Archaeological Evaluation Report (Area a & B) Land At
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ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVALUATION REPORT (AREA A & B) LAND AT MANYDOWN BASINGSTOKE HAMPSHIRE Confidential and commercially sensitive Issued without Prejudice Planning G Heritage August 2016 Specialist & Independent Advisors to the Property Industry Archaeological Evaluation Report Manydown Farm Basingstoke, Hampshire Areas A and B NGR: SU 6000 5271 / SU 5926 5142 ASE Project No: 160307 Site Code: MAD16 ASE Report No: 2016323 OASIS id: archaeol6-259545 Prepared by: Jake Wilson Archaeologist Reviewed and Dan Swift Project Manager approved by: Date of Issue: August 2016 Revision: 2 Archaeology South-East Units 1 & 2 2 Chapel Place Portslade East Sussex BN41 1DR Tel: 01273 426830 Fax: 01273 420866 Email: [email protected] Archaeology South-East Eval: Manydown Farm, Basingstoke, Hampshire Areas A and B ASE Report No: 2016323 Abstract This report presents the results of an archaeological evaluation carried out between two fields (Areas A and B) by Archaeology South-East at Manydown Farm, Basingstoke between the 24th May - 17th June 2016. The fieldwork was commissioned by CgMs Consulting in advance of the development of the site. There was evidence of a working agricultural landscape that was in use primarily in the late Iron-Age/Roman period with possible earlier phases present. Multiple field boundaries and enclosures surround a large trackway in Area A and a banjo enclosure in Area B. The majority of the finds all date roughly to late Iron-Age/Roman with a small amount of prehistoric and post Roman as well © Archaeology South-East UCL i Archaeology South-East Eval: Manydown Farm, Basingstoke, Hampshire Areas A and B ASE Report No: 2016323 CONTENTS 1.0 Introduction 2.0 Archaeological Background 3.0 Archaeological Methodology 4.0 Results 5.0 The Finds 6.0 The Environmental Samples 7.0 Discussion and Conclusions Bibliography Acknowledgements HER Summary OASIS Form Appendix 1: Quantification of Bulk Finds © Archaeology South-East UCL ii Archaeology South-East Eval: Manydown Farm, Basingstoke, Hampshire Areas A and B ASE Report No: 2016323 TABLES Table 1: Quantification of site archive Table 2: Trench 1 list of recorded contexts Table 3: Trench 2 list of recorded contexts Table 4: Trench 3 list of recorded contexts Table 5: Trench 4 list of recorded contexts Table 6: Trench 5 list of recorded contexts Table 7: Trench 6 list of recorded contexts Table 8: Trench 7 list of recorded contexts Table 9: Trench 8 list of recorded contexts Table 10: Trench 9 list of recorded contexts Table 11: Trench 10 list of recorded contexts Table 12: Trench 11 list of recorded contexts Table 13: Trench 12 list of recorded contexts Table 14: Trench 13 list of recorded contexts Table 15: Trench 14 list of recorded contexts Table 16: Trench 15 list of recorded contexts Table 17: Trench 16 list of recorded contexts Table 18: Trench 17 list of recorded contexts Table 19: Trench 18 list of recorded contexts Table 20: Trench 19 list of recorded contexts Table 21: Trench 20 list of recorded contexts Table 22: Trench 21 list of recorded contexts Table 23: Trench 22 list of recorded contexts Table 24: Trench 23 list of recorded contexts Table 25: Trench 24 list of recorded contexts Table 26: Trench 25 list of recorded contexts Table 27: Trench 26 list of recorded contexts Table 28: Trench 27 list of recorded contexts Table 29: Trench 28 list of recorded contexts Table 30: Trench 29 list of recorded contexts Table 31: Trench 30 list of recorded contexts Table 32: Trench 31 list of recorded contexts Table 33: Pottery fabric codes and descriptions for 160307 Manydown, Basingstoke Table 34: CBM fabric descriptions for Manydown, Basingstoke Table 35: NISP (Number of Identified Specimens) count Table 36: The registered finds. Table 37: Environmental sample quantity report © Archaeology South-East UCL iii Archaeology South-East Eval: Manydown Farm, Basingstoke, Hampshire Areas A and B ASE Report No: 2016323 FIGURES Figure 1: Site location on map Figure 2: Location of Areas A and B Figure 3: Trench plan for Area A Figure 4: Trench plan for Area B Figure 5: Trench 1: Plan, Section and photographs Figure 6: Trench 2: Plan, sections and photograph Figure 7: Trench 3: Plan, sections and photograph Figure 8: Trench 4: Plan, sections and photographs Figure 9: Trench 5: Plan, sections and photograph Figure 10: Trench 6: Plan, sections and photographs Figure 11: Trench 7: Plan, sections and photographs Figure 12: Trench 8: Plan and photograph Figure 13: Trench 9: Plan, section and photographs Figure 14: Trench 10: Plan, sections and photograph Figure 15: Trench 11: Plan, sections and photographs Figure 16: Trench 12: Plan, section and photographs Figure 17: Trench 13: Plan, sections and photographs Figure 18: Trench 14: Plan, sections and photographs Figure 19: Trench 15: Plan, and photographs Figure 20: Trench 16; Plan, section and photographs Figure 21: Trench 17 Plan and photographs Figure 22: Trench 18 Plan, sections and photographs Figure 23: Trench 19 Plan and photographs Figure 24: Trench 