ARCHAEOLOGY IN LEICESTERSHIRE AND RUTLAND 2006 Editors, Sam Bocock and Nicholas J. Cooper Note: archaeological watching briefs which have produced no significant archaeological features or finds are listed at the end of the relevant county sections below. In each case, the parish/site name is followed by the name of the individual or organisations that undertook the fieldwork. For abbreviations, see below, (p.iv). Some entries relate to fieldwork undertaken before 2006 but not reported previously. LEICESTER All finds and records are deposited with LCMS under the accession number cited at the end of the entry. Photographic surveys have not been assigned accession numbers. Abbey Park Road, Boston House (SK 5860 0420) Sophie Clarke A photographic survey of Boston House, Abbey Park Road, Leicester was carried out by ULAS on behalf of Pearmain Ltd., in advance of proposed residential conversion. Boston House is a former Boot and Shoe factory, constructed circa 1920 for Messrs. Hill and Cunningham. The proposals for redevelopment include alterations to the principal façade, in addition to the raising of the present roofline to facilitate the formation of 44 apartments within the building. Aylestone Park and Ride Scheme (SP 5525 9970) Simon Stowe A Geophysical Survey was undertaken by Stratascan for ULAS in an area outlined for development as a park and ride scheme. The survey was successful in locating anomalies of potential archaeological origin, particularly over the route of the Fosse Way. Evidence of other archaeological activity is fragmentary. This is possibly due to modern agricultural use of the land and also the presence of large modern magnetic features dominating the data. Anomalies thought to have been caused by natural effects have also been identified in the west of the survey area. Trans. Leicestershire Archaeol. and Hist. Soc., 81 (2007) 174 SAM BOCOCK AND NICHOLAS J. COOPER Aylestone Road, (former E.M.E.B Sports Field Site) Tim Carew, Ken Bazley (SK 5846 0295) An archaeological evaluation was undertaken by AOC Archaeology Group at the former East Midlands Electricity Board sports field site, Aylestone Road, Leicester on behalf of E-ON UK plc. The aim of the evaluation was to assess the impact of the proposed development of the site on any surviving archaeological remains, and in particular any remnants of the Raw Dykes. This earthwork has been interpreted as a Roman aqueduct supplying Leicester with water from a source approximately 2km to the south of the Roman town. A stretch of it to the south of the site survives intact and is a Scheduled Ancient Monument. The evaluation consisted of two machine excavated trenches measuring 20m x 1.8m, and a borehole transect. Remnants of the Raw Dykes were not observed in either trench and no other features of archaeological significance were recorded. Natural gravelly clay was overlain in both trenches by twentieth-century land- raising dumps. Modern truncation was evident across the area of both evaluation trenches. A comparison of levels between the scheduled stretch of Raw Dykes and the evaluation trenches showed that the natural deposits in both trenches were at a higher level than the base of the surviving ditch. If it was built to carry water northwards it is unlikely that the ditch of the Roman earthwork passed through the area covered by the evaluation trenches. The boreholes transect was undertaken in an area where trenching was impracticable, to the east of the trenches where, according to the map evidence, the ditch of the Raw Dykes is predicted to have been; there was a probable natural subsoil beneath modern made ground. Further to the west the natural ground had been truncated to a lower level, probably recently, although the possibility that this was due to the ditch of the Raw Dyke cannot be entirely dismissed. It is therefore likely that the part of the site now occupied by the bowling green was subject to widespread and heavy truncation in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This appears to have removed any earlier archaeological deposits. If any of the ditch of the Raw Dykes survives on the site, it is likely to be below c.58.0mOD and in the area that was not available for evaluation, in the far south east of the site. This is a strip up to 35m wide to the east of Trench 1 and up to 100m long to the south of the borehole transect. A9.2006. Beaumont Leys Lane, Beaumont Leys, Leicester (SK 5760 0863) John Thomas Archaeological work on land to the east of Beaumont Leys Lane, 4km to the north of the City centre, has revealed an extensive Iron Age settlement occupying a ridge between Rothley Brook to the west and the River Soar on the east. The work was in advance of warehouse and office development and was undertaken by ULAS on behalf of NSW Architects. Previous evaluative work on the site in 2002 had located an Iron Age roundhouse on the western side of the site, part of a contemporary ditch and a cluster