Land adjacent to Stowell Concrete
Arnolds Way
Yatton
North Somerset
Archaeological Evaluation
for WYG
on behalf of Stowell Concrete Ltd
CA Project: 880264 CA Report: 17713
February 2018
Land adjacent to Stowell Concrete Arnolds Way Yatton North Somerset
Archaeological Evaluation
CA Project: 880264 CA Report: 17713
Document Control Grid Revision Date Author Checked by Status Reasons for Approved revision by A 13 Christina Derek Evans Internal – Derek February Tapply review Evans 2018
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 Land adjacent to Stowell Concrete, Arnolds Way, Yatton, North Somerset: Archaeological Evaluation
CONTENTS
SUMMARY ...... 2
1. INTRODUCTION ...... 3
2. ARCHAEOLOGICAL BACKGROUND ...... 4
3. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES ...... 4
4. METHODOLOGY ...... 4
5. RESULTS ...... 5
6. DISCUSSION ...... 6
7. CA PROJECT TEAM ...... 6
8. REFERENCES ...... 6
APPENDIX A: CONTEXT DESCRIPTIONS ...... 8 APPENDIX B: OASIS REPORT FORM...... 9
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Fig. 1 Site location plan (1:25,000) Fig. 2 Trench location plan (1:500) Fig. 3 Trench 1: photographs Fig. 4 Trench 6: photographs
1 © Cotswold Archaeology Land adjacent to Stowell Concrete, Arnolds Way, Yatton, North Somerset: Archaeological Evaluation
SUMMARY
Project Name: Land adjacent to Stowell Concrete Location: Arnolds Way, Yatton, North Somerset NGR: 341750 166000 Type: Evaluation Date: 27–28 November 2017 Planning Reference: 16/P/2725/F Location of Archive: To be deposited with the Somerset Museum Service Site Code: SCY 17
In November 2017, Cotswold Archaeology carried out an archaeological evaluation of land adjacent to Stowell Concrete, Arnolds Way, Yatton, North Somerset. A total of six trenches was excavated within the site.
The evaluation recorded no archaeological features or deposits. An area of rubble deposits was associated with the demolition of a late post-medieval/modern farm.
2 © Cotswold Archaeology Land adjacent to Stowell Concrete, Arnolds Way, Yatton, North Somerset: Archaeological Evaluation
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 In November 2017, Cotswold Archaeology (CA) carried out an archaeological evaluation of land adjacent to Stowell Concrete, Arnolds Way, Yatton, North Somerset (centred on NGR: 341750 166000; Fig. 1). The evaluation was commissioned by WYG, on behalf of Stowell Concrete Ltd.
1.2 North Somerset Council has granted full planning permission (ref: 16/P/2725/F) for the erection of a single storey warehouse at the site, as well as a batching plant, stock area, single storey ancillary product development office, associated rainwater attention basin and landscaping. Condition 12 of this planning permission requires a programme of archaeological work. The scope of this evaluation was defined in discussions with Catherine Lodge, Archaeologist, North Somerset Council.
1.3 The evaluation was carried out in accordance with a Written Scheme of Investigation (WSI) produced by CA (2017) and approved by Catherine Lodge. The evaluation was also in line with Standard and guidance for archaeological field evaluation (CIfA 2014), Management of Research Projects in the Historic Environment (MoRPHE) PPN 3: Archaeological Excavation (Historic England 2015) and Management of Research Projects in the Historic Environment (MoRPHE): Project Manager’s Guide (Historic England 2015).
The site 1.4 The evaluation site lies outside of the south-western fringes of Yatton. It is to the west of the existing Stowell Concrete works, which lie to the west of the southern end of Arnolds Way.
1.5 The evaluation site is composed of two areas, comprising c. 4.15ha in the west and c. 0.15ha in the east. It is mainly open grassland, with hardstanding in its north- western corner. It is surrounded by the existing Stowell Concrete works to the east, with the Smart Systems warehouses to the west.
1.6 The underlying bedrock geology of the site is mapped as mudstone and halite-stone of the Mercia Mudstone Group, which formed in the Triassic Period. This is overlain by Tidal Flat Deposits of clay and silt (BGS 2017).
3 © Cotswold Archaeology Land adjacent to Stowell Concrete, Arnolds Way, Yatton, North Somerset: Archaeological Evaluation
2. ARCHAEOLOGICAL BACKGROUND
2.1 The following text is summarised from Catherine Lodge’s comments on the planning application, as well as the results of a previous geophysical survey (Archaeological Surveys Ltd 2017) and data held on the North Somerset Council Historic Environment Record (HER).
