Mill Covert, Berkswell Quarry, Cornets End Lane, Solihull, West Midlands
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
MILL COVERT, BERKSWELL QUARRY, CORNETS END LANE, SOLIHULL, WEST MIDLANDS ARCHAEOLOGICAL WALKOVER SURVEY C.A.T JOB: 0818 C.A.T REPORT: 98969 DECEMBER 1998 This report has been researched and compiled with all reasonable skill, care, and attention to detail within the terms of the project as specified by the Client and within the general terms and conditions of Cotswold Archaeological Trust Ltd. The Trust shall not be liable for any inaccuracy, error or omission in the report or other documents produced as part of the Consultancy and no liability is accepted for any claim, loss or damage howsoever arising from any opinion stated or conclusion or other material contained in this report or other documents supplied as part of the Consultancy. This report is confidential to the Client. Cotswold Archaeological Trust Ltd accept no responsibility whatsoever to third parties to whom this report, or any part of it is made known. Any such party relies upon this report entirely at their own risk. © Cotswold Archaeological Trust Headquarters Building, Kemble Business Park, Cirencester, Gloucestershire, GL7 6BQ Tel. 01285 771022 Fax. 01285 771033 Mill Covert, Berkswell Quarry, Cornets End Lane, Solihull, West Midlands: Archaeological Walkover Survey. CONTENTS CONTENTS ................................................................................................................... 1 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ......................................................................................... 2 LIST OF PLATES .......................................................................................................... 2 SUMMARY ................................................................................................................... 3 1. INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................... 4 1.1 Introduction .................................................................................................... 4 1.2 Landuse, geology and topography .................................................................. 4 1.3 Archaeological background ............................................................................ 5 1.4 Archaeological specification and methodology .............................................. 6 2 RESULTS ................................................................................................................... 7 3. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS ...................................................................... 9 4. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ..................................................................................... 10 5. BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................................................................................... 10 1 Mill Covert, Berkswell Quarry, Cornets End Lane, Solihull, West Midlands: Archaeological Walkover Survey. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS FIG. 1 LOCATION PLAN 10 FIG. 2 THE STUDY AREA 11 LIST OF PLATES PLATE 1 GENERAL VIEW LOOKING SOUTH-WEST, SHOWING MILL COVERT PLANTATION AND WORKED-OUT QUARRY PIT IMMEDIATELY TO THE SOUTH. 12 PLATE 2 MILL COVERT: SHOWING DENSITY OF TREE COVER WITHIN PLANTATION 12 PLATE 3 MILL COVERT: CHARACTERISTIC `LOW MOUND’ 13 PLATE 4 MILL COVERT: EXAMPLE OF AN EXTANT WIND-BLOWN TREE 13 2 Mill Covert, Berkswell Quarry, Cornets End Lane, Solihull, West Midlands: Archaeological Walkover Survey. SUMMARY An archaeological field survey was undertaken by Cotswold Archaeological Trust in December 1998 in advance of a proposed extension to Berkswell Quarry, Cornets End Lane, Solihull, West Midlands. Fieldwork involved an archaeological walkover of Mill Covert, an area of mixed deciduous and pine woodland. The plantation lies close to two recorded sites of archaeological interest, Mercote Mill and Mercote Mill Farm, recorded on the Solihull Metropolitan Borough Sites and Monument Record (SMR). Mill Covert has been under plantation for over a century, and subject neither to the usual agencies of archaeological detection or to the destructive effect of modern ploughing regimes. No archaeological features or finds were encountered however during the walkover survey, the few low earthworks recorded on the site reflecting the former presence of wind-blown trees and extant animal burrows. 3 Mill Covert, Berkswell Quarry, Cornets End Lane, Solihull, West Midlands: Archaeological Walkover Survey. 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 Introduction 1.1.1 In November 1998 Cotswold Archaeological Trust was commissioned by RMC Aggregates (UK) Ltd to undertake an archaeological walkover survey of land at Mill Covert, Berkswell Quarry, Cornets End Lane, Solihull, West Midlands (NGR SP 2280 8063, Fig. 1). 