Corner Farm, Ascott under Wychwood, Oxfordshire An Archaeological Evaluation for Empire Homes Ltd by Stephen Hammond Thames Valley Archaeological Services Ltd Site Code CFAW03/02 February 2003 Summary Site name: Corner Farm, Ascott under Wychwood, Oxfordshire Grid reference: SP 3030 1874 Site activity: Evaluation trenching Date and duration of project: 17th–21st January 2003 Project manager: Steve Ford Site supervisor: Stephen Hammond Site code: CFAW 03/02 Area of site: c. 0.3 hectares Summary of results: Three trenches all contained archaeological features, with a small collection of mostly medieval pottery and a single struck flint. One feature contained carbonized grain Monuments identified: (Possible) prehistoric gully. Medieval boundary ditches, gullies, possible structural features Location and reference of archive: The site archive is currently held by Thames Valley Archaeological Services Ltd, 47-49 De Beauvoir Road, Reading, Berkshire, RG1 5NR and will be deposited with Oxfordshire Museum Service in due course. This report may be copied for bona fide research or planning purposes without the explicit permission of the copyright holder Report edited/checked by: Steve Ford9 6.02.03 Steve Preston9 07.02.03 i Corner Farm, Ascott under Wychwood, Oxfordshire An Archaeological Evaluation by Stephen Hammond Report 03/02 Introduction This report documents the results of an archaeological field evaluation carried out on land at Corner Farm. Ascott-under-Wychwood, Oxfordshire (SP 3030 1874) (Fig. 1). The work was commissioned by Mr Brendan O’ Brien, Empire Homes Ltd, The Long Barn, Oxford Road, Old Chalford, Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, OX7 5QR. Planning permission (02/1100) is being sought from West Oxfordshire District Council to demolish existing structures and redevelop the site for nine houses and a shop. As a consequence of the possibility of archaeological deposits on the site which may be damaged or destroyed by groundworks a field evaluation was requested. This was carried out in order to provide sufficient information on the potential of the site so that a reasonable and informed decision for mitigating the effects of development can be made This is in accordance with the Department of the Environment’s Planning Policy Guidance, Archaeology and Planning (PPG16 1990), and the County’s policies on archaeology. The field investigation was carried out to a specification approved by Mr Hugh Coddington, Deputy County Archaeological Officer to Oxfordshire County Council. The fieldwork was undertaken by Stephen Hammond and Clare Challis between 17th and 21st January, 2003, and the site code is CFAW 03/02. The archive is presently held at Thames Valley Archaeological Services, Reading and will be deposited with Oxfordshire Museum Service in due course. Location, topography and geology The proposed development is located on a rectangular plot of land of c. 0.3ha on the north side of the High Street, Ascott-under-Wychwood, approximately 50m east to the junction with London Lane (SP3030 1874). The site lies at a height of c. 95m above Ordnance Datum and is currently partly occupied by redundant farm buildings. According to maps (BGS 1982) the natural geology is second terrace gravel overlying Lower Lias Clay with outcrops of limestone. This was confirmed during the evaluation. 1 Archaeological background Ascott-under-Wychwood is listed in the Domesday Survey of AD 1086, and the site lies within its historic core. During the medieval period the settlement was made up of two distinct settlements, Ascott d’Oyley to the east and Ascott Earl to the west. Ascott d’Oyley castle, approximately 150m to the north of the site, is a Scheduled Ancient Monument (SAM 21790). Constructed as a motte and bailey, it survives as a series of earthworks with some stone works. An archaeological watching brief to the east of the site located early post-medieval building foundations and some medieval pottery. A series of ditch features are aligned south-east from the railway to the High Street, including the area of Corner Farm. These appear to be boundaries that relate to the settlement rather than the castle. Evidence of medieval pottery kilns and pottery waste dumps have also been identified in the area (H. Coddington, pers. comm.). Objectives and methodology The purpose of the evaluation was to determine the presence/absence, extent, condition, character, quality and date of any archaeological deposits within the area of development. A programme of environmental sampling would take place, if any significant deposits were encountered. The work was to be carried out in a manner which would not compromise the integrity of archaeological features or deposits that warrant preservation in- situ, or might better be excavated under conditions pertaining to full excavation. Specific aims for the project