2.2 The proposed development site is located c. 1,600m north-east of a minor Roman villa (Historic England List entry no. 1011262). Two sites to the north-east of the evaluation site have been subject to geophysical surveys (GSB 2013; Archaeological Surveys 2014), which recorded a probable trackway. A medieval droveway is known c. 400m to the north-west of the evaluation site (HER ref 46931). A medieval deer park is located c. 600m to the north of the evaluation site (HER ref 08804).
2.3 Holly Lodge Farm (HER ref 46731), extant from the 18th to the 20th centuries, lay within the south-eastern area of the evaluation site.
2.4 The geophysical survey of the evaluation site recorded several anomalies of uncertain/possible natural origin, as well as a single possible ditch-like feature and evidence for drainage channels. An area of magnetic debris in the south-eastern part of the site was considered likely to relate to the former Holly Lodge Farm.
3. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
3.1 The objective of the evaluation was to provide further information about the likely archaeological resource within the site, including its presence/absence, character, extent, date, integrity, state of preservation and quality, in line with the National Planning Policy Framework (DCLG 2012).
4. METHODOLOGY
4.1 The evaluation fieldwork comprised the excavation of six trenches (Fig. 2). All trenches were 30m long and 2m wide. They were located to target anomalies identified in the geophysical survey (Archaeological Surveys 2017):
4 © Cotswold Archaeology Land adjacent to Stowell Concrete, Arnolds Way, Yatton, North Somerset: Archaeological Evaluation
• T1–T4 sampled anomalies of uncertain/possible natural origin; • T5 sampled a possible ditch-like anomaly; and • T6 sampled an area of magnetic debris in the former location of Holly Lodge Farm.
4.2 Trenches were set out on OS National Grid (NGR) co-ordinates using Leica GPS and were surveyed in accordance with CA Technical Manual 4: Survey Manual. All trenches were excavated by a mechanical excavator equipped with a toothless grading bucket. All machine excavation was undertaken under constant archaeological supervision. Investigation and recording was carried out in line with CA Technical Manual 1: Fieldwork Recording Manual.
4.3 CA will make arrangements with Somerset Museum Service for the deposition of the project archive. A summary of information from this project, as set out in Appendix B, will be entered onto the OASIS online database of archaeological projects in Britain.
5. RESULTS
5.1 This section provides an overview of the evaluation results. Detailed summaries of the recorded contexts can be found in Appendix A.
5.2 T1–T5 were excavated to depths of 0.76m–1.4m below present ground level (bpgl; Fig. 3). Natural alluvial clays were exposed 014m–0.24m bpgl and were present to depth. They were sealed by the modern topsoil.
5.3 In T6, alluvial clay was exposed 0.9m bpgl (Fig. 4). It was sealed by 0.4m–0.5m of demolition deposits 602 and 603, which comprised mortar and brick and stone rubble in a silty clay matrix. The demolition deposits were sealed by 0.35m of subsoil 601, which was covered in turn by 0.15m of modern topsoil 600.
5.4 No archaeological features or deposits were uncovered in any of the trenches.
5 © Cotswold Archaeology Land adjacent to Stowell Concrete, Arnolds Way, Yatton, North Somerset: Archaeological Evaluation
6. DISCUSSION
6.1 The evaluation recorded no archaeological features or deposits. This is in line with the geophysical survey results survey (Archaeological Surveys Ltd 2017), which suggested a low potential for archaeological remains. There was no below-ground archaeological feature corresponding to the ditch-like anomaly sampled by T5.
6.2 T6 recorded late post-medieval/modern rubble deposits associated with the demolition of Holly Lodge Farm, which stood in that area of the site from the 18th to the 20th centuries.
7. CA PROJECT TEAM
7. Fieldwork was undertaken by Christina Tapply, assisted by Edoardo Vigo and Victoria Parsons. This report was written by Christina Tapply. The report illustrations were prepared by Esther Escudero. The archive has been compiled and prepared for deposition by Jessica Cook. The project was managed for CA by Derek Evans.
