Land at Wrinstone Farm Wenvoe Vale of Glamorgan

LAND AT WRINSTONE FARM WENVOE VALE OF GLAMORGAN

ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVALUATION

CAT PROJECT: 1326 CAT REPORT: 02032

Author: Tim Havard

Approved: Simon Cox

Signed: …………………………………………………………….

th Issue: 01 Date: 19 APRIL 2002

This report is confidential to the client. Cotswold Archaeological Trust Ltd 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.

Wrinstone Farm, Wenvoe, Vale of Glamorgan: Archaeological Evaluation © Cotswold Archaeological Trust

CONTENTS

SUMMARY...... 3

1. INTRODUCTION ...... 4

The site ...... 4 Archaeological background...... 4 Archaeological objectives ...... 5 Methodology ...... 5

2. RESULTS ...... 6

Field A...... 6 Field B...... 6 Field C...... 6 Field D...... 7 Field E...... 7 The Finds ...... 7

3. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS...... 7

4. CAT PROJECT TEAM ...... 8

5. REFERENCES ...... 8

APPENDIX 1: CONTEXT DESCRIPTIONS...... 9

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Figure 1 Location Plan ...... 12 Figure 2 Trench Location Plan...... 13

2 Wrinstone Farm, Wenvoe, Vale of Glamorgan: Archaeological Evaluation © Cotswold Archaeological Trust

SUMMARY

Site Name: Land at Wrinstone Farm Site Code: WWF 02 Location: Wenvoe, Vale Of Glamorgan NGR: ST 1370 7330 Type: Evaluation Date: 2nd to 8th April 2002 Location of Archive: National Museum of Wales

An archaeological evaluation was undertaken by Cotswold Archaeological Trust in April 2002 at the request of RMC Aggregates (UK) Limited at Wrinstone Farm, Wenvoe, Vale of Glamorgan. In compliance with an approved project design, a total of twenty-three trenches were excavated across the development area.

No archaeological features were encountered or finds recovered during the course of the project.

3 Wrinstone Farm, Wenvoe, Vale of Glamorgan: Archaeological Evaluation © Cotswold Archaeological Trust

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 In April 2002 Cotswold Archaeological Trust (CAT) carried out an archaeological evaluation for RMC Aggregates (UK) Limited at Wrinstone Farm, Wenvoe, Vale of Glamorgan (centred on NGR: ST 1370 7330, Fig. 1). The evaluation was undertaken as part of an Environmental Statement to accompany a planning application for the southern extension of Wenvoe Quarry.

1.2 The evaluation was carried out in accordance with a detailed project specification produced by CAT (2002) and approved by the Neil Maylan, Senior Development Control Officer, Glamorgan and Gwent Archaeological Trust acting as advisor to the Vale Of Glamorgan Council. The fieldwork also followed the Standard and Guidance for Archaeological Field Evaluations issued by the Institute of Field Archaeologists (1999). The project was monitored by Neil Maylan, by means of a site visit on Friday 5th April 2002.

The site

1.3 The site is approximately 12ha in size and lies about 1.25km to the east of the A4050 and the village of Wenvoe. It also lies approximately 500m to the north of Wrinstone Farm and just to the south of the Wenvoe Quarry (Fig. 2). The site lies at approximately 103m AOD, with the north west part of the site dropping away to around 96m AOD

1.4 The underlying geology of the area is mapped as a ridge of Carboniferous Limestone that is aligned north-west to south-east (British Geological Survey 1989).

1.5 The site comprises five agricultural fields, one of which (Field B) is ploughed, the other four currently being under pasture.

