Doncaster Local Plan: Archaeological Scoping Assessment
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Doncaster Local Plan: Archaeological Scoping Assessment Allocation Reference: 350 Area (Ha): 6.71 Allocation Type: Housing NGR (centre): SE 6062 0273 Site Name: Rose Hill, Cantley Settlement: Doncaster Urban Area Allocation Recommendations Archaeological significance of site Regional Historic landscape significance Uncertain Suitability of site for allocation Major archaeological constraint Summary Within site Within buffer zone Scheduled Monument - - Listed Building - - SMR record/event 5 records 7 records Cropmark/Lidar evidence Yes Yes Cartographic features of interest No Yes Estimated sub-surface disturbance Low n/a www.archeritage.co.uk Page 1 of 4 Doncaster Local Plan: Archaeological Scoping Assessment Allocation Reference: 350 Area (Ha): 6.71 Allocation Type: Housing NGR (centre): SE 6062 0273 Site Name: Rose Hill, Cantley Settlement: Doncaster Urban Area Site assessment Known assets/character: The SMR records five monuments within the site. These are all associated with Iron Age to Roman activity, including two enclosures recorded through cropmark evidence and geophysical survey, and two pottery kilns, one within an enclosure, the other outside. One of the enclosures was interpreted as a possible settlement site. The strong magnetic signature of the kilns indicated a considerable quantity of burnt clay. It was noted that the geological background would otherwise make identification of infilled ditch-features difficult through geophysical survey. The site is at the northwest edge of an area where many pottery kilns have been recorded, associated with a major pottery industry concentrated to the east of Doncaster in the Roman period. It is unclear whether the features were excavated; the SMR records only refer to geophysical survey and surface finds but the HEC data for this site states that kilns were excavated in this area. The Doncaster pottery industry area continues into the buffer, where five findspots and one further monument are recorded. Four of the findspots are of Neolithic flint tools, including an axe head found to the northwest of the site on Doncaster Racecourse and a flint knife, flakes and a scraper found to the southwest of the site. A Roman coin was found in association with the remains of a hearth to the east of the site. The supposed route of a major Roman road from Lincoln to York, via Bawtry and Doncaster, runs through the southwest edge of the buffer. No Scheduled Monuments or listed buildings are located within the site or buffer. The Magnesian Limestone in South and West Yorkshire Aerial Photographic Mapping Project recorded a clear pattern of Iron Age to Roman enclosures and field boundaries within the site, including one of the enclosures identified by geophysical survey at the southeast side of the site, though the second enclosure is not shown as a cropmark. More fragmentary ditches of uncertain date are recorded within the northwest part of the buffer. Earthworks and structures associated with a firing range were recorded in the southeast part of the buffer on a 1940s photograph, though this area has since been built over. Historic Environment Characterisation records the present character of the site as surveyed enclosure, an area of small, regular fields probably enclosed from commons by Parliamentary Award in 1771. Further character zones within the buffer include Redhouse Plantation to the immediate northeast of the site, Doncaster Racecourse on former common land to the northwest, a mixture of private and social housing estates and detached houses, a public park, allotment gardens and a cemetery. The site is currently a field covered in rough grass and shrub, with Redhouse Plantation to the northeast. Cartographic/historic land use assessment: The 1854 OS map shows the site as part of three fields with fairly regular boundaries. One boundary had been removed by 1892, to create one large and one smaller field. The current southern boundary was formed by 1930, when a railway line was built, and the site was shown as one field between the railway and the racecourse at that date. No further changes were shown within the site by 1993. Within the buffer, the 1854 map shows Doncaster Common and racecourse to the immediate northwest of the site, and Rose Hill farm or large house to the southwest. Sand Road is shown at the southern edge of the buffer and the remaining area is fields or unenclosed common land. Redhouse Plantation was shown to the northeast of the site in 1892, separated by a drainage ditch. By 1930, the South Yorkshire Joint Railway had been built along the southern boundary of the site. Housing was shown to the south of Rose Hill and Sand Road at that date, and Cantley Rifle range was located to the southeast