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Castle Eaton Farm Castle Eaton Wiltshire CASTLE EATON FARM CASTLE EATON WILTSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXCAVATION For BACH HOMES on behalf of MOZART HOMES LTD CA REPORT: 07079 JULY 2007 CASTLE EATON FARM CASTLE EATON WILTSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXCAVATION CA PROJECT: 2280 CA REPORT: 07079 Author: David Kenyon Approved: Laurent Coleman Signed: ……………………………………………………………. Issue: 01 Date: 16 July 2007 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. © Cotswold Archaeology Building 11, Kemble Enterprise Park, Kemble, Cirencester, Gloucestershire, GL7 6BQ Tel. 01285 771022 Fax. 01285 771033 E-mail: [email protected] Castle Eaton Farm, Castle Eaton, Wiltshire: Archaeological Excavation © Cotswold Archaeology CONTENTS SUMMARY........................................................................................................................ 2 1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................. 3 The site ................................................................................................................ 3 Archaeological background.................................................................................. 4 Archaeological objectives .................................................................................... 5 Methodology ........................................................................................................ 5 2. RESULTS ............................................................................................................ 6 Trench 1............................................................................................................... 6 Trench 2............................................................................................................... 6 The Finds ............................................................................................................. 7 3. DISCUSSION....................................................................................................... 7 4. CA PROJECT TEAM ........................................................................................... 7 5. REFERENCES .................................................................................................... 8 APPENDIX 1: CONTEXT DESCRIPTIONS...................................................................... 9 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Fig. 1 Site location plan (1:25,000) Fig. 2 Trench location plan (1:1000) Fig. 3 Plan of Trench 1 (1:100) and Sections (1:20) 1 Castle Eaton Farm, Castle Eaton, Wiltshire: Archaeological Excavation © Cotswold Archaeology SUMMARY Site Name: Castle Eaton Farm Location: Castle Eaton, Wiltshire NGR: SU 1443 9566 Type: Excavation Date: 25-26 June 2007 Planning Reference: S/06/1466 Location of Archive: Swindon Museum Site Code: CEF 07 An archaeological excavation was undertaken by Cotswold Archaeology in June 2007 at the request of Bach Homes on the behalf of Mozart Homes Ltd at Castle Eaton Farm, Castle Eaton, Wiltshire. Two trenches were excavated adjacent to newly constructed buildings on the site. The footing of an undated stone-built wall was uncovered in Trench 2, on the south-western side of the site, as well as a number of contemporary structural features. The alignment of the wall suggests that it was associated with the farm buildings formerly present on the site. No finds, features or deposits of archaeological interest were identified. 2 Castle Eaton Farm, Castle Eaton, Wiltshire: Archaeological Excavation © Cotswold Archaeology 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 In June 2007 Cotswold Archaeology (CA) carried out an archaeological excavation for Bach Homes on the behalf of Mozart Homes Ltd at Castle Eaton Farm, Castle Eaton, Wiltshire (centred on NGR: SU 1443 9566; Fig. 1). An application (ref: S/06/1466) had been approved for development of new housing at Castle Eaton Farm, with a condition attached requiring a programme of archaeological recording. The excavation of the groundworks was largely undertaken prior to the appointment of an archaeological contractor and at a site meeting with Roy Canham, County Archaeologist, Wiltshire County Council (WCC) and Liz Smith (Swindon Borough Council) on the 4 January 2007 it was decided to undertake additional archaeological excavation (two trenches) in order to offset the potential unrecorded loss of any archaeological remains. 1.2 The excavation was carried out in accordance with a detailed Written Scheme of Investigation (WSI) (CA2007) approved by the Local Planning Authority (LPA) acting on the advice of Roy Canham, prior to the commencement of fieldwork. This WSI was guided in its composition by the Standard and Guidance for archaeological excavation (IFA 2001), the Statement of Standards and Practices Appropriate for Archaeological Field work in Wiltshire (WCC 1995) and the Management of Archaeological Projects (English Heritage 1991). The site 1.3 The proposed development area encloses an area of approximately 2000m², mostly contained within the area of the pre-existing farmyard. The farm lies on the western periphery of the village of Castle Eaton on the south side of Mill Lane, 100m south of the River Thames. The site lies at approximately 79m AOD, and is flat. There are however noticeable earthworks throughout the field to the south of the development area. 1.4 The underlying geology of the area is mapped as First Terrace Deposits of the Pleistocene and Recent periods, associated with the River Thames (BGS 1974). The excavation revealed natural deposits comprising gravel, sand and clay. 3 Castle Eaton Farm, Castle Eaton, Wiltshire: Archaeological Excavation © Cotswold Archaeology 1.5 At the time of the excavation the development area itself was occupied by the partially completed houses comprising the new development. The two excavation trenches were placed adjacent to these buildings. Archaeological background 1.6 The site lies in a rich and diverse archaeological landscape and the fields surrounding the village display an extensive system of cropmarks visible from aerial photographs. Information from the Sites and Monuments Record (SMR) suggested that no early prehistoric activity has been recorded within the immediate area of the site although cropmark ring ditches that possibly represent the remains of Bronze Age burial mounds lie approximately 400m to the south east of the site (SMR ref. no. SU19NW601). Cropmarks continue to the east where an Iron Age hut surrounded by a circular palisaded trench was excavated at Blackford Lane (SU19NE200). Further Iron Age activity was excavated at Marston Meysey where extensive settlement evidence was found (SU19NW205). From within the village of Castle Eaton, Iron age pottery has been recovered from St Mary’s churchyard (SU19NW200). Undated enclosure cropmarks 500m to the north of the site of the proposed development (SU19NW638 and the adjacent SU19NW639) may also be of Iron Age or of Roman date. 1.7 The Roman road of Ermine Street runs approximately 3km to the south west of the site and the area was extensively settled in the Roman period. Possible settlement within the area of the village is indicated by the recovery of numerous sherds of Romano-British pottery and some coins at two locations 170m and 250m distance from the site of the proposed development (SU19NW301/302). A decorated 6th-7th century horse-bit was found to the north of the village (SU19NW400), where a complex of cropmarks suggest typical Saxon settlement activity close to the River Thames (SU19 NW650). A focus of medieval settlement appears to be round the site of St Mary’s church, where a medieval cross-shaft (SU19NW452) and 13th-14th century pottery has been recovered (SU19NW454). Reference to the early place- name of ‘Ettone’ in 1086 would suggest pre-conquest origins (SU19NW451). 1.8 An archaeological evaluation, comprising the excavation of a single evaluation trench immediately to the south-east of the development area, identified an undated ditch and three ditches dating to the medieval period, one of which contained evidence for post-settings (CA 2004). 4 Castle Eaton Farm, Castle Eaton, Wiltshire: Archaeological Excavation © Cotswold Archaeology Archaeological objectives 1.9 The academic objectives of the programme of archaeological recording were: i) To ensure that a full and detailed archaeological record of the site is compiled. ii) To elucidate the chronology and phasing of the archaeological remains and establish the form, function, character and status of the activity on the site thus represented. The information compiled will form the basis of a detailed report. Methodology 1.10 Two trenches were excavated in the locations shown on Fig. 2. Trench 1 was 30m in length and 2m in width and Trench 2 was 10m in length and 2m in width. A contingency for up to a further 20% of this area (i.e. 16m²) was allowed for the further investigation of any archaeological features of particular interest which might be identified at the margins of either of the excavation areas. In the event this contingency was not required. The 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
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