Archaeological background

1.6 A desk-based Cultural Heritage Assessment for the site was carried out (CAT 2000). This showed that no archaeological remains had previously been recorded within the site, although a post-medieval limekiln is recorded immediately adjacent to the south-west corner of the site. The site lay within the medieval agricultural field

4 Wrinstone Farm, Wenvoe, Vale of Glamorgan: Archaeological Evaluation © Cotswold Archaeological Trust

system of Wrinstone settlement, and a possible medieval house lies immediately to the east of the site. An area of disturbance, probably 20th century in date, is recorded on an aerial photograph of the site but is not visible on the ground. The southernmost part of the site is part of the defined ‘Essential Setting’ of the Registered Park of Cwrt-y-ala but the site contains no physical remains or structures associated with the designed landscape.

Archaeological objectives

1.7 The objectives of the evaluation were to establish the character, quality, date, significance and extent of any archaeological remains or deposits surviving within the site. This information will assist the Local Planning Authority in making an informed judgement on the likely impact upon the archaeological resource by the proposed development.

Methodology

1.8 The fieldwork comprised the excavation of twenty-three trenches, each 50m in length by 1.5m in width. These were positioned in accordance with the locations shown in the project design. Two further trenches originally shown in the project design, and numbered 1 and 17, were not excavated owing to revisions in the size of the development area that placed them outside of the current study area. The revised trench layout was approved by Neil Maylan without further alteration to the Project Design. Trenches in Field D were positioned beyond the minimum required distances away from powerlines and an Intermediate Pressure Gas Main known to run across this part of the site.

1.9 All trenches were excavated by mechanical excavator equipped with a toothless grading bucket. All machine excavation was undertaken under constant archaeological supervision to the top of the first significant archaeological horizon or the natural substrate, whichever was encountered first. Where archaeological deposits were encountered they were excavated by hand in accordance with the CAT Technical Manual 1: Excavation Recording Manual (1996).

1.10 Deposits were assessed for their palaeoenvironmental potential and, where appropriate, sampled and processed in accordance with the CAT Technical Manual 2: The Taking of Samples for Palaeoenvironmental/Palaeoeconomic Analysis from

5 Wrinstone Farm, Wenvoe, Vale of Glamorgan: Archaeological Evaluation © Cotswold Archaeological Trust

Archaeological Sites (1994). All artefacts recovered were processed in accordance with the CAT Technical Manual 3: Treatment of Finds Immediately After Excavation (1995).

1.11 The archive and artefacts from the evaluation are currently held by CAT at their offices in Kemble. Subject to the agreement of the legal landowner the site archive (including artefacts) will be deposited with The National Museum of Wales.

2. RESULTS

2.1 No archaeological features were encountered during the course of the project. This section provides an overview of the evaluation results; detailed summaries of the recorded contexts are to be found in Appendix 1.

Field A

2.2 Trenches 21 to 25 were excavated in this field. The natural substrate in these trenches was encountered at a depth of between 0.20m and 0.35m below the existing ground surface. This was overlain by a mid brown humic clay topsoil. A number of possible features were investigated in these trenches but these all proved to be of natural origin.

Field B

2.3 Trenches 2 to 8 were excavated in this field. The natural substrate was encountered at a depth of between 0.18m and 0.70m below the existing ground surface. This was overlain by a mid brown humic clay ploughsoil. A number of possible features including natural depressions containing brown clay were investigated in these trenches but were shown to be of natural origin.

Field C

2.4 Trenches 18 to 20 were excavated in this field. The natural substrate was encountered at a depth of between 0.18m and 0.70m below the existing ground

6 Wrinstone Farm, Wenvoe, Vale of Glamorgan: Archaeological Evaluation © Cotswold Archaeological Trust

surface. This was overlain by a mid brown humic clay topsoil. A number of possible features including natural depressions containing brown clay were investigated in these trenches but were shown not to be of archaeological origin.

Field D

2.5 Trenches 9 to 13 were excavated in this field. The natural substrate was encountered at a depth of between 0.12m and 0.3m below the existing ground surface. This was overlain by a mid brown humic clay topsoil. A number of features were excavated by hand but these were all shown to be of natural origin.