of the railway line. By 1956, housing estates had been built over the rifle range, and a cemetery was shown to the south of the housing. The 1961 map showed a golf course within the area surrounded by the racecourse. Housing had been built up to the southwest edge of the site by 1976. www.archeritage.co.uk Page 2 of 4 Doncaster Local Plan: Archaeological Scoping Assessment Survival: There has been no sub-surface disturbance recorded on historic mapping or aerial photographs. Cropmarks and geophysical survey have recorded Iron Age to Roman field boundaries and possible settlement enclosures within the site, as well as two Roman pottery kilns. It is possible that the kilns have been excavated, though this is not clear from the SMR record. The extent of the area covered by geophysical survey is also unknown, and further kilns and associated remains could survive within the field. The potential for the survival of buried archaeological remains is considered to be high. Further investigations: This site has a high potential for the survival of significant archaeological remains associated with Roman settlement, agriculture and pottery production. Further consideration should be made of its capacity for housing development. Significance: Remains associated with the Roman pottery industry and associated settlement are part of a wider industrial and agricultural landscape within this area considered to be of Regional archaeological significance. Note: Site 350 covers the same area as Site 407. Aerial Photographs & Lidar Summary: The 2002-2015 aerial photographs show the site as a field with rough grass vegetation, with hedges along the north and northwest boundaries, and a railway line along the southeast boundary. No shrubs or trees were shown within the site in 2002, but the vegetation became rougher and more scrub developed up to 2015. Lidar data shows the drainage ditch at the north end of the site, and a possible further ditch along the northwest boundary. The only other features visible within the site are modern footpaths. Photograph references: Google Earth coverage 2002, 2003, 2008. 2009 & 2015. Lidar data tile SE6002 DTM 1m. RAF/CPE/UK/1880 5110 06-Dec-1946; OS/92256 0196 20-Jul-1992; SE6003/4 NMR 17354/37 29-Jul-1999. SMR Record/event Reference Name Details Site? Buffer? ID 00711/01 Neolithic flint Axe head reported to have been found near the Old Butts on Y axehead Doncaster Race Course (Now lost) 00719/01 Flint knife 3" long Neolithic flint knife. Y 00719/02 Flint flakes Flint flakes. Y 00719/03 Flint scraper Scraper. Y 01209/01 Iron Age or During a geophysical survey of the proposed M18 route, a Y Romano-British ditched enclosure was observed. A Roman pottery kiln was Enclosure at located within the enclosure, another was located outside. The Cantley relationship between the enclosure and the kilns is unclear. A second enclosure was also detected nearby. 01209/02 An enclosure at the A second enclosure was detected during geophysical survey at Y Redhouse the Redhouse Plantation, Cantley, Doncaster. The enclosure Plantation, Cantley, was visible as a cropmark in aerial photographs and may date Doncaster to the Iron Age or Roman period. It may represent a native farmstead of the Roman period. 01209/03 Rose Hill Roman One of two kilns found during geophysical survey of the route Y Pottery Kiln 1, of the proposed M18. The kilns are likely to date to the third century AD and may represent the northern most limit of the www.archeritage.co.uk Page 3 of 4 Doncaster Local Plan: Archaeological Scoping Assessment Cantley Cantley Pottery industry. Kiln 1 was found within enclosure 01209/01. 01209/04 Rose Hill Roman One of two kilns found during geophysical survey of the route Y Pottery Kiln 2, of the proposed M18. The kilns are likely to date to the third Cantley century AD and may represent the northern most limit of the Cantley Pottery industry. 01806/01 Remains of a Much corroded coin -? Sestertius - associated with hearth -18, Y Roman period Newmarket Road, Cantley. hearth, and coin, Newmarket Road, Cantley 04915 Roman Road; Suggested Roman road following the original line of military Y Bawtry to Adwick advance from Lincoln towards York, entering South Yorkshire Le Street via in the south-east at Bawtry, travelling north-west through Doncaster Doncaster and Adwick Le Street and then on towards Castleford. 04930 The Doncaster A series of potteries have been recorded and excavated in the Y Y Roman Pottery Doncaster district over several decades. The potteries may be Production Area considered a single industrial entity that stretches across several kilometres to the east of Doncaster. To date, sites have been recorded in the parishes of Cantley, Rossington, Blaxton, Auckley and Doncaster. SMR Historic Environment Characterisation Reference Name Details Site? Buffer? ID