Charge House (Internal): Structural Engineer Review Gunns Mill Flaxley Gloucestershire
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Charge House (internal): Structural Engineer review Gunns Mill Flaxley Gloucestershire Archaeological Evaluation for Forest of Dean Buildings Preservation Trust and Historic England CA Project: 5769 CA Report: 16297 June 2016 Charge House (internal): Structural Engineer review Gunns Mill Flaxley Gloucestershire Archaeological Evaluation CA Project: 5769 CA Report: 16297 Document Control Grid Revision Date Author Checked by Status Reasons for Approved revision by A 23 June Tim Havard Richard Internal Ian 2016 and Alex Young review Barnes Thomson B 23 June Tim Havard Richard Final Client and Historic Ian 2016 and Alex Young England comment Barnes Thomson 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 © Cotswold Archaeology Gunns Mill, Flaxley, Gloucestershire: Archaeological Evaluation CONTENTS SUMMARY ..................................................................................................................... 2 1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................ 3 2. ARCHAEOLOGICAL BACKGROUND ................................................................ 3 3. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES ................................................................................... 4 4. METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................... 5 5. RESULTS (FIGS 2 & 3) ...................................................................................... 6 6. THE FINDS ........................................................................................................ 7 7. DISCUSSION ..................................................................................................... 8 8. CA PROJECT TEAM .......................................................................................... 9 9. REFERENCES ................................................................................................... 10 APPENDIX A: CONTEXT DESCRIPTIONS .................................................................... 11 APPENDIX B: THE FINDS .............................................................................................. 12 APPENDIX C: LEVELS OF PRINCIPAL DEPOSITS AND STRUCTURES ..................... 13 APPENDIX D: OASIS REPORT FORM .......................................................................... 14 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Fig. 1 Site location plan (1:25,000) Fig. 2 Trench location plan (1:250) Fig. 3 Trenches 2 & 3: plans, sections and photographs (1:20) 1 © Cotswold Archaeology Gunns Mill, Flaxley, Gloucestershire: Archaeological Evaluation SUMMARY Project Name: Charge House (internal): Structural Engineer review, Gunns Mill Location: Flaxley, Gloucestershire NGR: SO 6751 1594 Type: Evaluation Date: 26-27 May 2016 Location of Archive: To be deposited with Dean Heritage Centre Accession Number: SOYDH: 2016.12 Site Code: GUN 16 An archaeological evaluation was undertaken by Cotswold Archaeology in May 2016 at Gunns Mill, Flaxley, Gloucestershire. Two trenches were excavated. The evaluation revealed various surfaces, made-ground deposits and evidence of previous structural features, as well as a variation in the height of the natural substrate, suggesting historic terracing of the area to the north of the mill. 2 © Cotswold Archaeology Gunns Mill, Flaxley, Gloucestershire: Archaeological Evaluation 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 In May 2016 Cotswold Archaeology (CA) carried out an archaeological evaluation for Forest of Dean Buildings Preservation Trust (FoDBPT) and Historic England (HE) at Gunns Mill, Flaxley, Gloucestershire (centred on NGR: SO 6751 1594; Fig. 1). The evaluation was undertaken for engineering purposes and aimed to determine the depth of the undisturbed natural soil horizon, and to record any archaeological deposits encountered during the investigation. 1.2 The evaluation was carried out in accordance with a brief (HE 2015) issued for the archaeological recording of the historic mill building, prepared by HE and with a subsequent detailed Written Scheme of Investigation (WSI) produced by CA (2016a) and approved by Mel Barge, Inspector of Ancient Monuments, HE. The fieldwork also followed Standard and guidance: Archaeological field evaluation (CIfA 2014). The site 1.3 The site of Gunns Mill is located within the Forest of Dean, between Mitcheldean and Littledean, west of the village of Flaxley. The site had been used for agriculture in the earlier 20th century, but the former mill buildings now stand derelict. The site is enclosed to the east and south by woodland forming part of the Forest of Dean and to the west and north by farmland. The mill building was constructed against a steep slope, which forms part of the site. A tributary of the Westbury Brook runs through the site. 1.4 The underlying bedrock geology of the area is mapped as Brownstones Formation - Sandstone and Argillaceous Rocks of the Devonian Period, overlain by Alluvium of the Quaternary Period (BGS 2016). Probable natural substrate, comprising brownish red clay sand, was identified by hand augur in the base of Trench 2. 