BUILDINGS 15 & 16 RAF FAIRFORD GLOUCESTERSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL WATCHING BRIEF For ENTEC UK LIMITED on behalf of MINISTRY OF DEFENCE DEFENCE ESTATES OPERATIONS (SOUTH) CA PROJECT: 2401 CA REPORT: 07151 DECEMBER 2007 BUILDINGS 15 &16 RAF FAIRFORD, FAIRFORD GLOUCESTERSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL WATCHING BRIEF CA PROJECT: 2401 CA REPORT: 07151 prepared by Sian Reynish, Project Supervisor date 19 November 2007 checked by Laurent Coleman, Project Manager date 27 November 2007 approved by Simon Cox, Head of Fieldwork signed date 17 December 2007 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 Buildings 15 & 16, RAF Fairford, Fairford, Gloucestershire: Archaeological Watching Brief CONTENTS SUMMARY........................................................................................................................ 2 1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................. 3 The site ................................................................................................................ 3 Archaeological background.................................................................................. 3 Methodology ........................................................................................................ 4 2. RESULTS ............................................................................................................ 4 3. DISCUSSION....................................................................................................... 5 4. CA PROJECT TEAM ........................................................................................... 6 5. REFERENCES .................................................................................................... 6 APPENDIX A: CONTEXT DESCRIPTIONS ..................................................................... 7 APPENDIX B: OASIS REPORT FORM............................................................................ 8 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Fig. 1 Site location plan (1:50,000) Fig. 2 The site, showing location of observed groundworks (1:12,500) Fig. 3 Observed groundworks, showing archaeological features (1:1250) Fig. 4 Sections AA to DD (1:50) 1 © Cotswold Archaeology Buildings 15 & 16, RAF Fairford, Fairford, Gloucestershire: Archaeological Watching Brief SUMMARY Project Name: Buildings 15 &16, RAF Fairford Location: Fairford, Gloucestershire NGR: SU 1640 9799 Type: Watching Brief Date: 10-25 September 2007 Location of Archive: To be deposited with Corinium Museum, Cirencester Site Code: FAF 07 An archaeological watching brief was undertaken by Cotswold Archaeology during groundworks associated with the construction of Buildings 15 & 16 at RAF Fairford, Fairford, Gloucestershire. Seven undated ditches were identified during the groundworks. It is probable that these features represent further activity associated with Iron Age, Romano-British and medieval features identified within the site during previous archaeological investigations. 2 © Cotswold Archaeology Buildings 15 & 16, RAF Fairford, Fairford, Gloucestershire: Archaeological Watching Brief 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 In September 2007 Cotswold Archaeology (CA) carried out an archaeological watching brief for Entec UK Limited on behalf of the Ministry of Defence, Defence Estates Operations (South) at RAF Fairford, Fairford, Gloucestershire (centred on NGR: SU 1640 9799). 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 (2007) and approved by Charles Parry, Senior Archaeological Officer, Gloucestershire County Council. The fieldwork also followed the Standard and Guidance for an Archaeological Watching Brief issued by the Institute of Field Archaeologists (2001), the Statement of Standards and Practices Appropriate for Archaeological Fieldwork in Gloucestershire (GCC 1995) and the Management of Archaeological Projects (English Heritage 1991). The site 1.3 The development area lies within the perimeter of RAF Fairford, currently an active airfield used by the United States Air Force (USAF). The site is bounded by agricultural land and is located between the town of Fairford, to the north and the villages of Marston Meysey and Kempsford to the south (Fig. 2). The site lies on broadly level ground at approximately 110m AOD. 1.4 The site, comprising the areas of Buildings 15 and 16, covers an area of approximately 18ha. The site comprised buildings, roads and areas of hard-standing associated with the airfield. 