8. REFERENCES
Archaeological Surveys 2014 Land at Arnolds Way, Yatton, North Somerset, Phase II: Magnetometer Survey Report
Archaeological Surveys 2017 Stowell Concrete Extension, Yatton, North Somerset: Magnetometer Survey Report
BGS (British Geological Survey) 2017 Geology of Britain Viewer http://www.bgs.ac.uk/discoveringGeology/geologyOfBritain/viewer.html Accessed 10 November 2017
DCLG (Department of Communities and Local Government) 2012 National Planning Policy Framework
GSB Prospection 2013 Geophysical Survey report G1382: Land at Arnolds Way, Yatton, Somerset
6 © Cotswold Archaeology Land adjacent to Stowell Concrete, Arnolds Way, Yatton, North Somerset: Archaeological Evaluation
North Somerset Council Historic Environment Record http://map.nsomerset.gov.uk/HER.html (accessed 10 November 2017)
7 © Cotswold Archaeology Land adjacent to Stowell Concrete, Arnolds Way, Yatton, North Somerset: Archaeological Evaluation
APPENDIX A: CONTEXT DESCRIPTIONS
Trench 1 (max. depth 0.9m) Context Type Context Description Thickness No. interpretation (m) 100 Layer Topsoil Mid grey brown silty clay 0.14 101 Layer Alluvium Light grey brown silty clay 0.49 102 Layer Alluvium Light brown grey clay
Trench 2 (max. depth 1.15m) Context Type Context Description Thickness No. interpretation (m) 200 Layer Topsoil Mid grey brown silty clay 0.2 201 Layer Alluvium Light grey brown silty clay 0.2 202 Layer Alluvium Light brown grey clay 0.5 203 Layer Alluvium Light bluish brown clay
Trench 3 (max. depth 0.76m) Context Type Context Description Thickness No. interpretation (m) 300 Layer Topsoil Mid grey brown silty clay 0.24 301 Layer Alluvium Light grey brown silty clay 0.4 302 Layer Alluvium Light brown grey clay
Trench 4 (max. depth 1.4m) Context Type Context Description Thickness No. interpretation (m) 400 Layer Topsoil Mid grey brown silty clay 0.2 401 Layer Alluvium Light grey brown silty clay 0.13 402 Layer Alluvium Light brown grey clay 0.3 403 Layer Alluvium Light bluish brown clay 0.48 404 Layer Alluvium Light grey blue clay
Trench 5 (max. depth 0.8m) Context Type Context Description Thickness No. interpretation (m) 500 Layer Topsoil Mid grey brown silty clay 0.2 501 Layer Alluvium Light grey brown silty clay 0.3 502 Layer Alluvium Light brown grey clay
Trench 6 (max. depth 1.1m) Context Type Context Description Thickness No. interpretation (m) 600 Layer Topsoil Dark grey brown clay silt 0.15 601 Layer Subsoil? Light brownish grey silty clay 0.35 602 Layer Demolition layer Brownish grey silty clay with brick 0.4 rubble, mortar and stones 603 Layer Demolition layer Dark black silty clay with brick 0.5 rubble, mortar and stones 604 Layer Alluvium Light yellowish grey clay
8 © Cotswold Archaeology Land adjacent to Stowell Concrete, Arnolds Way, Yatton, North Somerset: Archaeological Evaluation
APPENDIX B: OASIS REPORT FORM
PROJECT DETAILS Project name Land adjacent to Stowell Concrete, Arnolds Way, Yatton, North Somerset Short description In November 2017, Cotswold Archaeology carried out an archaeological evaluation of land adjacent to Stowell Concrete, Arnolds Way, Yatton, North Somerset. A total of six trenches was excavated within the site.
