Archaeological Statement Land Off the A57, Shireoaks Common Worksop
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ARCHAEOLOGICAL STATEMENT LAND OFF THE A57, SHIREOAKS COMMON WORKSOP, NOTTINGHAMSHIRE PREPARED BY LANPRO SERVICES ON BEHALF OF PEVERIL SECURITIES LTD January 2021 Lanpro Services Ltd. Archaeological Statement: Land off the A57, Shireoaks Common, Worksop, Nottinghamshire Project Reference: 2657/01 Document Prepared by: Mitchell Pollington BA MA MCIfA Revision Reason for Update Document Updated Contents 1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................... 1 2 SITE LOCATION AND DESCRIPTION ................................................................................................. 1 3 PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT ............................................................................................................. 1 4 PREVIOUS ARCHAEOLOGICAL WORK .............................................................................................. 2 5 CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................................... 5 6 REFERENCES .................................................................................................................................... 6 Figure 1. Site location Figure 2. Proposed development site in relation to outline planning application area, archaeological geophysical survey results and areas of archaeological excavation 2657/01 ii Lanpro Services Ltd. Archaeological Statement: Land off the A57, Shireoaks Common, Worksop, Nottinghamshire 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Lanpro has been commissioned by Peveril Securities Ltd to produce an archaeological statement to inform a detailed planning application for the construction of a new drive-thru coffee shop on the western side of the A57 (Worksop Road), to the north-east of Shireoaks, near Worksop, in the Bassetlaw district of Nottinghamshire. 1.2 The proposed development site is situated within a wider area for which outline planning consent has previously been granted for mix-used development (14/00223/OUT). 1.3 This archaeological statement summarises the results of a number of phases of archaeological assessment, geophysical survey, evaluation trenching and archaeological excavation undertaken as part of the outline planning application, which also covers the proposed development site. 1.4 All archaeological fieldwork was previously managed by Lanpro Services Ltd and has now been completed. No archaeological features or finds were identified within the proposed development site during the previous stages of work. 1.5 Following the completion of the previous stages of archaeological works across the outline planning application area, it was agreed with the then archaeological advisor to Bassetlaw District Council, Ursilla Spence, that no further archaeological works would be required within the outline planning application area, either to determine further applications or as part of any further conditions on detailed planning applications. 2 SITE LOCATION AND DESCRIPTION 2.1 The proposed development site covers 0.41ha located adjacent to the A57 (Worksop Road), on the eastern side of the Shireoaks Common outline planning application area. This is situated to the north-east of Shireoaks, near Worksop, in the Bassetlaw district of Nottinghamshire (centred at SK 5629 8160; see Figure 1). 2.2 The proposed development site occupies part of two fields previously under arable cultivation, and is crossed by a field boundary at its western end. 2.3 The recorded bedrock geology within the proposed development site consists of mudstone and sandstone of the Edlington Formation with no superficial deposits recorded (BGS 2021). 3 PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT 3.1 The proposed planning application relates to the erection of a drive-thru coffee shop with associated access, parking, drainage and landscaping. 2657/01 1 Lanpro Services Ltd. Archaeological Statement: Land off the A57, Shireoaks Common, Worksop, Nottinghamshire 4 PREVIOUS ARCHAEOLOGICAL WORK 4.1 The outline planning application area at Shireoaks Common, including the present proposed development site (see Figure 1), has been subject to a number of stages of archaeological assessment, geophysical survey, evaluation and excavation (see Figure 2). This has all been carried out in agreement with the former archaeological advisor to Bassetlaw District Council, Ursilla Spence, and with Ian George, the Historic Places Manager at Lincolnshire County Council, who now provide archaeological advice to Bassetlaw District Council. The scope and methodology for all archaeological evaluation trenching and excavation across the outline planning application area was detailed and agreed in archaeological Written Schemes of Investigation (WSI; Lanpro 2017a; 2017b; 2019). 