waste, and therefore occupation in the vicinity. Although animal bone and environmental evidence which might be expected alongside domestic refuse was notably absent, this may be the result of the poor preservation of organic material. DRAFT 1 © Cotswold Archaeology Land East of Borley Crescent, Elmswell, Suffolk: Archaeological Evaluation 1. INTRODUCTION In December 2020, Cotswold Archaeology (CA) carried out an archaeological evaluation on an area of land east of Borley Crescent, Elmswell, Suffolk (centred at NGR: 599390 263990; Figure 1) for RPS on behalf of Orbit Housing. Planning permission for residential development of the site (ref: 3469/16) required the implementation of a programme of archaeological work in accordance with an approved Written Scheme of Investigation (WSI). The scope of this evaluation was defined by Gemma Stewart of Suffolk County Council Archaeological Service (SCCAS), the archaeological advisor to the Local Planning Authority (LPA), in a Brief dated 18th October 2019. The evaluation was carried out in accordance with a WSI prepared by CA (2020) and approved by Gemma Stewart. The evaluation also complied with Suffolk County Council Requirements for Trenched Archaeological Evaluation (SCCAS 2019), Standard and guidance for archaeological field evaluation (CIfA 2014, revised 2020), Management of Research Projects in the Historic Environment (MoRPHE) PPN 3: Archaeological Excavation (Historic England 2015) and Management of Research Projects in the Historic Environment: The MoRPHE Project Managers' Guide (Historic England 2015). The c.1.8 hectare site lies at approximately 68m AOD on a shallow east-facing slope on the eastern fringes of the village of Elmswell. The site is bounded by housing to the west, a railway line to the south and open fields to the north and east. The surface geology is recorded as Croxton Sand and Gravel Member, a superficial deposit formed up to 2 million years ago in the Quaternary Period in a local environment dominated by ice age conditions. This overlies Crag Group - Sand, a sedimentary bedrock formed approximately 0 to 5 million years ago in the Quaternary and Neogene Periods in a local environment previously dominated by shallow seas (BGS 2020).DRAFT 2. ARCHAEOLOGICAL BACKGROUND The site lies in an area of high archaeological potential recorded on the County Historic Environment Record (HER, invoice no. 9242743). Records within 500m of the site are tabulated as Appendix B and their locations shown on Figure 2 2 © Cotswold Archaeology Land East of Borley Crescent, Elmswell, Suffolk: Archaeological Evaluation The majority of entries in the direct vicinity of the site are associated post-medieval settlement evidence but also include the site of a medieval green (EWL 061). Further afield, scatters of Roman and medieval finds have been recorded and archaeological investigations to the southeast of the site recorded a Roman ditched enclosure and possible kiln along with evidence for Saxon occupation and settlement. 3. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES The objectives of the evaluation were to provide information about the archaeological resource within the site, including its presence/absence, character, extent, date, integrity, state of preservation and quality. In accordance with Standard and Guidance: Archaeological field evaluation (CIfA 2014, revised 2020), the evaluation has been designed to be minimally intrusive and minimally destructive to archaeological remains. The information gathered will enable SCCAS to identify and assess the particular significance of any heritage asset, consider the impact of the proposed development upon it, and to avoid or minimise conflict between the heritage asset’s conservation and any aspect of the development proposal, in line with the National Planning Policy Framework (DCLG 2019). Aims specific to the SCCAS Brief were to: • Identify the date, approximate form and purpose of any archaeological deposit, together with its likely extent, localised depth and quality of preservation. • Evaluate the likely impact of past land uses, and the possible presence of masking colluvial/alluvial deposits. • Establish the potential for the survival of environmental evidence. Provide sufficient information to construct an archaeological conservation strategy, dealing