Field E

2.6 Trenches 14 to 16 were excavated in this field. The natural substrate was encountered at a depth of between 0.2m and 0.3m below the existing ground surface. This was overlain by a mid brown humic clay topsoil. Several possible features were investigated for their archaeological potential but were demonstrated to be of natural origin.

The Finds

2.7 No finds, either unstratified, or from specific contexts, were recovered during the course of the project.

3. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS

3.1 Despite the archaeological potential of the site, no archaeological features or deposits were observed, or finds recovered, during the course of the evaluation. Their absence may indicate that archaeological features identified in the vicinity do not extend as far as the site. In addition the shallow depth of topsoil/ploughsoil overlying the natural substrate means that archaeological features are likely to have been heavily disturbed or destroyed by ploughing.

3.2 It should be noted that following the evaluation a programme of fieldwalking to recover surface flint was carried out over one field at the site by Glamorgan Gwent

7 Wrinstone Farm, Wenvoe, Vale of Glamorgan: Archaeological Evaluation © Cotswold Archaeological Trust

Archaeological Trust (GGAT 2002). A small group of twenty flints was recovered from Field B (Field 5 of the fieldwalking programme), representing quite a dense distribution, and comprised leaf arrowheads and scrapers, blades, flakes and cores (one of which may have represented the re-use of a polished flint axe). All the dateable material was Neolithic. There was no indication, however, of domestic settlement either from these finds or the evaluation, and the fieldwalking report concludes that this may have been centred on the hill-slope enclosure at Coed-y- Cwmdda just to the north.

4. CAT PROJECT TEAM

Fieldwork was undertaken by Tim Havard assisted by Kevin Colls, Kate Cullen, Jerry Bond and Gwil Dawe. The report was written by Tim Havard. The illustrations were prepared by Peter Moore. The archive has been compiled by Tim Havard and prepared for deposition by Ed McSloy. The project was managed for CAT by Simon Cox.

5. REFERENCES

CAT 2002 Land at Wrinstone Farm, Wenvoe, Vale of Glamorgan: Project Design for an Archaeological Evaluation

CAT 2001 Land To The North of Wrinstone Farm, Wenvoe, Vale of Glamorgan: Cultural Heritage Assessment, CAT Report No. 001192

GGAT 2002 Prehistoric non-defensive settlement sites: interim report on fieldwork at Wrinstone Farm, Wenvoe, Vale of Glamorgan, GGAT Report No. 2002/031

8 Wrinstone Farm, Wenvoe, Vale of Glamorgan: Archaeological Evaluation © Cotswold Archaeological Trust

APPENDIX 1: CONTEXT DESCRIPTIONS

Trench 2 Present Ground Level: 98.77m to 99.61m AOD

201 Ploughsoil: mid brown silty clay with frequent irregular limestone inclusions, 0.17m to 0.22m in depth. 202 Natural: limestone brash containing occasional irregular pockets of red brown clay.

Trench 3 Present Ground Level: 99.19m to 100.75m AOD

301 Ploughsoil: as 201, 0.19m to 0.28m in depth. 302 Natural: as 202.

Trench 4 Present Ground Level: 97.72m to 98.36m AOD

401 Ploughsoil: as 201, 0.29m to 0.47m in depth. 402 Natural: as 202.

Trench 5 Present Ground Level: 98.62m to 100.35m AOD

501 Ploughsoil: as 201, 0.15m to 0.26m in depth. 502 Natural: as 202.

Trench 6 Present Ground Level: 98.12m to 99.61m AOD

601 Ploughsoil: as 201, 0.21m to 0.35m in depth. 602 Natural: as 202.

Trench 7 Present Ground Level: 100.55m to 100.80m AOD

701 Ploughsoil: as 201, 0.24m to 0.41m in depth. 702 Natural: as 202. 703 Natural feature: irregular patch of red-brown clay, dipping under natural 702.

