Archaeological Recording on the Route of the Llanforda to Pant Pumping Main by Hugh Hannaford Archaeology Service Community and Economic Services ARCHAEOLOGICAL RECORDING ON THE ROUTE OF THE LLANFORDA TO PANT PUMPING MAIN by HUGH HANNAFORD A Report for SEVERN TRENT WATER Archaeology Service Report Number 110 © Shropshire County Council April 1997 Winston Churchill Building, Radbrook Centre, Radbrook Road, Shrewsbury , Shropshire SY3 9BJ Tel. (01743) 254018 Archaeological Recording on the Route of the Llanforda to Pant Pumping Main CONTENTS Page No 1 INTRODUCTION 2 2 THE WATCHING BRIEF 3 2.1 The Archaeological Background 3 2.2 Agricultural Features 3 2.3 Mining Sites and Tramways 4 2.4 Conclusions 6 3 THE EXCAVATION AT LLANYMYNECH HILLFORT 7 3.1 Archaeological Background 7 3.2 The Study Area 7 3.3 The Excavations 8 3.4 Conclusions 9 4 REFERENCES AND SOURCES CONSULTED 11 5 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 12 ILLUSTRATIONS Fig. 1: Site 3 - earthwork features recorded during site works Fig. 2: Sites 8 & 16 Fig. 3: Features recorded in the Llynclys Pool area (site 10) Fig. 4: Site 6 - tramway seen during works in Red Pit Field Fig. 5: Site 9; course of tramway uncovered during works Fig. 6: Llynclys Crossroads, showing tramway (site 12) seen during works Fig. 7: Llanymynech Hillfort (site 15) - location of excavations Fig. 8: Llanymynech Hillfort - site plan showing excavated area (1:200 scale), and location of Fig. 9a: [a-b] and Fig. 9b: [b-c]. Fig. 9: Llanymynech Hillfort - north-facing section through middle rampart (a) and ditch (b) 1 Archaeological Recording on the Route of the Llanforda to Pant Pumping Main 1 INTRODUCTION In 1996-7, Severn Trent Engineering installed a new 350mm pumping main between the Llanforda Treatment Works, Oswestry, and the Pant Service Reservoir. The new main ran in a north/south direction for 9km through an area known to be rich in archaeological remains ranging in date from the prehistoric to the industrial periods, and it was known that its construction would directly affect a number of known archaeological sites, including a scheduled monument (Llanymynech Hillfort). In view of the archaeological significance of the area traversed by the proposed water- main, the Archaeology Service, Shropshire County Council, was commissioned by Severn Trent Engineering to undertake an archaeological evaluation of the route; the study area was defined as a band 30m wide along the entire route of the proposed new water-main. This was carried out during October 1995. The evaluation identified a total of 15 sites within or immediately adjacent to the study area; eleven of these sites would be directly affected by the construction of the new main (although slight re-alignments of the route subsequently reduced this number to eight). It was subsequently agreed that an archaeological watching brief would provide adequate archaeological provision for the majority of these sites. However, the scheduled monument consent for the works through the English portion of the statutorily protected areas of Llanymynech Hillfort required that a programme of further archaeological investigation and recording be carried out prior to the commencement of groundworks. This report details the results of both the watching brief and the archaeological investigation at Llanymynech Hillfort. 2 Archaeological Recording on the Route of the Llanforda to Pant Pumping Main 2 THE WATCHING BRIEF 2.1 The Archaeological Background The northern half of the route for the new water-main ran across country through an area of mixed agricultural land. In the 18th and 19th centuries this area between Trefonen and Morda was also the site of extensive mining operations. Just to the south of Morda the new water-main met the A483 Oswestry to Welshpool road; from here the pipeline followed the road as far as the village of Pant. At Pant, the new water-main left the main road and headed west until it reached the Pant Service Reservoir on Llanymynech Hill, where the scars left by extensive quarrying for limestone are readily apparent and a number of former limekilns survive. The canals, railways, and tramways which serviced this industry are still a feature of the landscape. Quarrying for aggregates is still carried out at nearby Llynclys Hill. 2.2 Agricultural Features 2.2.1 The evaluation identified a series of slight earthwork features (site 3, Fig. 1) in an area to the east and south of Pen-y-Llan, between SJ 2805 2880 and SJ 2807 2835. At the southern end of the field that was formerly the grounds of Penyllan Mansion, a number of shallow dry ditches were noted, similar to those recorded in 1993 in the neighbouring Maes-y-Llan