T H A M E S V A L L E Y ARCHAEOLOGICAL S E R V I C E S Bronze Age pits and Late Roman boundaries, Bearwood Park, Mole Road, Sindlesham, Berkshire An archaeological excavation By Andy Taylor BPS14/121 (SU 7720 6900) Bronze Age pits and Late Roman boundaries at Bearwood Park, Mole Road, Sindlesham, Berkshire An Archaeological Excavation Draft Publication Report for Reading Football Club Ltd by Andy Taylor Thames Valley Archaeological Services Ltd Site Code BPS 14/121 Site name: Bearwood Park, Mole Road, Sindlesham, Berkshire Grid reference: SU 7720 6900 Site activity: Archaeological Excavation Date and duration of project: 10th October-12th December 2017 and 14th-19th June 2018 Project Coordinator: Tim Dawson Site supervisor: Andy Taylor Site code: BPS 14/121 Area of site: c.33 hectares Summary of results: Three phases of archaeological deposits were observed comprising a Middle Bronze Age and early Iron Age pits along with Late Roman gullies, pits and postholes. Location and reference of archive: The archive is presently held at Thames Valley Archaeological Services, Reading and will be deposited with a local museum willing to accept archive material in due course. This report may be copied for bona fide research or planning purposes without the explicit permission of the copyright holder. All TVAS unpublished fieldwork reports are available on our website: www.tvas.co.uk/reports/reports.asp. Report edited/checked by: Steve Ford 06.11.18 Steve Preston 06.11.18 i Thames Valley Archaeological Services Ltd, 47–49 De Beauvoir Road, Reading RG1 5NR Tel. (0118) 926 0552; Fax (0118) 926 0553; email [email protected]; website: www.tvas.co.uk Bronze Age pits and Late Roman boundaries at Bearwood Park, Mole Road, Sindlesham, Berkshire An Archaeological Excavation Draft Publication Report by Andy Taylor with contributions by David Dungworth, Jane Timby, Lizzi Lewins and Elspeth St John-Brooks Report 14/121c Introduction This report documents the results of an archaeological recording action carried out on land at Bearwood Park, Mole Road, Sindlesham, Wokingham, Berkshire (SU 7720 6900) (Fig. 1). The work was commissioned by Mr Martin Sykes of Thornbridge Group on behalf of Reading Football Club Ltd, Madejski Stadium, Reading, Berkshire, RG2 0FL. Planning consent has been gained from Wokingham Borough Council for the comprehensive redevelopment of the site for a new football training facility. This was to comprise construction of several outdoor pitches, conversion of existing buildings and construction of new buildings. Construction of the pitches comprises extensive areas of cut and fill following topsoil and overburden removal. The consent includes a condition relating to archaeology, which required fieldwork in the form of open area excavation. This was in accordance with the Department of Communities and Local Government's National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF 2012), and the Borough Council’s policies on archaeology. The field investigation was carried out to a specification approved by Ms Kathelen Leary, Archaeology Officer with Berkshire Archaeology, advisers to the Borough on matters relating to archaeology. The fieldwork was undertaken by the author with assistance from Tim Dawson, Josh Hargreaves, David Sanchez, Benedikt Tebbitt and Jamie Williams between the 10th October and 12th December 2017 and 14th-19th June 2018. The archive is presently held at Thames Valley Archaeological Services, Reading and will be deposited with a local museum willing to accept archive material in due course. Location, topography and geology The site comprises a large roughly rectangular area that stretches for around 1km along the east side of Mole Road. It was occupied by the overgrown remains of a golf course, in the north, that had areas of large trees (since removed). The woods of Bearwood Park in the east and buildings associated with a former riding school in the south. The site is bounded by Mole Road to the west, with residential properties to the north-west and fields to the south-west. Bearwood Lake forms most of the south-eastern boundary with the remainder being parkland. The underlying geology is mapped as London Clay (BGS 2000), which was observed on the eastern side of the site giving way to a sandy silt with gravel 1 patches to the west. The site lies at a height of c.55m above Ordnance Datum in the north sloping up to c.65m south and eastwards. Archaeological background The archaeological potential of the site has been highlighted in an archaeological desktop study component (Preston 2014) of an Environmental Statement which accompanied the planning application followed by evaluation (Taylor 2015). In summary the archaeological potential stems from its relatively large size