were: To determine if archaeologically relevant levels have survived on this site. To determine if archaeologically deposits of any period are present To determine if archaeological deposits representing Saxon or Medieval occupation of the site are present The potential and significance of any such deposits located would be assessed according to the research priorities such as set out in Exploring our past (English Heritage 1991) and English Heritage Research Agenda (English Heritage 1997) or any local or thematic research priorities as necessary. To meet the aims of the project three trenches 20m long and 1.5m wide were to dug using a 360° type tracked excavator fitted with a toothless ditching bucket under close archaeological supervision. The trenches were located as close as possible to their originally intended locations as defined by the project specification with allowances being made for logistical problems and services (Fig. 3). The trenches were dug down onto either archaeologically sensitive levels or natural depending on what was encountered first. Where archaeologically 2 features and deposits were certainly or probably present the stripped areas were cleaned using appropriate hand tools before being investigated further. All spoilheaps were to be monitored for finds. A complete list of trenches giving lengths, breadths, depths and a description of sections and geology is given in Appendix 1. Results In total three trenches were dug ranging in length from 20.30m to 22.90m. Trench 1 Trench 1 consisted of a dark grey/brown clay/silt topsoil covering a mid grey/brown silty clay horizon which in turn covered an orange gravel natural with occasional clay patches. A linear feature (8) noted to be at least 0.50m wide and 0.45m deep was seen to be truncated by linear feature (9). The section revealed this feature to be 0.80m wide and 0.73m deep. Both features were aligned north-west / south east whilst curving slightly through the trench. Linear feature (8) with a light yellow/grey/brown silty clay fill failed to produce any finds. However, the linear re-cut (9) which had a dark grey silty clay fill produced eight sherds of pottery dating from the medieval period. A 30L sample of soil was taken from this fill for environmental analysis as it was noted to contain carbonized plant remains. A subsample of this was examined post-excavation to reveal a quantity of carbonized cereal grain (wheat/barley). Several other potential features were observed within this trench but were not investigated due to continuous severe ingress of water. Trench 2 (Plate 1) Trench 2 consisted of dark grey/brown clay/silt topsoil overlying a mid grey/brown silty clay horizon which in turn covered a mid orange gravelly clay natural. Apart from a very late post-medieval gully four features (5–7 and 10) were noted towards southern end of the trench below an area of redeposited natural. Feature 7, aligned parallel to the High Street appears to be a ditch which has been re-cut by ditch 6. This feature was filled with a light yellow/grey silty clay and was 1.61m wide with a depth of 0.43m. No finds were recovered. The re-cut however with a dark grey silty clay fill produced eight sherds of pottery dating from the medieval period. The ditch re-cut appears to be at least 1.03m wide and 0.37m deep in the south-west facing section. The north-east facing section though, seems to have been truncated by more recent activity and was covered with a much thicker layer of re-deposited natural (Fig. 5). 3 Posthole 5 was 0.33m in diameter and 0.44m deep. The section revealed this feature to have a mid grey silty clay fill and to be cutting ditch 7. No finds were recovered from this feature. A further posthole (10) was also revealed close to posthole 5 again cutting the original ditch 7 but slightly darker colour. This posthole was 0.18m in diameter but was not excavated. The colour of the fill suggests a similar date to ditch re-cut 6. Trench 3 (Plate 2) This trench consisted of dark grey/brown clay/silt covering a mid grey/brown silty clay horizon which in turn covered a mid orange gravelly clay natural. Several features were noted within the trench. Feature 1 appears to be a possible post-hole almost rectangular in shape, 0.50m wide, 0.80m long with a depth of 0.05m. Three sherds of pottery were recovered from the fill giving it a late post-medieval date. Below this feature within the half section excavated a possible stakehole was noted containing a fairly loose mid brown silty clay fill. The relationship between the two is unclear as both had very similar fills. No dating evidence was recovered from this feature and it could merely be the result of animal disturbance. Also noted within the trench was a gully running NE–SW across its width. Two slots (2 and 3) were excavated through the feature, both being 0.30m wide and 0.13m in depth.