Trench 8 Present Ground Level: 101.02m to 101.76m AOD

801 Ploughsoil: as 201, 0.19m to 0.26m in depth. 802 Natural: as 202. 803 Natural feature: sub-circular in plan, irregular sides leading to an irregular base, 1m in length, 0.67m in width and 0.2m in depth. 804 Fill of 803: red-brown slightly sandy clay, appears to run under natural 802.

Trench 9 Present Ground Level: 102.14m to 103m AOD

901 Topsoil: mid red-brown humic clay silt, 0.1m to 0.19m in depth. 902 Natural: limestone brash containing occasional pockets of red brown clay.

Trench 10 Present Ground Level: 102.46m to 102.85m AOD

1001 Topsoil: as 901, 0.14m to 0.35m in depth. 1002 Natural: as 902.

Trench 11 Present Ground Level: 102.44m to 103.22m AOD

1101 Topsoil: as 901, 0.14m to 0.30m in depth. 1102 Natural: as 902.

9 Wrinstone Farm, Wenvoe, Vale of Glamorgan: Archaeological Evaluation © Cotswold Archaeological Trust

Trench 12 Present Ground Level: 100.58m to 101.14m AOD

1201 Topsoil: as 901, 0.12m to 0.25m in depth. 1202 Natural: as 902.

Trench 13 Present Ground Level: 101.13m to 102.80m AOD

1301 Topsoil: as 901, 0.19m to 0.23m in depth. 1302 Natural: as 902.

Trench 14 Present Ground Level: 99.23m to 100.59m AOD

1401 Topsoil: mid red brown silty clay, 0.1m to 0.23m in depth. 1402 Natural: limestone brash with occasional pockets of red brown clay.

Trench 15 Present Ground Level: 96.14m to 99.66m AOD

1501 Topsoil: as 1401, 0.14m to 0.28m in depth. 1502 Natural: as 1402.

Trench 16 Present Ground Level: 96.61m to 97.51m AOD

1601 Topsoil: as 1401, 0.08m to 0.2m in depth. 1602 Natural: as 1402.

Trench 18 Present Ground Level: 98.86m to 100.78m AOD

1801 Topsoil: mid red brown silty clay, 0.2m to 0.3m in depth. 1802 Natural: limestone brash with occasional pockets of red brown clay.

Trench 19 Present Ground Level: 97.67m to 101.09m AOD

1901 Topsoil: as 1801, 0.13m to 0.3m in depth. 1902 Natural: as 1802.

Trench 20 Present Ground Level: 96.77m to 100.56m AOD

2001 Topsoil: as 1801, 0.12m to 0.25m in depth. 2002 Natural: as 1802.

Trench 21 Present Ground Level: 97.41m to 100.23m AOD

2101 Topsoil: mid red brown silty clay, 0.22m to 0.27m in depth. 2102 Natural: limestone brash with occasional pockets of red brown clay.

Trench 22 Present Ground Level: 95.93m to 96.85m AOD

2201 Topsoil: as 2101, 0.2m to 0.27m in depth. 2202 Natural: as 2102.

Trench 23 Present Ground Level: 95.61m to 96.02m AOD

2301 Topsoil: as 2101, 0.22m to 0.29m in depth. 2302 Natural: as 2102.

Trench 24 Present Ground Level: 96.41m to 97.10m AOD

2401 Topsoil: as 2101, 0.18m to 0.29m in depth. 2402 Natural: as 2102.

Trench 25 Present Ground Level: 94.60m to 97.32m AOD

2501 Topsoil: as 2101, 0.19m to 0.24m in depth. 2502 Natural: as 2102.

Figure 1 Location Plan

Figure 2 Trench Location Plan

13 Study area

Fig. 1 Location plan N

2 736

25 3 4 24 5 735

23 6 Field A Field B 21 22 7

734 8

9 20 10 19 11 Field C 733 18

Field D 13 12

732

14 15 16 Field E

ST 136 137

Evaluation trench 731 0 250m 138 139 Fig. 2 Trench location plan