within a par of East Berkshire which has revealed a modest range of sites and finds. The most significant of these are Bronze Age burials and a large Iron Age iron production site to the east at Sadler's Lane (Lewis et al 2013) and an extensive cropmark complex to the west assumed to be a settlement of Iron Age or Roman date (Gates 1978, map 14). Finds and sites of various periods have been revealed by survey work to the west (Ford 1994-7). Recent fieldwork to the north at Hatch Farm, Winnersh has revealed Middle Iron Age and Roman occupation (McNicoll-Norbury and Ford 2017). Various of the estate structures to be converted are listed buildings and the park itself is registered. Objectives and methodology The general objectives of the excavation were: to excavate and record all archaeological deposits and features within the areas threatened by the proposed development; to produce relative and absolute dating and phasing for deposits recorded on the site; to establish the character of these deposits in attempt to define functional areas on the site such as industrial, domestic, etc.; and to produce information on the economy and local environment and compare and contrast this with the results of other excavations in the region. Specific research objectives were to attempt to address the following questions: What is the date, nature and extent of the Iron Age deposits on the site? Are there additional archaeological deposits of same or other dates present on the site? If these deposits are settlement related, are they part of an enclosed or unenclosed settlement. Are the occupation deposits isolated or are they part of a wider settlement complex? What is the date, nature and extent of the Roman deposits on the site? Is the settlement enclosed or unenclosed? Is the settlement part of an extensive landscape? The excavation area measured c.3.3 hectares in area, as shown in Figure 1. Topsoil and subsoil were removed by a 360° type machine fitted with a toothless grading bucket under constant archaeological supervision (Pl. 1). All archaeological features were to be planned and sectioned as a minimum objective, with excavation by hand or sampling to an agreed sample fraction dependent on the type and significance of the feature. 2 Results The excavation revealed three phases of activity on the site comprising linear features, pits and postholes of Middle Bronze Age, Early Iron Age and Late Roman dates. These formed very dispersed activity sporadically evident across the stripped area. Phase 1: Middle Bronze Age Three slots (100, 101, 102) were dug into what was initially thought to be a small pit cluster. However, after excavation two of these are more likely to represent a treebole. These measured between 0.05m and 0.06m deep with root holes evident across their bases with 100 producing 14 sherds of pottery. Two postholes came from this phase both of which contained Bronze Age pottery. 129 measured 0.26m wide, 0.16m deep and produced a sherd of pottery and pit 130 measured 0.20m wide and 0.13m deep, producing the remains of an urn, which was Radiocarbon dated to 1218-1042 Cal BC (UBA38896) (Pl. 4). Phase 2: Early Iron Age Three gullies (1000, 1001, 1002) were aligned approximately NE-SW and may form part of funnelling system. 1000 continued as 1001 with 1002 parallel to them. 1000 measured between 0.40m and 0.50m wide, between 0.15m and 0.19m deep but did not produce any finds. 1001 measured between 0.35m and 0.38m wide, between 0.19m and 0.22m deep and again did not contain any dating evidence. 1002 had its southern end truncated by a pipe. It measured between 0.59m and 0.95m wide, between 0.24m and 0.37m deep and contained a single sherd of pottery. Both 1000 and 1001 did not produce any dating evidence but are on the same alignment as 1002 and as such are likely to be of the same date. Posthole 108 measured 0.49m in diameter, 0.09m deep and produced 14 sherds of pottery. Pit 115 measured 0.66m in diameter, 0.08m deep and produced four sherds of pottery and 22 pieces of bunt flint. Pit 121 measured 0.70m wide, 0.44m deep and produced 13 sherds of pottery and three pieces of burnt flint. Pit 125 produced material which, while not diagnostic, can only be attributed an Iron Age date and so is included in this phase. It measured 0.88m wide, 0.05m deep and contained seven sherds of pottery and a piece of burnt flint. Tree throw 126 produced three sherds of pottery that could only be attributed a generic prehistoric date. This measured 1.08m wide, 0.10m deep and also contained five pieces of animal bone. Pit 136 also came from this phase producing 77 sherds of pottery and 24 pieces of burnt flint. 3 Phase 3: Roman 1004 a small stretch of gully, was aligned approximately E-W and terminated at both ends.