20 Plan, section and photographs Figure 25: Trench 21 Plan, sections and photographs Figure 26: Trench 22 Plan, sections and photographs Figure 27: Trench 23 Plan, sections and photographs Figure 28: Trench 24 Plan, sections and photographs Figure 29: Trench 25 Plan, sections and photographs Figure 30: Trench 26 Plan, sections and photographs Figure 31: Trench 27 Plan, sections and photographs Figure 32: Trench 28 Plan, sections and photographs Figure 33: Trench 29 Plan, sections and photographs Figure 34: Trench 30 Plan, sections and photographs Figure 35: Trench 31 Plan, sections and photographs © Archaeology South-East UCL iv Archaeology South-East Eval: Manydown Farm, Basingstoke, Hampshire Areas A and B ASE Report No: 2016323 1.0 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Site Background 1.1.1 Archaeology South-East (ASE) was commissioned by CgMs to undertake an archaeological evaluation on land at Manydown Farm, Basingstoke, Hampshire consisting of Area A (centred on NGR SU 5926 5142) and Area B (centred on NGR SU 6000 5271) see Figure 1. 1.1.2 During this phase of work a third area ‘Catern Crossroads Scheduled Monument’ was also investigated. This archaeological investigation is reported on separately (ASE 2016). 1.2 Geology and Topography 1.2.1 The British Geological Survey online (2016) indicates that the solid geology of the site comprises of Chalk derived from various formations. Localised deposits of superficial Clay with Flints Formation occur north of Worting Road and south of Pack Lane. 1.2.2 A small scale archaeological evaluation in the north-east corner of the site, in vicinity of Catern Crossroads, recorded the presence of a topsoil horizon 0.25m thick, directly overlying the chalk bedrock (Tempvs Reparatvm 1993). 1.2.3 Archaeological monitoring of pipeline excavations to the north of Worting Road within the western part of the site recorded an average soil profile consisting of c0.30m depth of topsoil, overlying c0.50m of subsoil sealing natural chalk (Network Archaeology 2009). 1.2.4 The topography of the site is undulating, with the highest ground lying close to the north-east site boundary at approximately 136m Above Ordnance Datum (AOD). The ground gradually drops away to the south-east, decreasing to an average of 116m AOD. 1.2.5 No watercourses or naturally occurring water courses have been identified within the site boundary. 1.3 Planning Background 1.3.1 It is proposed to develop land at Manydown, Basingstoke, Hampshire centred at SU 5927 5200 (Figure. 1). Following a geophysical survey of the site, it has been determined that a programme of archaeological trial trenching will be required in order to investigate concentrations of possible archaeological features identified and to establish the significance of such remains prior to determination of a proposed outline planning application for the site. 1.4 Scope of Report 1.4.1 This report details the findings of the archaeological evaluation carried out between 31st May to the 15th June 2016. The archaeological work was undertaken by Jake Wilson and Garett Sheehan (Archaeologist) with James Best, Letty smith, Chloe Ward, Richard Turnball, and Johnny Gardner © Archaeology South-East UCL 1 Archaeology South-East Eval: Manydown Farm, Basingstoke, Hampshire Areas A and B ASE Report No: 2016323 (Assistant Archaeologists) with survey done by Vasilis Tsamis and John Cook. The project was managed by Paul Mason (fieldwork) and by Jim Stevenson and Dan Swift (post-excavation). 2.0 ARCHAEOLOGICAL BACKGROUND The following background material primarily derives from the Archaeological Desk Based Assessment (CGMS 2016a) for the site. 2.1 Palaeolithic 2.1.1 The Palaeolithic in Hampshire primarily derives from the study of worked stone tools, which have been discovered across the County. The greatest potential for inorth-southitu remains dating to this period derive from the Solent Basin and raised beached deposits within the south of the County. Restricted Palaeolithic evidence is associated with the Downland drift geology particularly around Basingstoke, and it has been suggested that there is the potential for relatively undisturbed contexts in this area, particularly on the clay with flint deposits. 2.1.2 A small number of isolated Palaeolithic artefacts have been recorded within the Site. One handaxe is listed on the ABHR as being recovered in proximity to Wortingwood Farm (19454, SU 460400 153000) in the northeast of the Site. Three handaxes and flake were found to the east of Worting in 1968, in the eastern part of the Site (59189, SU 460100 151900). A number of non-descript Palaeolithic worked flakes are recorded from the central area of the Site (20812, SU 459800 152320). 2.1.3 A scatter of Palaeolithic artefacts have been found at intervals within the Study Area. Four palaeoliths were found near Peveral Walk approximately 1.2km to the east of the Site (19450, SU 461750 151600), while a handaxe recovered a short distance to the south of this (59199, SU 461300 150800), and another handaxe was discovered on Worting Road Allotments (19452, SU 460000 151000) immediately to the southeast of the Site.