Land at Bumpers Farm Ilmer, Buckinghamshire Archaeological
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Land at Bumpers Farm Ilmer, Buckinghamshire Archaeological Evaluation for EDP on behalf of Solar Planning Ltd CA Project: 660317 CA Report: 14379 August 2014 Bumpers Farm Ilmer, Buckinghamshire Archaeological Evaluation CA Project: 660317 CA Report: 14379 prepared by Daniel Stone, Project Supervisor date 19 August 2014 checked by Derek Evans, Project Manager date 20 August 2014 approved by Nicola Powell, Post-Excavation Manager date 21 August 2014 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 Stanley House Kemble Enterprise Park Cromwell Business Centre Walworth Road Kemble, Cirencester Howard Way, Newport Pagnell Andover, Hampshire Gloucestershire, GL7 6BQ MK16 9QS SP10 5LH t. 01285 771022 t. 01908 218320 t. 01264 347630 f. 01285 771033 e. [email protected] © Cotswold Archaeology Bumpers Farm, Ilmer, Buckinghamshire: Archaeological Evaluation CONTENTS SUMMARY ..................................................................................................................... 2 1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................ 4 The site .............................................................................................................. 4 Archaeological background ................................................................................ 5 Archaeological objectives ................................................................................... 5 Methodology....................................................................................................... 6 2. RESULTS .......................................................................................................... 7 The finds evidence ............................................................................................. 13 The faunal remains............................................................................................. 14 3. DISCUSSION ..................................................................................................... 15 4. CA PROJECT TEAM .......................................................................................... 16 5. REFERENCES ................................................................................................... 16 APPENDIX A: CONTEXT DESCRIPTIONS ................................................................... 17 APPENDIX B: THE FINDS EVIDENCE .......................................................................... 20 APPENDIX C: THE FAUNAL REMAINS ........................................................................ 24 APPENDIX D: OASIS REPORT FORM .......................................................................... 26 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Fig. 1 Site location plan (1:25,000) Fig. 2 Trench location plan, showing archaeological features and geophysical survey results (1:4000) Fig. 3 Detail plan of Trenches 6–11 and 18, showing archaeological features and geophysical survey results (1:750) Fig. 4 Trench 8: section and photograph (1:20) Fig. 5 Trench 9: section and photograph (1:20) Fig. 6 Trench 11: sections and photographs (1:20) Fig. 7 Trenches 6 & 7: sections (1:20) Fig. 8 Trench 10: sections (1:20) 1 © Cotswold Archaeology Bumpers Farm, Ilmer, Buckinghamshire: Archaeological Evaluation SUMMARY Project Name: Land at Bumpers Farm Location: Ilmer, Buckinghamshire NGR: SP 7642 0614 Type: Evaluation Date: 4–8 August 2014 Location of Archive: To be deposited with the Buckinghamshire County Museum Site Code: BFI 14 In August 2014, Cotswold Archaeology carried out an archaeological evaluation of land at Bumpers Farm, Ilmer, Buckinghamshire. It was originally agreed that 17 trenches would be excavated at the site, but at the request of Phil Markham (Senior Planning Archaeologist, Buckinghamshire County Council), an additional two trenches were excavated in order to define the limits of the archaeological features uncovered at the site. This brought the total number of trenches to 19. A previous geophysical survey detected rectilinear enclosures and associated features at the south-eastern site boundary and lower-density potential archaeological features elsewhere. The evaluation recorded a series of ditches and pits, the majority of which were concentrated within one small area towards the south-eastern site boundary. There were also limited outlying features within the north-eastern part of the site. The evaluation indicated that the pattern of land use suggested by the geophysical survey is correct. There were few features outside of the main concentrations of geophysical anomalies, although within the areas of archaeological activity the correspondence between features and anomalies was not always entirely precise. The evaluation recovered pottery and animal bone assemblages typical of late Roman domestic refuse, suggesting that the enclosures within the south-eastern part of the site represent a late Roman farmstead. It is likely that the limited features in the north-eastern part of the site are outlying agricultural features associated with the Roman farmstead. 2 © Cotswold Archaeology Bumpers Farm, Ilmer, Buckinghamshire: Archaeological Evaluation The Roman farmstead lies on high ground within the south-eastern part of the site. The evaluation and geophysical survey results suggest that this high ground was the focus of settlement, and the lower-lying areas of the site were utilised for agriculture/grazing. Some of the trenches featured disuse spreads sealing the archaeological features. The majority of these spreads were within the area of the Roman farmstead, although the trench to the north of the farmstead also contained a disuse spread. There was no evidence for significant activity pre- or post-dating the Roman period, although several trenches contained ploughed-out furrow bases. 3 © Cotswold Archaeology Bumpers Farm, Ilmer, Buckinghamshire: Archaeological Evaluation 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 In August 2014, Cotswold Archaeology (CA) carried out an archaeological evaluation of land at Bumpers Farm, Ilmer, Buckinghamshire (centred on NGR: SP 7642 0614; Fig. 1). This work was commissioned by EDP, acting on behalf of Solar Planning Ltd. 1.2 The results of this evaluation will inform a planning application for a PV solar array development at the site. The scope of the evaluation was defined in discussions between EDP and Phil Markham (Senior Planning Archaeologist, Buckinghamshire County Council), the archaeological advisor to Wycombe District Council (WDC; the local planning authority). 1.3 The evaluation was carried out in accordance with a detailed written scheme of investigation (WSI) produced by CA (2014) and approved by Phil Markham. The fieldwork also followed the Standard and Guidance for Archaeological Field Evaluation (IfA 2009), the Management of Archaeological Projects (English Heritage 1991) and the Management of Research Projects in the Historic Environment (MORPHE): Project Manager’s Guide (English Heritage 2006). It was monitored by Phil Markham, including site visits on the 6th and 8th of August. The site 1.4 The proposed development site encloses an area of approximately 46ha and is situated to the south of the A4129 Thame Road, some 570m north-west of the centre of Ilmer. At the time of the evaluation, the site comprised five fields in mixed agricultural/pastoral use, bisected by the Risborough to Bicester railway line. The Bumpers Farm buildings lie at the southern site boundary. The site lies on a plateau at c. 80m above Ordnance Datum (aOD) in the south-east, sloping down to c. 75m aOD in its centre. The northern and north-western parts of the site slope down further to c. 70m aOD. 1.5 The underlying bedrock geology of the area is mapped as Gault Formation mudstone of the Cretaceous Period. There are no superficial deposits recorded in the southern part of the site, but the northern part features Head and alluvial clays, 4 © Cotswold Archaeology Bumpers Farm, Ilmer, Buckinghamshire: Archaeological Evaluation silts, sands and gravels, corresponding to an east/west-aligned palaeochannel (BGS 2014). Archaeological background 1.6 The site has been the previous subject of a geophysical survey (GSB 2014) and a desk-based heritage assessment (DBA; EDP 2014). The following section is summarised from these sources. 1.7 The DBA recorded a low density of known prehistoric to early medieval archaeological sites within a 1.5km radius of the site, but none within the site itself. The geophysical survey, however, detected a series of rectilinear enclosures and associated features in the south-eastern end of the site, as well as lower-density potential archaeological features throughout the rest of the site. 1.8 The geophysical survey also recorded evidence for the below-ground remnants of a ploughed-out medieval ridge and furrow agricultural system and relict field boundaries. Cropmarks indicative of ridge and furrow are also visible on aerial photographs of the site. Further cropmarks suggest the former presence of a possible trackway or livestock droveway in the south-eastern part of the site; this trackway cropmark extends out of the site boundary, where it is seen to cut across an area of medieval ridge and furrow.