Ivy Cottage, Ermin Street, Woodlands,

An Archaeological Watching Brief

For Donnington Developments Limited

by Pamela Jenkins

Thames Valley Archaeological Services Ltd

Site Code CLW 04/117

October 2005 Summary

Site name: Ivy Cottage, Ermin Street, Lambourn Woodlands, Berkshire

Grid reference: SU3295 7523

Site activity: Watching Brief

Date and duration of project: 12th May - 31st May 2005

Project manager: Steve Ford

Site supervisor: Pamela Jenkins

Site code: CLW 04/117

Area of site: c.1250 sq m

Summary of results: Footing trenches for a new house and garage, and a drainage trench and pit for septic tank were observed. No archaeological finds or deposits were observed.

Location and reference of archive: The archive is presently held at Thames Valley Archaeological Services, Reading and will be deposited at Museum 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 04.10.05 Jo Pine9 04.10.05

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Ivy Cottage, Ermin Street, Lambourn Woodlands, Berkshire An Archaeological Watching Brief

by Pamela Jenkins

Report 04/117

Introduction

This report documents the results of an archaeological watching brief carried out at Ivy Cottage, Ermin Street,

Lambourn Woodlands, Berkshire (SU 3295 7523) (Fig. 1). The work was commissioned by Mr Stephen

Wrzesinski of Graz Design Studio, Holly Barn, Lower Farm Court, Hambridge Lane, Newbury, Berkshire,

RG14 5TH on behalf of Donnington Developments Limited, 36 Castle Grove, Newbury, Berkshire, RG14 1PR.

Planning consent (04/02047/FUL) has been granted by West Berkshire Council to construct a replacement house and garage on the above site subject to a condition (10) relating to archaeology and which requires a programme of archaeological works in the form of a watching brief.

This is in accordance with the Department of the Environment’s Planning Policy Guidance, Archaeology and Planning (PPG16 1990), and the Council policies on archaeology. The field investigation was carried out to a specification approved by Duncan Coe, Archaeological Officer for West Berkshire Council. The fieldwork was undertaken by Sarah Coles and Pamela Jenkins between 12th and 31st May 2005 and the site code is CLW

04/117.

The archive is presently held at Thames Valley Archaeological Services, Reading and will be deposited at

West Berkshire Museum in due course.

Location, topography and geology

The site is located on level ground on the south side of the Roman road Ermin Street between the villages of

Lambourn and Chilton Foliat (Fig. 2) and it lies approximately 188m above Ordnance Datum. The geology is described as Clay with flints and tertiary debris overlying chalk (BGS 1947) as was observed on site.

Archaeological background

The site lies within an area of the with relatively few recorded sites or finds (Richards 1978) with typically just a few stray finds of Roman pottery and prehistoric metal and stone tools recorded. However, the site lies adjacent to the projected Roman road from to Cirencester (Margary 1973) which traverses

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the Berkshire Downs. Such a location has the potential for archaeological deposits relating to roadside Roman settlement and burial and a relatively large such settlement is recorded at Wickham to the south-east (Richards

1978, 25). It is also possible that the road itself might be located on the site rather than, as expected, following its projected line beneath the modern road. A watching brief to the west at Stroud’s Farm in a similar location to the proposal site failed to locate any Roman deposits (Ford 1996).

Objectives and methodology

The purpose of the watching brief was to excavate and record any archaeological deposits affected by the new construction work. This was to involve the examination of areas of topsoil stripping, landscaping, ground reduction and the digging of trenches for foundations and services.

Results (Figs. 3 and 4)

The house

Prior to excavation of the footing trenches, this area was stripped of 0.30m of topsoil (50) directly onto 0.20m of a very rooty pale brownish yellow clayey sand (51). The clay and chalk natural was observed below this. The only disturbance of this level observed in the south-west corner of the house plot was the remains of a tree root.

Foundation trenches for the house were between 1.30m and 1.90m deep due to the presence of trees in an area of predominantly clay geology. They were 0.6m wide. No finds were recovered from the stripped surface nor the resultant spoil heaps.

The garage

The footings for the garage varied in depth between 1.90m to the west to 2.40m further east. The topsoil (50) had not been stripped prior to excavation and was 0.30m deep above the natural clay with flint and chalk. No subsoil was present in this area. No archaeology was observed. No finds were recovered.

The septic tank and drainage

Excavation of the septic tank was monitored down to the level of the natural clay. The area of the tank was 2.3m x 2.3m. Topsoil (50), 0.15m deep, was removed onto 0.05m of subsoil (51). Directly below this was the natural

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geology. The sewer trench between the house and septic tank was 1m deep and 0.4m wide and revealed a similar stratigraphy. No archaeology was observed and no finds were recovered in either of these two locations.

Conclusion

The watching brief has variously examined areas stripped of overburden and also deeper trenches dug for the buildings and drainage. No archaeology was observed and no finds were recovered in any of these operations.

References BGS, 1947, British Geological Survey, 1:63,360, Sheet 267, Drift Edition, Keyworth Ford, S, 1996, Stroud’s Farm, Lambourn Woodlands, Berkshire, An Archaeological Watching Brief, Thames Valley Archaeological Services report 96/31, Reading Margary, I D, 1973, Roman Roads in Britain (3rd Edition), London PPG 16, 1990, Archaeology and Planning, Dept of the Environment Planning Policy Guidance 16, HMSO Richards, J C, 1978, The Archaeology of the Berkshire Downs, Berkshire Archaeol Comm no 3, Reading

3 SITE

76000

SITE

75000

SU32000 33000 CLW04/117 Ivy Cottage, Ermin Street, Lambourn Woodlands, West Berkshire, 2005 Archaeological Watching Brief

Figure 1. Location of site within Lambourn Woodlands and Berkshire.

Reproduced from Ordnance Survey Pathfinder 1170 SU27/37 at 1:12500. Ordnance Survey Licence 100025880 75300

SITE

75200

SU32900 33000

CLW04/117 Ivy Cottage, Ermin Street, Lambourn Woodlands, West Berkshire, 2005 Archaeological Watching Brief

Figure 2. Location of site within LambournWoodlands.

Scale 1:1250 N

Footings observed

Existing Garage Drainage House Trench

Septic tank

Ermine Street

CLW04/117 Ivy Cottage, Ermin Street, Lambourn Woodlands, West Berkshire, 2005 Archaeological Watching Brief

Figure 3. Plan showing location of footings and services observed.

Scale 1:400 Ivy Cottage, Ermin Street, Lambourn Woodlands, Berkshire, 2005

Topsoil

Subsoil

Natural geology (Clay with flints and chalk)

Base of trench

0 1m

Figure 4. Representative section of footing trench. CLW04/117