2. ARCHAEOLOGICAL BACKGROUND 2.1 The site has been the subject of much previous work, including a historical account (Demidowicz and Demidowicz 2001), Historical Building Surveys (Shoesmith 1988, CA 2015), dendrochronological analysis of timbers from the standing mill buildings (Howard et al. 2001), an archaeological watching brief on installation of scaffolding (GCCAS 2000), and the first phase of an archaeological evaluation and subsequent 3 © Cotswold Archaeology Gunns Mill, Flaxley, Gloucestershire: Archaeological Evaluation watching brief (CA 2016b). The following section is a summary of the results of those works. 2.2 The industrial history of the site can be traced back as far as 1435, when a mill was first built on the tributary of the Westbury Brook. The site was occupied by a succession of corn and fulling mills, including that of the clothier William Gunn in 1596, from whom the modern name derives (Demidowicz and Demidowicz 2001, 6). In 1625 the ironworker John Winter established a blast furnace close to the mill and the name was transferred to the iron works. The iron works suffered a period of decline during the middle of the 17th century, however in the early 1680s, the furnace was renovated by new owners, Scudamore and Hall (Ibid.). The cast iron lintels carry the dates 1682 and 1683 and dendrochronology has revealed that the oak trees used for the beams of the superstructure adjoining (but not above) the furnace were felled in 1681-82 and thus formed part of the rebuild (Howard et al. 2001). 2.3 The blast furnace continued to be operational until about 1741, when it was turned into a paper mill by Joseph Lloyd. By the late 19th century the mill had become defunct and the buildings were used for agriculture. 2.4 The 17th century blast furnace (National Heritage List No. 1002080) and the Grade II* listed Gunns Mill building (National Heritage List No. 1186479) still occupy the site. 2.5 Recent work by the FoDBPT in August 2015 to clear an area of land slip next to the mill building revealed structural remains. An evaluation trench excavated across these structures and a subsequent watching brief revealed evidence of probable terracing and two walls on different alignments compared to the adjacent surviving walls of the mill, and these likely represent retaining walls at the bottom of an earthen dam (shown as Trenches 1, 4 and 5 on Fig. 2; CA 2016b). 3. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES 3.1 The objectives of the evaluation were to: • Understand the phasing of the structures • Understand the significance of the different elements of the buildings 4 © Cotswold Archaeology Gunns Mill, Flaxley, Gloucestershire: Archaeological Evaluation • Provide information to inform the conservation, repair and reuse of the site • Provide information about the condition of the natural substrate to inform structural engineering analysis 4. METHODOLOGY 4.1 The fieldwork comprised the excavation of two trenches in the locations shown on the attached plan (Fig. 2). These measured 1.99m by 1m (Trench 2) and 3.2m by 1.2m (Trench 3). Both trenches were excavated within the Bridge House mill building itself, at ground floor level. Some deviation from the proposed trench locations was necessary due to standing structural elements and modern scaffolding, struts and supports within the building. Trenches were set out on OS National Grid (NGR) co-ordinates using existing geo-located plans and hand tapes. Levels were tied into a benchmark with a known height Above Ordnance Datum. 4.2 Both trenches were excavated completely by hand 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 and subsequently recorded in accordance with CA Technical Manual 1: Fieldwork Recording Manual. 4.3 Deposits were assessed for their palaeoenvironmental potential in accordance with CA Technical Manual 2: The Taking and Processing of Environmental and Other Samples from Archaeological Sites and no deposits were identified that required sampling. All artefacts recovered were processed in accordance with Technical Manual 3 Treatment of Finds Immediately