Mill Covert, Berkswell Quarry, Cornets End Lane, Solihull, West Midlands

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.

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 at 1:1250. A photographic archive record was also made, comprising black and white prints and colour slides.

6 Mill Covert, Berkswell Quarry, Cornets End Lane, Solihull, West Midlands: Archaeological Walkover Survey.

1.4.4 The walkover survey has been assigned the county SMR reference number 10998. Subject to the agreement of the legal landowner the site archive will be deposited with Birmingham City Museum. A copy of the archive will also be offered to the Royal Commission.

1.4.5 As the limited scope of the work restricts its publication value it is anticipated that a short publication note will be suitable for inclusion within an appropriate local archaeological journal.

2 RESULTS

2.1 No archaeological finds or features were recorded within the survey area, with the exception of several known post-medieval/early modern features. No earthworks were encountered to suggest former (medieval or earlier) occupation of the site. In addition there was no discernible surviving evidence of post-medieval ridge and furrow cultivation patterns, although arable cultivation on the site is highlighted by early nineteenth-century cartographic coverage.

2.2 Modern features within the study area included a straggling, linear, upcast bank of sandy soil running alongside the ditched boundary between the eastern (survey area) and the western (Mill Pond) parts of Mill Covert. This intermittent bank represents spoil derived from the excavation and/or periodic cleaning of the adjacent N-S aligned ditch, which runs southwards from a brick culvert at its northern end (suggesting a possible mill leat associated with the adjacent, infilled, pool). A second, broadly E-W, ditch links with this and runs along the southern edge of the Mill Covert. A modern trackway (marked on recent OS 1:10000 map coverage) was also still discernible, although its associated fencing had decayed and fallen.

7 Mill Covert, Berkswell Quarry, Cornets End Lane, Solihull, West Midlands: Archaeological Walkover Survey.

2.3 The only other earthwork features discernible within Mill Covert consisted of a series of shallow mounds and holes representing extant rabbit burrows or badger sets, and several amorphous low mounds (both types of features being concentrated towards the periphery of the wood within OS grid squares F and I). The low mounds were generally 1-2m in length, 0.5-1m in width and 0.20- 0.50m in height (Plate 3). The features were mainly flanked by a slight depression on one side, mirroring the upcast of the mound, and were generally kidney-shaped or oval in plan. In some instances the rotting stump of a tree could be seen projecting horizontally from the mound on the opposite side to the hollow feature, with the consequent implication that the whole feature had formed as a result of windblow.

2.4 Several current examples of fallen trees were noted (Plate 4). On this basis the mounds could confidently be discounted as being of archaeological significance, these characteristic low mounds, formed by the decay of wind- blown trees, having previously been recorded during CAT woodland walkover surveys (Walker 1991)

8 Mill Covert, Berkswell Quarry, Cornets End Lane, Solihull, West Midlands: Archaeological Walkover Survey.

3. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS

3.1 The walkover survey of the proposed Mill Covert quarry extension has revealed no significant archaeological finds or features, recording only the presence of post-medieval/early modern period ditched boundaries. A small number of low, amorphous, mounds were also noted, representing the remains of wind-blown trees and animal burrowing.

3.2 The lack of discernible earthworks during the field assessment, and the previous absence of recorded artefacts or archaeological remains from the site, provides no evidence to suggest that occupation remains lie within Mill Covert. The study area has previously been ploughed, lying as arable fields in the early nineteenth century, and such agricultural landuse is likely to have damaged or removed any earlier remains if ever present.

3.3 The preceding desk-based assessment and recent walkover survey together highlight that, although the site has not been subjected to prolonged modern ploughing, any archaeological remains present would also be extremely vulnerable to damage or destruction as a result of periodic forestry operations (felling, de-stumping and scrub removal) and from long term root penetration. The survival of earlier archaeological remains within this managed woodland was not considered likely to be good (Johnson & Collcutt 1996). The results of the walkover survey now concur with those of the desk-based assessment in identifying no significant archaeological remains to be affected by the proposed quarry extension.

9 Mill Covert, Berkswell Quarry, Cornets End Lane, Solihull, West Midlands: Archaeological Walkover Survey.

4. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Cotswold Archaeological Trust would like to thank Hilary White, jdt; R. Cobb, Environment Services, Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council; Sean Denny, RMC Aggregates (UK) Ltd and Jim Wainwright, Berkswell Quarry, for their assistance throughout the project. The fieldwork was carried out by Alistair Barber and the report compiled by Alistair Barber with illustrations by Richard Morton.

5. BIBLIOGRAPHY

CAT 1998 Land at Mill Covert, Berkswell Quarry, Cornets End Lane, Solihull (West Midlands SMR 10998). Project Design for an Archaeological Walkover Survey.

IFA, 1994 Standard and Guidance for Archaeological Field Evaluations, Institute of Field Archaeologists.

Institute of Geological Sciences, 1977 Quaternary map of the UK South.

Institute of Geological Sciences, 1979 Geological map of the UK South. 3rd Edition. Solid.

Johnson, A.P & Collcutt, S.N, 1996 Proposed extensions to Berkswell Quarry, Mill Covert and Marsh Farm, Metropolitan Borough of Solihull. Archaeological Assessment. Unpublished typescript report, Oxford Archaeological Associates Ltd.

Walker, G, 1991 Brackenbury Ditches Hillfort and Westridge Woods, Gloucestershire. An Archaeological and ecological survey for presentation and management. Cotswold Archaeological Trust typescript report 9156.

Fig. 1 Location plan

10 Mill Covert, Berkswell Quarry, Cornets End Lane, Solihull, West Midlands: Archaeological Walkover Survey.

Fig. 2 The study area

11 Mill Covert, Berkswell Quarry, Cornets End Lane, Solihull, West Midlands: Archaeological Walkover Survey.

Plate 1 General view looking south-west, showing Mill Covert plantation

and worked-out quarry pit immediately to the south.

Plate 2 Mill Covert: showing density of tree cover within plantation

12 Mill Covert, Berkswell Quarry, Cornets End Lane, Solihull, West Midlands: Archaeological Walkover Survey.

Plate 3 Mill Covert: characteristic `low mound’

Plate 4 Mill Covert: example of an extant wind-blown tree