Neath Port Talbot College Dwr Y Felin Road
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NEATH PORT TALBOT COLLEGE DWR Y FELIN ROAD NEATH PORT TALBOT ARCHAEOLOGICAL WATCHING BRIEF For JAMES AND NICHOLAS on behalf of NEATH PORT TALBOT COLLEGE CA PROJECT: 2511 CA REPORT: 08200 SEPTEMBER 2008 NEATH PORT TALBOT COLLEGE DWR Y FELIN ROAD NEATH PORT TALBOT ARCHAEOLOGICAL WATCHING BRIEF CA PROJECT: 2511 CA REPORT: 08200 prepared by Sian Reynish, Project Supervisor date 1 September 2008 checked by Cliff Bateman, Project Manager date 17 September 2008 approved by Mark Collard, Head of Contracts signed date 22 September 2008 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 Building 11, Kemble Enterprise Park, Kemble, Cirencester, Gloucestershire, GL7 6BQ Tel. 01285 771022 Fax. 01285 771033 E-mail: [email protected] © Cotswold Archaeology Neath Port Talbot College, Dwr Y Felin, Neath Port Talbot: Archaeological Watching Brief CONTENTS SUMMARY........................................................................................................................2 1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................. 3 2. RESULTS (FIGS 2-4) .......................................................................................... 5 3. DISCUSSION....................................................................................................... 7 4. CA PROJECT TEAM ........................................................................................... 8 5. REFERENCES .................................................................................................... 8 APPENDIX A: CONTEXT DESCRIPTIONS ..................................................................... 10 APPENDIX B: THE FINDS ............................................................................................... 11 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Fig. 1 Site location plan 1:25:000. Fig. 2 Area of observed groundworks 1:500 Fig. 3 Plan and section of Roman road 1:50 Fig. 4 Plan and sections of pits and gully 1:100 and 1:10 1 © Cotswold Archaeology Neath Port Talbot College, Dwr Y Felin, Neath Port Talbot: Archaeological Watching Brief SUMMARY Project Name: Neath Port Talbot College Location: Dwr y Felin Road, Neath Port Talbot NGR: SS 7485 9790 Type: Watching Brief Date: 28 January -13 February 2008 Planning Reference: P/2007/1174 Location of Archive: to be deposited with Neath Museum and Art Gallery Site Code: DYF 08 An archaeological watching brief was undertaken by Cotswold Archaeology during groundworks associated with the development of a new Performing Arts facility at the Neath Port Talbot College campus, Dwr y Felin Road, Neath Port Talbot. A section of Roman road and associated roadside ditches was recorded which further confirmed the predicted location and alignment of the Roman road between the Roman forts at Neath and Coelbren. Pottery retrieved from the roads primary make up layer indicates a 2nd-century AD construction date which would be consistent with the second phase of occupation at the nearby fort. Two pits and a gully recorded 15m east of the observed Roman road are representative of activity associated with the previously identified civilian settlement (vicus). 2 © Cotswold Archaeology Neath Port Talbot College, Dwr Y Felin, Neath Port Talbot: Archaeological Watching Brief 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 In January and February 2008 Cotswold Archaeology (CA) carried out an archaeological watching brief for James and Nicholas, on behalf of Neath Port Talbot College, within the existing college campus (centred on NGR: SS 7485 9790; Fig. 1). The watching brief was undertaken to fulfil a condition attached to planning consent for the construction of a new Performing Arts facility (Planning ref: P/2007/1174). The objective of the watching brief was to record all archaeological remains exposed during the development. 1.2 The watching brief was carried out in accordance with a detailed Written Scheme of Investigation (WSI) produced by CA (2008) approved by Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council acting on the advice of Neil Maylan of Glamorgan and Gwent Archaeological Trust, the archaeological advisor to the local planning authority (LPA). The fieldwork also followed the Standard and Guidance for an Archaeological Watching Brief issued by the Institute of Field Archaeologists (2001), and the Management of Archaeological Projects (English Heritage 1991). The watching brief was monitored by Neil Maylan. The site 1.3 The site lies within the eastern part of the Neath Port Talbot college campus, within a triangle of land formed by the railway line to the north, Dwr-Y-Felin Road to the south-west, and Cadoxton Road to the south-east (Fig. 2). The site lies at approximately 13m AOD, with ground level dropping away on all sides. 