The Proposed Kingswood Remembrance Park Grimsbury Farm, Kingswood South Gloucestershire
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THE PROPOSED KINGSWOOD REMEMBRANCE PARK GRIMSBURY FARM, KINGSWOOD SOUTH GLOUCESTERSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVALUATION CA PROJECT: 1601 CA REPORT: 04007 Author: Kate Cullen Approved: Simon Cox Signed: ……………………………………………………………. Issue: 01 Date: 15 January 2004 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 Building 11, Kemble Enterprise Park, Cirencester, Gloucestershire, GL7 6BQ Tel. 01285 771022 Fax. 01285 771033 E-mail: [email protected] The Proposed Kingswood Remembrance Park, Kingswood, South Gloucestershire: Archaeological Evaluation © Cotswold Archaeology CONTENTS SUMMARY........................................................................................................................ 3 1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................. 4 The site ................................................................................................................ 4 Archaeological background.................................................................................. 4 Archaeological objectives .................................................................................... 5 Methodology ........................................................................................................ 6 2. RESULTS ............................................................................................................ 6 Trench 1............................................................................................................... 7 Trench 2 .............................................................................................................. 7 Trench 3............................................................................................................... 7 Trench 4 .............................................................................................................. 8 Trench 7 .............................................................................................................. 8 Trench 8............................................................................................................... 9 Trench 9 .............................................................................................................. 9 Trenches 5, 6 and 10 .......................................................................................... 9 The Finds ............................................................................................................. 9 The Biological Evidence....................................................................................... 9 3. DISCUSSION....................................................................................................... 10 4. CA PROJECT TEAM ........................................................................................... 11 5. REFERENCES .................................................................................................... 11 APPENDIX 1: CONTEXT DESCRIPTIONS...................................................................... 12 APPENDIX 2: THE FINDS................................................................................................ 15 APPENDIX 3: LEVELS OF PRINCIPAL DEPOSITS AND STRUCTURES...................... 16 1 The Proposed Kingswood Remembrance Park, Kingswood, South Gloucestershire: Archaeological Evaluation © Cotswold Archaeology LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Fig. 1 Site location plan Fig. 2 Trench location plan showing archaeological features Fig. 3 Trench 3; section showing infilled boundary ditch 2 The Proposed Kingswood Remembrance Park, Kingswood, South Gloucestershire: Archaeological Evaluation © Cotswold Archaeology SUMMARY Site Name: The Proposed Kingswood Remembrance Park, Grimsbury Farm Location: Kingswood, South Gloucestershire NGR: ST 663 731 Type: Evaluation Date: 6-8 January 2004 Location of Archive: To be deposited with Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery Accession no. BRSMG 2004/1 Site Code: GFK 04 An archaeological evaluation was undertaken by Cotswold Archaeology in January 2004 at the request of South Gloucestershire Council at Grimsbury Farm, Kingswood. In compliance with an approved project design, a total of 10 trenches were excavated across the proposed development area. There appear to have been two phases of post-medieval mining activity, separated by a period of arable farming of the site, as indicated by the 1841 Tithe Map. The mining activity was confined to the northwest part of the site, its eastern extent defined by 19th-century field boundary ditches revealed during the evaluation. No earlier activity, relating either to prehistoric settlement (as postulated from the geophysical survey and place-name evidence), or any later use of the site, was identified. 3 The Proposed Kingswood Remembrance Park, Kingswood, South Gloucestershire: Archaeological Evaluation © Cotswold Archaeology 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 In January 2004 Cotswold Archaeology (CA) carried out an archaeological evaluation for South Gloucestershire Council at the site of the proposed Kingswood Remembrance Park, Grimsbury Farm, Kingswood (centred on NGR: ST 663 731; Fig. 1). The evaluation was undertaken prior to the determination of an application for development of a new burial ground. 1.2 The evaluation was carried out in accordance with a brief for archaeological evaluation (SGC 2003) prepared by David Evans (Archaeology and HER Officer, Environment and Conservation Section, South Gloucestershire Council), and with a subsequent detailed project specification produced by CA (2003b) and approved by the LPA acting on the advice of David Haigh (Archaeology and Conservation Officer, South Gloucestershire Council). The fieldwork also followed the Standard and Guidance for Archaeological Field Evaluation issued by the Institute of Field Archaeologists (1999). It was monitored by David Haigh, including a site visit on the 7 January 2004. The site 1.3 The proposed development area encloses an area of approximately 3ha, and comprises land in two fields to the south and west of Grimsbury Farm, on the eastern side of Kingswood (Fig. 1). The site lies between approximately 66m and 76m AOD, the ground sloping downwards to the east and north. 1.4 The underlying geology of the area is mapped as Middle coal measures of the Carboniferous period (Geological Survey of Great Britain 1965). 1.5 The land is currently under pasture. Archaeological background 1.6 A desk-based assessment and geophysical survey was undertaken by CA in August-September 2003 (CA 2003a), the results of which are summarised here. Place name evidence, and the presence of slight undated earthworks have led to the suggestion that the site may contain remains of possible prehistoric activity. 4 The Proposed Kingswood Remembrance Park, Kingswood, South Gloucestershire: Archaeological Evaluation © Cotswold Archaeology However, no direct archaeological evidence is available to support this. The geophysical survey revealed a number of sub-circular and linear features, the latter of which appeared to relate mainly to historic boundaries and plough scars left as a result of arable cultivation, as indicated on the 1841 Tithe Map. The sub-circular features were interpreted as the possible remains of prehistoric ring ditches, although equally the geophysical survey appeared to indicate that some of these were superimposed upon the later plough-scars, and they may simply relate to agricultural activity. Grimsbury Farm itself may be of medieval origin, the existing farmhouse is of 16th or 17th-century construction but has been much altered. A small cottage, present on an 18th-century map of the site but gone by 1841, formerly lay in the western part of the proposed development area, opposite the Wraxall Road/Cock Road junction. 1.7 The substantial deposits of coal across the area led to the development of significant manufacturing works, most notably Warmley Brassworks, in the area. These were sited to take advantage of the resources provided by local collieries such as ‘Grimsbury Pit’ which was located to the north-east of the site. This colliery was worked from the 1770s until 1840 and a number of associated shafts have been identified (CA 2003a). 1.8 Two further collieries have been identified to the west of the site. The First Edition Ordnance Survey Map of 1882 marks an ‘Old Coal Pit’ immediately to the west of the site across Wraxall Road. Several further shafts associated with this pit have been identified through aerial photography. A further 300m to the south-west was Cock Road Colliery, which had shafts on either side of the road (CA 2003a). Archaeological objectives 1.9 The objectives of the evaluation were to establish the character, quality, date, significance and extent of any archaeological remains or deposits surviving within the site. This information will assist the Local Planning Authority in making an informed judgement on the likely impact upon the archaeological resource by the proposed development. 5 The Proposed Kingswood Remembrance Park, Kingswood, South Gloucestershire: Archaeological Evaluation © Cotswold Archaeology Methodology 1.10 The fieldwork comprised the excavation of 10 trenches, each 1.5m wide, in the locations shown (Fig. 2). Trenches were located to investigate