Former Klondyke Works, Newtown Road, Ashford, Kent
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Archaeological Desk-Based Assessment in Advance of the Proposed Development at the Former Klondyke Works, Newtown Road, Ashford, Kent. September 2019 Archaeological Desk-Based Assessment in Advance of the Proposed Development at the Former Klondyke Works at Newtown Road, Ashford, Kent. National Grid Reference TR 01546 41661 Report for Pascoe Property Developers Ltd Date of Report: 18th September 2019 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 Development of land at the former Klondyke Works, Newtown Road, Ashford, 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 .......................................................................................... 8 2.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................8 2.2 National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) ..............................................................9 2.3 Local Policies ............................................................................................................ 10 3 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES ............................................................................................ 13 3.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 13 3.2 Desk-Based Assessment – Chartered Institute for Archaeologists (2017) .............. 13 4 METHODOLOGY ...................................................................................................... 14 4.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 14 4.2 Sources .................................................................................................................... 15 5 ARCHAOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT .................................................. 16 5.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 16 5.2 Designated Heritage Assets ..................................................................................... 17 5.3 Previous Archaeological Works ............................................................................... 18 5.4 Archaeological and Historical Narrative .................................................................. 22 5.5 Cartographic Sources and Map Regression ............................................................. 26 5.6 Aerial Photographs .................................................................................................. 29 5.7 Walkover Survey ...................................................................................................... 30 5.8 Summary of Potential .............................................................................................. 30 6 IMPACT ASSESSMENT .............................................................................................. 33 6.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 33 6.2 Historic Impacts ....................................................................................................... 34 7 SIGNIFICANCE ......................................................................................................... 35 7.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 35 7.2 Significance Criteria ................................................................................................. 35 8 ARCHAEOLOGICAL MITIGATION ............................................................................... 37 8.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 37 9 OTHER CONSIDERATIONS ........................................................................................ 37 9.1 Archive ..................................................................................................................... 37 9.2 Reliability/Limitations of Sources ............................................................................ 38 9.3 Copyright ................................................................................................................. 38 10 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................ 39 10.1 Bibliographic .................................................................................................... 39 10.2 Websites .......................................................................................................... 39 11 APPENDIX 1 – KCC HER Data (see Figures 12-15). ................................................... 49 3 Development of land at the former Klondyke Works, Newtown Road, Ashford, 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 2013 Plate 6. Aerial photograph from 2017 Plate 7. View of the PDA (facing W) Plate 8. View of the PDA (facing SW) Plate 9. View of the PDA eastern boundary (facing S) List of Figures Fig.1 Site location map, scale 1:640,000, 1:20,000, 1:1250. Fig.2 Proposed Plan Fig.3 Andrews, Dury and Herbert map from 1767 Fig.4 Hasted, 1798 Fig.5 Ordnance Surveyors Drawing, 1797 Fig.6 1842 Tithe Map Fig.7 Historic mapping OS 1872 Fig.8 Historic mapping OS 1896 Fig.9 Historic mapping OS 1908 Fig.10 Historic mapping OS 1931 Fig.11 Historic mapping OS 1938 Fig.12 Gazetteer of KHER Monuments Fig.13 KHER Monuments Map Fig.14 KHER Historic Landscape Character Fig.15 KHER Stour Palaeolithic Areas 4 Development of land at the former Klondyke Works, Newtown Road, Ashford, Kent Archaeological Desk-Based Assessment Archaeological Desk-Based Assessment in Advance of the proposed development of Land at the Former Klondyke Works, Newtown Road, Ashford, Kent. Summary SWAT Archaeology has been commissioned by Pascoe Property Developers Ltd to prepare an Archaeological Desk-Based Assessment of the proposed development area (PDA) of land at the former Klondyke Works, Newtown Road, Ashford, 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 • Medieval: low • Post-Medieval: high • Modern: low The PDA is situated in the south east area of Ashford known as Newtown on the western side of Newtown Road and covers an area of 2.4 acres of the former Klondyke Carriage works for the Ashford Railway Works. The centre of Ashford is circa 1km to the north west. The western side of the PDA is bordered by the railway line from Ashford towards Hastings. To the south is Newton School and the west and north Newtown Road, with the surviving railway works on the opposite side of Newtown Road. The site lies on the western side of the East Stour river valley and was previously and area of pasture prior to the Railway Works. The Stour, has been an attraction for millennia. Evidence from Palaeolithic and Neolithic period have been found along the Stour, especially in the area to the north of Ashford around the Conningbrook quarry. South and south east of Ashford has found evidence of the Mesolithic, Bronze Age, Iron Age and Roman although within the PDA assessment area, there is little by 5 Development of land at the former Klondyke Works, Newtown Road, Ashford, Kent Archaeological Desk-Based Assessment way of below ground archaeology. Much of the KHER records in the assessment area are dominated by known locations of the Post Medieval demolished Railway Works buildings or surviving Grade II listed buildings. The PDA does not affect their significance which is for reasons that are historical and aesthetical. Map regressions confirms that the PDA has been used for agricultural land as pasture from at least the Medieval period until the arrival of the Railway Works at the PDA in 1898 and its subsequent demolition in 2010. Therefore, any impact on surviving archaeological remains from prior to the Post Medieval period is likely to have been high. Aside from any below ground archaeology relating to the Klondyke Works, the PDA has low potential for all other periods. The site potentially has