The evaluation recorded no archaeological features or deposits. An area of rubble deposits was associated with the demolition of a late post-medieval/modern farm. Project dates 27–28 November 2017 Project type Field evaluation Previous work Geophysical survey (Archaeological Surveys 2017) Future work Unknown PROJECT LOCATION Site location Land adjacent to Stowell Concrete, Arnolds Way, Yatton, North Somerset Study area (m2/ha) 4.3ha Site co-ordinates 341750 166000 PROJECT CREATORS Name of organisation Cotswold Archaeology Project brief originator N/A Project design (WSI) originator Cotswold Archaeology Project Manager Derek Evans Project Supervisor Christina Tapply MONUMENT TYPE None SIGNIFICANT FINDS None PROJECT ARCHIVES Intended final location of archive Contents Physical N/A N/A Paper Somerset Museums Service Site recording forms Digital Somerset Museums Service Digital photos BIBLIOGRAPHY Cotswold Archaeology 2017 Land adjacent to Stowell Concrete, Arnolds Way, Yatton, North Somerset: Archaeological Evaluation CA typescript report 17713
9 3 341000 3 343000 4 4 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 0
116800068000
116600066000
116400064000
N Andover 01264 347630 Cirencester 01285 771022 M GLOUCESTERSHIRE ONMOUTHSH Cotswold Exeter 01392 826185
TORFAEN NEATH Archaeology Milton Keynes 01908 564660 PORT TALBOT CAERPHILLY RHONDDA, CYNON, TAFF w www.cotswoldarchaeology.co.uk IRE e [email protected] BR
IDGEND NEWPORT SOUTH PROJECT TITLE GLOUCESTERSHIRE CARDIFF Land adjacent to Stowell Concrete, CITY OF THE VALE BRISTOL WILTSHIRE OF GLAMORGAN Arnolds Way, Yatton, Somerset NORTH SOMERSET BATH AND FIGURE TITLE NE SOMERSET Site location plan 0 1km
FIGURE NO. Reproduced from the digital Ordnance Survey Explorer map with DRAWN BY CP PROJECT NO. 880264 SOMERSET the permission of Ordnance Survey on behalf of The Controller CHECKED BY DJB DATE 06/12/2017 of Her Majesty's Stationery Office c Crown copyright Cotswold Archaeology Ltd 100002109 APPROVED BY DE SCALE@A4 1:25,000 1 341800 342000 341600
y a
W
s ' d l o n r
A
site boundary evaluation trench
Geophysical Survey Results T2 (Archaeological Surveys Ltd 2017) positive linear anomaly - possible ditch-like feature T1 T3 negative/positive linear anomaly - drainage channel
T4 positive response - of uncertain/possible natural origin 166000 negative response - of
d x uncertain/possible natural origin
m
.
2
0
g
i
F magnetic debris - spread of
e
t
e magnetically
r
c
n thermoremnant/ferrous material
o
C
l
l
e
w
o strong dipolar anomaly - ferrous
t
S
4 object
6
2
0
8
8
\
s
t T5
f
a
r
D
\
n
o
i
t
a
r
t
s
u
l
l
I
\
L
A
V
E
t
e
s
r
e
m
o
S T6
N
,
n
o
t
t
a
Y
,
y
a 050m
W
s
d
l
o n Reproduced from the Ordnance Survey Digital mapping with the permission
r
A of Ordnance Survey on behalf of The Controller of Her Majesty's Stationery Office
,
e © Crown copyright Cotswold Archaeological Trust 100002109.
t
e
r
c n Andover 01264 347630
o
C Cirencester 01285 771022
l
l e Exeter 01392 826185
w o Milton Keynes 01908 564660
t
S w www.cotswoldarchaeology.co.uk
o t e [email protected]
t
n
e c PROJECT TITLE
a
j
d a Land adjacent to Stowell Concrete,
d
n
a
L Arnolds Way, Yatton, Somerset
4
6 FIGURE TITLE
2
0
8
8
\
: 165800 Trench location plan
P
:
h
t
a
P
t
n e DRAWN BY CP PROJECT NO 880264 FIGURE NO.
m u CHECKED BY DJB DATE 06/12/2017
c o APPROVED BY DE SCALE@A3 1:1,500 2
D Representative Trench 1 section, looking north-west (scale 1m)
Trench 1, looking south-west (scales 1m)
Andover 01264 347630 Cirencester 01285 771022 Cotswold Exeter 01392 826185 Archaeology Milton Keynes 01908 564660 w www.cotswoldarchaeology.co.uk e [email protected]
PROJECT TITLE Land adjacent to Stowell Concrete, Arnolds Way, Yatton, Somerset FIGURE TITLE Trench 1: photographs
DRAWN BY CP PROJECT NO. 880264 FIGURE NO. CHECKED BY DJB DATE 06/12/2017 APPROVED BY DE SCALE@A3 N/A 3 Representative Trench 6 section, looking south (scale 1m)
Trench 6, looking west (scales 1m)
Andover 01264 347630 Cirencester 01285 771022 Cotswold Exeter 01392 826185 Archaeology Milton Keynes 01908 564660 w www.cotswoldarchaeology.co.uk e [email protected]
PROJECT TITLE Land adjacent to Stowell Concrete, Arnolds Way, Yatton, Somerset FIGURE TITLE Trench 6: photographs
DRAWN BY CP PROJECT NO. 880264 FIGURE NO. CHECKED BY DJB DATE 06/12/2017 APPROVED BY DE SCALE@A3 N/A 4
19