4.2 A list of all stages of archaeological works, and documents produced for these, is provided in the table below, and these are subsequently discussed in detail. Table 1: Previous Archaeological Investigations and Documents Description Date Doc. Reference Planning ref. Stratascan 2013, Geophysical Survey Geophysical Survey Nov 2013 Report. Land off Brancliffe Lane, Worksop, 14/00223/OUT Nottinghamshire, ref. J5993 CGMS 2014, Archaeological Desk Based Desk-Based Assessment Jan 2014 Assessment. Land at Shireoaks Common, 14/00223/OUT Worksop, Nottinghamshire, ref. RB/13718 Lanpro 2017, Written Scheme of Investigation for Archaeological Evaluation Evaluation WSI Feb 2017 Trenching. Lane at Shireoaks, near 14/00223/OUT Worksop, Nottinghamshire, ref. HAR003/ 0735H/01 Lanpro 2017, Written Scheme of Investigation for Archaeological Mitigation Excavation WSI March 2017 14/00223/OUT Excavation. Land at Shireoaks, Worksop, Nottinghamshire, ref. HAR003/ 0735H/02 ASWYAS 2017, Land at Shireoaks, Near Evaluation and Excavation July 2017 Worksop, Nottinghamshire. Archaeological 14/00223/OUT Report (Area A) Evaluation and Excavation, ref. 2991 Lanpro 2019, Written Scheme of Excavation WSI Investigation for Archaeological Mitigation Dec 2019 18/00413/OUT (updated – Area B) Excavation. Land at Shireoaks, Worksop, Nottinghamshire (Area B), ref. 1909/01 Headland 2020, Land at Shireoaks (Area B), Bassetlaw, Nottinghamshire. Excavation Report (Area B) Feb 2020 18/00413/OUT Archaeological Mitigation Excavation, ref. SWNO20 2657/01 2 Lanpro Services Ltd. Archaeological Statement: Land off the A57, Shireoaks Common, Worksop, Nottinghamshire Geophysical Survey and Desk-Based Assessment 4.3 In November 2013 an archaeological geophysical survey was undertaken across the whole of the outline planning application area, including the proposed development site (Stratascan 2013). The survey did not identify any probable archaeology, although a number of possible archaeological anomalies were recorded. The majority of these were interpreted as relating to agricultural activity, while the remaining recorded anomalies were of geological or modern origin, relating to agriculture, former field boundaries, land drains, underground services and fencing. Within the present proposed development site, no geophysical anomalies were identified, apart from magnetic responses relating to the presence of the modern field boundary crossing the site’s western side, and the road embankment to the east (see Figure 2). 4.1 The geophysical survey was used to inform the production of an archaeological desk-based assessment (DBA) for the whole of outline planning application area (CGMS 2014). This identified no records of prehistoric remains within the outline area or within 500m of its boundary. There were two records of Roman remains within the surrounding area, consisting of the discovery of a number of coins and pottery c.250m to the south-west of the site, and a single Roman coin found at Gateford Hall, 500m to the outline area’s east. The DBA assessed that there was no evidence for any Roman or prehistoric activity settlement in the vicinity of the outline area, and that there was low potential for previously unrecorded archaeology to be present within this area. There were no records of early medieval activity within the outline area or 500m around it, and no later medieval remains were recorded. The DBA therefore assessed that there was low potential for any remains of a medieval date to survive within the outline area. It is likely that the site remained in primarily agricultural use through the medieval and post-medieval periods. By the end of the 19th century it had been enclosed to create a number of rectangular fields, but the field boundaries were largely removed by the 1960s to allow for more intensive industrial agricultural practices. Archaeological Evaluation 4.2 Following the grant of outline planning permission in January 2016, a condition was placed on this permission requiring that a programme of archaeological works should be undertaken ‘to ensure that any features of archaeological interest are protected or recorded’ (Condition 21; 14/00223/OUT). Following consultation with Ursilla Spence, the then archaeological advisor to Bassetlaw District Council, it was agreed that an initial programme of archaeological evaluation trenching would be undertaken. 4.3 The scope of the archaeological evaluation trenching was agreed with the archaeological advisor in a WSI produced in February 2017 (Lanpro 2017a; see Figure 2). This comprised the excavation of 18 trenches across the outline planning application area. The location of these was agreed with the archaeological advisor to Bassetlaw District Council in order to target 2657/01 3 Lanpro Services Ltd.