Yew Tree Farm Twigworth, Gloucester Gloucestershire Archaeological Evaluation
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Yew Tree Farm Twigworth, Gloucester Gloucestershire Archaeological Evaluation for Hunter Page Planning ltd on behalf of Mr G Peters CA Project: 4477 CA Report: 13515 August 2013 Yew Tree Farm Twigworth, Gloucester Gloucestershire Archaeological Evaluation CA Project: 4477 CA Report: 13515 prepared by Alistair Barber, Senior Project Officer date 16 August 2013 Cliff Bateman, Principal Fieldwork Manager checked by date 27 August 2013 approved by Laurent Coleman, Principal Fieldwork Manager signed date 30 August 2013 issue 01 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 Cirencester Milton Keynes Andover Building 11 Unit 4 Office 49 Kemble Enterprise Park Cromwell Business Centre Basepoint Business Centre Kemble, Cirencester Howard Way, Newport Pagnell Caxton Close, Andover Gloucestershire, GL7 6BQ MK16 9QS Hampshire, SP10 3FG t. 01285 771022 t. 01908 218320 t. 01264 326549 f. 01285 771033 e. [email protected] © Cotswold Archaeology Yew Tree Farm, Twigworth, Gloucester, Gloucestershire: Archaeological Evaluation CONTENTS SUMMARY ........................................................................................................................ 2 1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................. 3 The site ................................................................................................................ 3 Archaeological background .................................................................................. 4 Archaeological objectives .................................................................................... 4 Methodology ........................................................................................................ 5 2. RESULTS (FIGS 2-6) .......................................................................................... 6 The finds evidence ............................................................................................... 8 DISCUSSION .................................................................................................................... 9 4. CA PROJECT TEAM ........................................................................................... 10 5. REFERENCES .................................................................................................... 10 APPENDIX A: CONTEXT DESCRIPTIONS ..................................................................... 11 APPENDIX B: THE FINDS ............................................................................................... 13 APPENDIX C: OASIS REPORT FORM ............................................................................ 14 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Fig. 1 Site location plan (1:25,000) Fig. 2 Trench location plan showing archaeological features and geophysical survey results (1:1000) Fig. 3 Trenches 1, 2 and 3: section (1:20) and photograph Fig. 4 Trench 5: section (1:20) and photograph Fig. 5 Trench 5 and 6: section (1:20) and photograph Fig. 6 Trench 6: sections (1:20) and photographs 1 © Cotswold Archaeology Yew Tree Farm, Twigworth, Gloucester, Gloucestershire: Archaeological Evaluation SUMMARY Project Name: Yew Tree Farm Location: Twigworth, Gloucester, Gloucestershire NGR: NGR: SO 8492 2235 Type: Evaluation Date: 12-15 August 2013 Location of Archive: To be deposited with Gloucester City Museum and Art Gallery Site Code: YTF 13 An archaeological evaluation was undertaken by Cotswold Archaeology in August 2013 at Yew Tree Farm, Twigworth, Gloucester, Gloucestershire. Seven trenches were excavated. The earliest features encountered consisted of a series of predominantly east/west-aligned ditches, several of w hich yielded Romano-British pottery, within the southern and eastern part of the site. These features, identifying a previously unrecorded area of Romano-British activity, were masked by later ridge and furrow cultivation and consequently were not identified during a preceding geophysical survey. Evidence of medieval and/or later agricultural practice was identified throughout the site with north/south-aligned furrows, associated with extant ridges, noted throughout the southern and central part of the site and with east/west-aligned furrows encountered within the now levelled northern extent of the site. Modern features comprised land drains and an area of disturbance within the north-eastern part of th e site that was infilled with modern dump deposits. 