of postholes to the east (Abrams 2002). In the ARCHAEOLOGY IN LEICESTERSHIRE AND RUTLAND 2006 175 Fig. 1. One of the roundhouses during excavation with an adjacent building in the background. summer of 2006 a larger area was stripped and excavated, joining the previously examined areas together and exposing the Iron Age settlement that covered approximately 1.2ha (Fig. 1). Residual sherds of Neolithic and Bronze Age pottery hints at earlier activities on or near the site but the majority of the evidence related to an apparently ‘open’ Iron Age settlement that had developed on the northern side of a sinuous linear boundary. The boundary had been redefined several times as the settlement developed and during any one phase was little more than a shallow ditch, suggesting that it had not been constructed with defence in mind. The effort involved in redefining the boundary and the degree of respect that the settlement afforded it however, reflect its importance to the Iron Age community. The settlement was characterised by an unusually large number of post-holes that covered the stripped are. The site had been ploughed in medieval times and 176 SAM BOCOCK AND NICHOLAS J. COOPER the resulting furrows have distorted the settlement plan somewhat, although distinct patterns can be recognised in the spread of post holes. Several fence lines were apparent and discrete structures, including a possible row of ‘four-posters’ (probable grainstores), give some idea of the organisation of the settlement. Several roundhouses were also revealed in addition to the one found in 2002. These were defined by the remains of eaves drip gullies as seen on other contemporary sites in the county. Interestingly, despite the frequency of well- preserved post holes across the site, little evidence for structural posts was recovered in relation to the round houses. This suggests that alternative structural methods are likely to have been used, such as turf or cob-walling, which may help to explain the absence of post holes within other Iron Age buildings where the suggestion was that such evidence had been ploughed away. Various pits and gullies completed the evidence for occupation on the site. A range of artefacts was recovered from the excavated features including pottery, fired clay, animal bone, quern stones and metalworking slag. Most of the pottery was of the coarse East Midlands Scored Ware tradition although a small group of sherds from one of the buildings was much finer, suggesting that occupation on the site continued into the early post-Conquest period. A full analysis of the excavation results is currently underway; this will enable a more detailed understanding of the settlement origins and development as well as a consideration of the site’s place within current knowledge of Iron Age Leicestershire. A.19.2006 REFERENCE Abrams, J., 2002 An Archaeological Excavation on Land Adjacent to Beaumont Leys Lane, Leicester. Unpublished Archaeological Services and Consultancy (ASC) report number ASC/LMH 02/1. Bede Street (SK 5794 0400) Sophie Clarke A programme of historic building recording and survey of a late 19th century factory and warehouse, located at 25–27 Bede Street, Braunstone Gate, was carried out by ULAS on behalf of Architects LE1 and Kingsbury Special Ventures. The survey indicates that the buildings were designed by the local architectural firm, Redfern and Sawday and were constructed circa 1889 on behalf of Orson Wright, a local businessman and entrepreneur. A30.2006. Braunstone Gate (SK 579 040) Matthew Parker An Archaeological Watching Brief was undertaken by ULAS on behalf of Anthony Ricketts Architects Ltd and LMP Consultants. The watching brief uncovered evidence of undated archaeological deposits, although potentially dating to the Roman period. These deposits were uncovered in the western portion of the development site. There was no evidence of the remains found during the evaluation conducted by ULAS during 2005 suggesting that these only survive at ARCHAEOLOGY IN LEICESTERSHIRE AND RUTLAND 2006 177 depths greater than the depth of the pilings being constructed by the current developers. A10.2005. Burley’s Way, St Margaret’s Bus Station (SP 463 608) Caroline Rann Staff of Warwickshire Museum undertook observation of limited groundworks within the bus station on behalf of Leicester City Council and recorded 19th- century building remains. A18.2006 East Bond Street – Highcross Quarter John Tate, Dave Parker, (SK 458500 304746 centre) Giles Macfarland, and Harriet Jacklin The evaluation and subsequent excavations and watching briefs at the former St. Peter’s Lane Car Park, Megabowl and nightclub, on behalf of Hammerson UK Properties plc., revealed varied results pertaining to the depths and survival of archaeological deposits across the 0.82ha site. Truncation varied between 1m and 3m, mainly due to medieval agricultural activity in the form of ‘garden soils’, and later Victorian cellaring.