1.1.2 The survey was undertaken in accordance with a detailed project design produced by CAT in consultation with Hilary White, Planning Archaeologist, Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council (CAT 1998). The fieldwork was also guided by the `Standard and Guidance for Archaeological Evaluations’ issued by the Institute of Field Archaeologists (IFA 1994). 1.1.3 A planning application (ref. 98/638) has been submitted to Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council by The RMC Group for two proposed quarry extensions at Mill Covert and Marsh Farm. This report is concerned only with the proposed extension at Mill Covert, the eastern half of which is under plantation. It is this eastern half of the proposed extension which is the subject of the walkover survey. 1.2 Landuse, geology and topography 1.2.1 The study area lies approximately 7km NE of Solihull and 3km SW of Meriden village, to the east of the A452 between Mercote Mill Farm and Cornets End. The survey area is bordered to the north and east by farmland, to the south by a worked-out gravel pit and to the west by an infilled and wooded mill pond adjoining Mercote Mill Farm. 1.2.2 Mill Covert is approximately 4ha in size and consists of closely-spaced deciduous and pine plantation (Plates 1 and 2). The woodland is clear of 4 Mill Covert, Berkswell Quarry, Cornets End Lane, Solihull, West Midlands: Archaeological Walkover Survey. excessive undergrowth although both fallen and felled trees are present, the ground is covered by a humic layer of leaf mould and pine needles and in places is rather obscured by bramble and fern. 1.2.3 The solid geology of the study area is mapped as Triassic mudstone, including Keuper Marl deposits, overlain by quaternary deposits of sand and gravel (Institute of Geological Sciences, 1977, 1979). The sandy-loam topsoil within the Mill Covert extension is recorded as being no thicker than 0.60m (Johnson & Collcutt 1996). 1.2.4 The survey area lies in an area of relatively gentle topography, ground level rising from approximately 92m OD at the western edge of the Mill Covert to approximately 97 m OD at its eastern limit. 1.3 Archaeological background 1.3.1 A comprehensive desk-based assessment has been undertaken for both the Marsh Farm and Mill Covert application areas, setting out the archaeological background to the study area (Johnson & Collcutt 1996). In summary the Mill Covert quarry application affects a recorded site of archaeological interest in the form of the eighteenth-century or earlier Mercote Mill (county SMR no. 3113), as well as lying adjacent to the seventeenth-century Mercote Mill Farmhouse (SMR no. 122). 1.3.2 The 1808 enclosure map shows a `Mill Pool’ to the west of the site with the study area itself as part of two small arable fields, Great and Little M(owl) fields. By the late 1880s this area appears to have been deliberately planted. As the Mill Covert has been under plantation for over a century, and not subject to the usual agencies of archaeological detection, the potential existed for the good survival of archaeological deposits such as earthwork features. 5 Mill Covert, Berkswell Quarry, Cornets End Lane, Solihull, West Midlands: Archaeological Walkover Survey. 1.3.3 The OS first edition 25″ map of 1883 shows a lateral east-west division between the former fields still mapped, whilst the OS 6″ map of 1886 records a boat house situated adjacent to and associated with the mill pond, and the presence of mixed woodland. The OS 1946 and 1955 maps show an earlier enclosure close to the track, whilst post-war aerial photographic coverage records a decline in size of the mill pond after the mill ceased production in the 1940s (Johnson and Collcutt, op.cit). 1.4 Archaeological specification and methodology 1.4.1 The walkover survey was suggested in the desk-based assessment of the site, the requirements of which were discussed with the Planning Archaeologist for Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council. 1.4.2 The principal objective of the survey was to gather sufficient information on the presence and nature of the archaeological resource within the proposed development area to assist in the formulation of proposals for further investigation or appropriate mitigation measures. 1.4.3 The field survey was carried out in accordance with a detailed project design (CAT 1998). The study area was surveyed by a CAT Project Officer, systematically walking from south to north the part and full hectare squares of the OS National Grid (marked as grid squares A to I on Figure 2). Any details which might have a bearing on the interpretation of the recorded results (field conditions/undergrowth, local topography, weather, etc.) were entered on pro- forma record sheets for each survey square. Archaeological deposits where identified were to be recorded by written description, by measured sketch plan at 1:50 scale and by plotting features onto an overall site plan