1.4 The development area is approximately 0.09ha and comprised a lawned area adjoining the existing college building. 1.5 The underlying drift geology of the area, mapped as fluvio-glacial gravels of Pleistocene and recent date (Geological Survey of Great Britain 1972, sheet 247), was observed throughout the groundworks. 3 © Cotswold Archaeology Neath Port Talbot College, Dwr Y Felin, Neath Port Talbot: Archaeological Watching Brief Archaeological background 1.6 The application area is located on the projected line of a Roman road running north- east from the 1st-century AD and later fort at Neath (Nidum) to the nearby fort at Coelbren (Sherman and Evans 2004, Pearson 2004). Neath fort, discovered in 1949 (Nash-Williams 1950a, 1950b), has statutory protection as a Scheduled Monument (SAM GM 215 (NEP)). Subsequent archaeological excavations, notably in the 1950s and 1980s, further explored the fort’s defences and revealed parts of its interior plan, establishing a basic occupation sequence with three discernible periods of use between c. AD 75-80, c. AD 140-170, and c. AD 275-320 (Pearson 2004). Recent geophysical survey has further elucidated the internal form of the fort (Young 2003). 1.7 The development area was also thought to lie within the extensive Roman vicus, an area of associated civilian settlement identified during recent works to the north- east, north-west and south-west of the military fort (Pearson 2004). Remains of a substantial late 1st or early 2nd-century stone building outside the fort’s north-east gate were noted during works in the area of the comprehensive school playing fields (Maynard 1993). Well-preserved structural remains associated with the vicus have also been identified within the grounds of Neath College (for example Sell 1997, Sell 2000). These roadside buildings were interpreted as having an industrial function (Pearson 2004). 1.8 Previous archaeological fieldwork to the west of the application area, associated with construction of an Electronic Learning Centre, noted that archaeological deposits had previously been destroyed by the meandering course of a small stream (GGAT 2003). However, the current development area lies on higher sand and gravel deposits on which significant archaeological features have been found elsewhere, including significant features revealed during construction of a nursery building immediately north-west of the current application area (Howell 2001). 1.9 It was therefore considered that significant archaeological features were likely to be present within the proposed development area, and that apart from minor damage caused by the construction of the current hard standings and two small buildings (now demolished), these deposits were likely to be well preserved. 1.10 An evaluation undertaken in October 2007 recorded well-preserved metalled road surfaces, with flanking drainage ditches, confirming the conjectured line of a section 4 © Cotswold Archaeology Neath Port Talbot College, Dwr Y Felin, Neath Port Talbot: Archaeological Watching Brief of Roman road leading from the north-east gate of the fort at Neath (Nidum) to the fort at Coelbren. In addition, structural remains representative of remnant wall- footings set perpendicular to, and to the west of, the identified Roman road suggest that Roman buildings associated with the vicus, or attached civilian settlement, survive within the development area (CA 2007). Methodology 1.11 Intrusive groundworks were restricted to drainage facilities, with the new build itself having previously been constructed upon a rafted foundation above the known archaeological deposits. In the event, some of the drainage works were undertaken prior to archaeological attendance. Consequently, an archaeologist was present during intrusive groundworks comprising the mechanical excavation of drainage runs to the south and an attenuation unit to the east of the new Performing Arts facility (see Fig. 2 for location and extent). 1.12 The fieldwork followed the methodology set out within the WSI (CA 2008). Where archaeological deposits were encountered written, graphic and photographic records were compiled in accordance with CA Technical Manual 1: Fieldwork Recording Manual (2007). All artefacts recovered were processed in accordance with CA Technical Manual 3: Treatment of Finds Immediately After Excavation (1995). 1.13 The archive and artefacts from the watching brief are currently held by CA at their offices in Kemble. Subject to the agreement of the legal landowner the artefacts