2 © Cotswold Archaeology Yew Tree Farm, Twigworth, Gloucester, Gloucestershire: Archaeological Evaluation 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 In August 2013 Cotswold Archaeology (CA) carried out an archaeological evaluation for Hunter Page Planning Ltd, on behalf of Mr G Peters, at Yew Tree Farm, Twigworth, Gloucester, Gloucestershire (centred on NGR: SO 8492 2235 ; Fig. 1). The evaluation was undertaken to accompany a planning application that is being submitted to Tewkesbury Borough Council (TBC) for development of the site. The archaeological works were been recommended by Charles Parry, the archaeological advisor to TBC. 1.2 The archaeological evaluation was undertaken in accordance with a detailed Written Scheme of Investigation for Archaeological Evaluation (CA 2013). The fieldwork also followed the Standard and guidance for archaeological field evaluation (IfA 2008), the Statement of Standards and Practices Appropriate for Archaeological Fieldwork in Gloucestershire (GCC 1996), the Management of Archaeological Projects (English Heritage 1991) and the Management of Research Projects in the Historic Environment (MORPHE): Project Manager’s Guide (EH 2006). It was monitored by Mr Charles Parry, Archaeologist, Gloucestershire County Council. The site 1.3 The proposed development site is approximately 3.2ha in area and is located on the south-eastern side of the A38 Gloucester to Tewkesbury road approximately 5km north of Gloucester city centre (Fig. 1). The site lies within the modern village and parish of T wigworth, although historically it formed part of the G loucester urban parish of St Catherine. 1.4 The site consists of two pasture fields and the farmhouse and outbuildings of Yew Tree Farm. It is bounded to the north by a hedged boundary fronting the A38 road, to the east by residential development and an orchard, and to the south and west by Orchard Home Park. The w ider landscape consists of hedged arable fields with scattered residential development, much of it focused along the line of the A38 road. The site lies at a height of approximately 13m AOD and is broadly level, draining slightly to the south and east. 3 © Cotswold Archaeology Yew Tree Farm, Twigworth, Gloucester, Gloucestershire: Archaeological Evaluation 1.5 The underlying bedrock geology of the ar ea is mapped as Rugby Limestone; interbedded mudstone and Limestone of the Jurassic Period. This in turn is overlain by superficial Quaternary deposits of Cheltenham Sand and G ravel (BGS 2013). Orange-yellow sands and gravels were encountered within all seven evaluation trenches. Archaeological background 1.6 The application area has been subject to a Heritage Desk-Based Assessment and a geophysical survey (CA 2012 and AS 2013 r espectively). The r ecorded heritage assets at the site, as identified by the assessment, comprise elements of Yew Tree Farm. The farmhouse itself dates from the early 18th century but has been heavily re-modelled, including a modern extension. The farmhouse is surrounded by a number of greenhouses, as well as a stable block and barn of modern construction, of little heritage value (CA 2012). 1.7 The remainder of the site consists of two fields, both of which contain significant areas of well-preserved ridge-and-furrow cultivation in the form of earthworks up to 0.75m high, of possible medieval or early post-medieval date. Although no evidence of possible buried archaeological deposits from earlier periods was identified, the assessment did note that the presence of medieval and later plough soils may have masked currently unrecorded archaeological remains (ibid.). 1.8 The geophysical survey identified a number of weak positive linear and curvilinear anomalies of uncertain origin, although it concluded that many of t hose in the northern part of the s ite were most probably associated with the r ecent ground disturbance undertaken to remove the ridge and furrow. Within the southern extent of the site, the ridges of the extant ridge and furrow were visible within the survey data as positive linear responses (AS 2013). Archaeological objectives 1.9 The objectives of the evaluation are to provide information about the archaeological resource within the s ite, including its presence/absence, character, extent, date, integrity, state of pr eservation and qual ity. In ac cordance with the Standard and Guidance for Archaeological Field Evaluation (IfA 2009), the evaluation has been designed to be minimally intrusive and minimally destructive to archaeological 4 © Cotswold Archaeology Yew Tree Farm, Twigworth, Gloucester, Gloucestershire: Archaeological Evaluation remains. The i nformation gathered will enable TBC to i dentify and as sess the particular significance of any heritage asset, consider the impact of th e proposed development upon it, and to avoid or minimise conflict