1.5 The underlying solid geology of the area is mapped as Oxford Clay of the Upper Jurassic era. This is overlain by First Terrace River Gravel of the Pleistocene and Recent eras (BGS 1974). Archaeological background 1.6 A range of archaeological works have been carried out at RAF Fairford in recent years during the course of various phases of refurbishment at the base. During 3 © Cotswold Archaeology Buildings 15 & 16, RAF Fairford, Fairford, Gloucestershire: Archaeological Watching Brief 1999 an archaeological desk-based assessment was carried out by Cotswold Archaeology (formerly Cotswold Archaeological Trust, CAT 1999a), followed by a geophysical survey (Stratascan 1999) and an evaluation (CAT 1999b). These works were followed by further excavation and watching briefs during a major phase of refurbishment during 2000 and 2001 (Hoad 2006). Subsequently an archaeological watching brief was undertaken by CA during refurbishment of areas of hardstanding and the construction of a new perimeter road around the airfield (CA 2004). 1.7 These investigations revealed evidence of Iron Age settlement activity and Roman and medieval agricultural activity in the form of pits, ditches and gullies, as well as the remains of ridge and furrow earthworks. Areas of cropmarks have been identified immediately to the south, west and east of the site (Gloucestershire SMR references 2424, 3164 and 14656) although none of these cropmarks extend into the site itself (CAT 1999a). Methodology 1.8 The fieldwork followed the methodology set out within the WSI (CA 2007). An archaeologist was present during intrusive groundworks comprising topsoil stripping to the top of the natural substrate (Fig. 2). 1.9 Where archaeological deposits were encountered written, graphic and photographic records were compiled in accordance with CA Technical Manual 1: Fieldwork Recording Manual (2007). 1.10 The archive from the watching brief is currently held by CA at their offices in Kemble. The site archive will be deposited with the Corinium Museum, Cirencester. A summary of information from this project, set out within Appendix B, will be entered onto the OASIS online database of archaeological projects in Britain. 2. RESULTS (FIGS 2 AND 3) 2.1 This section provides an overview of the watching brief results; summaries of the recorded contexts are to be found within Appendix A. 4 © Cotswold Archaeology Buildings 15 & 16, RAF Fairford, Fairford, Gloucestershire: Archaeological Watching Brief 2.2 Ditch 006 was 95m in length within the watching brief area and was aligned north- north-east/south-south-west and was up to 2.5m in width and 0.6m in depth (Fig. 4, Section AA). Each excavated section contained three fills, all of which comprised silty clays which were devoid of artefactual material. 2.3 Ditches 004, 018 (Fig. 4, Section BB) and 021 were parallel, were located 40m apart, orientated north-east/south-west and each measured approximately 0.8m in width and 0.2m in depth. The fills of the ditches, 005, 019 and 022 comprised sandy silts which were devoid of artefactual material. 2.4 Ditches 023 and 025 were parallel, were located 2m apart and orientated east-north- east/west-south-west (Fig. 4, Sections CC and DD). Ditch 023 was up to 3.1m in width and 0.7m in depth and ditch 025 was up to 1.35m wide and 0.35m deep. The fills, 024 and 026 comprised sandy gravels which did not contain any artefactual material. 3. DISCUSSION 3.1 The archaeological watching brief identified six ditches within the site. These features probably represent a continuation of activity recorded during the previous archaeological works. Three of the evaluation trenches in the vicinity of the current site identified a number of ditches, all of which were devoid of dating evidence (CA 1999b). Further archaeological excavation during works at RAF Fairford did not identify any features in the vicinity of the current site which contained any dating evidence (Hoad 2006, 42). 3.2 The ditches may represent parts of field boundary and/or drainage ditches. The sterile nature of the fills may suggest that any settlement with which they may be associated is not situated within the immediate vicinity. The three different alignments of the ditches may suggest that they represent three phases of activity. 3.3 Parallel ditches 004, 018 and 021 were all of a similar character and may have been part of the same system. These features may have resulted from post-medieval and/or modern agricultural