field (SA4626). The ditches were between 1m - 2m in width and about 0.2m deep. Some of these features are almost certainly part of the same pre-19th-century field system; others may represent silted up drainage ditches. Further shallow dry ditches were seen in the field on the other side of Penyllan Lane (Gate Leasow). The water-main cut across three of these features in Pen-y-Llan field; their course within the works corridor was recorded on plan following the removal of topsoil from the site. 19th-century bottle glass and pottery was seen in the fill of the northernmost of these features. In Gate Leasow, the field on the south side of Penylan Lane, a further shallow dry ditch was seen to mark the southwestern edge of a track surfaced with cobbles and pebbles. A few fragments of 18th/19th-century black slipware pottery was seen embedded into this surface. Lime, brick fragments, and sherds of 19th-century china were also present on the southwestern edge of the track. A mature sycamore tree was growing in the hedgerow over the crown of this track at its junction with Penylan Lane. A low bank 0.4m high, ran across the middle of Gate Leasow on a southwest /northeast alignment, marking the course of a former field boundary, shown on the 1954 revision of the OS 1:10,560 map (Sheet SJ 22NE). 2.2.2 About 65m to the south of The Hollies at SJ 28740 27062, the removal of the topsoil from the works corridor revealed two sides of a small enclosure or yard boundary (Fig. 2; site 16). The feature consisted of a double row of large cobbles and boulders set in the subsoil, about 12.5m long and aligned southeast - northwest; at its northwestern end there was a return about 2m long to the northeast. An area of cobbles, possibly a yard surface, lay at its southeastern end. Although these features could not be directly dated, a small quantity of post-medieval slipware pottery was 3 Archaeological Recording on the Route of the Llanforda to Pant Pumping Main recovered from the surface of the subsoil in the vicinity. 2.2.3 On the west side of the B5069 Morda road, at SJ 2885 2685, a former enclosure of about 8ha in extent was recorded by the evaluation (Fig. 2; site 8). The western boundary of this enclosure was marked by a substantial bank 120 metres long and up to 1m high. A number of red sandstone blocks and cobbles were seen to be incorporated into this bank. The southern end was marked by a slighter (c. 0.25m high) bank, which ran eastwards for about 50 metres toward the Morda road before returning northward to the Nant-y-Caws brook, which formed the northern and northeastern boundary of the field. In the early nineteenth century the field was subdivided into a number of smaller crofts and fields (Fieldname map based on Tithe Apportionment and Map, SRRC 3375/99), and the enclosure would appear to predate these. The water-main which would originally have cut diagonally across the enclosure, was re-routed slightly to the west, thus avoiding it. A dry ditch running west from the southwestern corner of the enclosure towards a coppice - through which ran a tramway connecting the Red Pit coalworkings (site 6) and the Montgomery Canal (SA927). The ditch was sectioned after the topsoil stripping of the works corridor. It was seen to be u-shaped in profile and 1.2m wide by 0.4m deep; its fill produced finds of 18th/19th-century glass and pottery. As with the earthworks of the enclosure itself, the ditch is not represented as a boundary on the 1839 tithe map, and is therefore presumably of earlier date. 2.2.4 The new main cut through the western edge of the field to the west of Llynclys Pool (Fig. 3; site 10; SJ 285 243) , alongside the A483 Oswestry - Welshpool road, before turning due south to cross a former railway line and the B4396 Llynclys - Knockin road. In the 19th century the field to the west of the pool was divided into two separate fields, Cae Ty Felly and Cae Tan y Fordd (fieldname map based on 1846-7 Tithe Award and map, SRRC 4261/T/1). The boundary between these former fields still survives as a double bank and ditch; the course of the new main cut across the western end of this feature. To the south of this former boundary, in the former Cae Tan y Fordd field were the remains of ridge and furrow ploughing. The ridges were less than 0.2m high and were spaced at c.2m intervals, and were probably of post-medieval date. The new main cut due south diagonally across these earthworks. 2.2.5 A possible track or tramway marked by a band of charcoal flecks and cinders 1.5m wide, ran approximately east-southeast towards Llynclys Pool from the main road, about 5m south of the former field boundary between Cae Ty Felly and Cae Tan y Fordd.