Land Off Derllwyn Road Tondu Bridgend County Borough
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LAND OFF DERLLWYN ROAD TONDU BRIDGEND COUNTY BOROUGH ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVALUATION CA PROJECT: 1406 CA REPORT: 02090 Author: Richard Young Approved: Mark Collard Signed: ……………………………………………………………. Issue: 01 Date: 30 September 2002 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 Headquarters Building, Kemble Business Park, Cirencester, Gloucestershire, GL7 6BQ Tel. 01285 771022 Fax. 01285 771033 E-mail: [email protected] Land off Derllwyn Road, Tondu: Archaeological Evaluation © Cotswold Archaeology CONTENTS SUMMARY ..................................................................................................................... 3 1. INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................... 4 The site .............................................................................................................. 4 Archaeological background ................................................................................ 5 Archaeological objectives ................................................................................... 6 Methodology....................................................................................................... 6 2. RESULTS ................................................................................................................. 7 Trench 40 ........................................................................................................... 7 3. DISCUSSION ........................................................................................................... 8 Tramroad and leat .............................................................................................. 8 Other industrial remains ..................................................................................... 9 Conclusions........................................................................................................ 9 4. CA PROJECT TEAM ................................................................................................ 9 5. REFERENCES ......................................................................................................... 9 APPENDIX 1: CONTEXT DESCRIPTIONS .................................................................... 10 APPENDIX 2: LEVELS OF PRINCIPAL DEPOSITS AND STRUCTURES ...................... 11 1 Land off Derllwyn Road, Tondu: Archaeological Evaluation © Cotswold Archaeology LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Fig. 1 Site location plan Fig. 2 Trench location plan Fig. 3 Plan of archaeological features within Trench 40 Fig. 4 Detailed view of Sir Robert Price’s Tramroad, looking north Fig. 5 General view of the north-facing section across leat 2 Land off Derllwyn Road, Tondu: Archaeological Evaluation © Cotswold Archaeology SUMMARY Site Name: Land off Derllwyn Road Location: Tondu, Bridgend County Borough NGR: SS 8930 8440 Type: Evaluation Date: 30 July – 2 August 2002 Location of Archive: To be deposited with the National Museum and Galleries of Wales Site Code: TON 02 An archaeological evaluation was undertaken by Cotswold Archaeology in July and August 2002 at the request of Rhys-Davies Services Limited on land off Derllwyn Road, Tondu. In compliance with an approved project design, one trench was excavated across the development area. The evaluation has demonstrated that Sir Robert Price’s tramroad and leat survive in the northern part of the site. The work has shown that although the rails and fittings have been removed, the sleepers and ballast bedding of the tramroad do survive and that the course of the tramroad can still be followed. Similarly the location and the majority of the form of the leat has also been established. In addition to the tramroad and leat the evaluation uncovered the remains of supply pipes associated with the gasworks that once stood on the site, and part of another tramway that once crossed the site. The evaluation has characterised the archaeological potential of the study area, and has indicated that archaeological remains associated with the Tondu Ironworks survive in a relatively undisturbed state at a depth of 1.05m below the modern ground surface (61.50m AOD). 3 Land off Derllwyn Road, Tondu: Archaeological Evaluation © Cotswold Archaeology 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 In July and August Cotswold Archaeology (CA) carried out an archaeological evaluation for Rhys-Davies Services Limited on land off Derllwyn Road, Tondu (centred on NGR: SS 8930 8440; Fig. 1). The evaluation was undertaken to obtain information regarding the character, degree of preservation and exact course of Sir Robert Price’s Tramroad and the leat which ran along its western side, and in particular the state of preservation and depth below present ground level in the northern half of the site. 1.2 The evaluation was carried out in accordance with a detailed project specification produced by CA (2002b) and approved by the Local Planning Authority (LPA) acting on the advice of Glamorgan and Gwent Archaeological Trust (Curatorial) Ltd. The fieldwork also followed the Standard and Guidance for Archaeological Field Evaluations issued by the Institute of Field Archaeologists (1999). It was monitored by Mr N. Maylan of Glamorgan and Gwent Archaeological Trust (Curatorial Division), including a site visit on 2 August 2002. The site 1.3 The site lies off Derllwyn Road in Tondu, Bridgend, Glamorgan. The site overlies part of the former industrial complex of the Tondu Ironworks and occupies a raised position to the west of Maesteg Road, at approximately 60m AOD (Fig. 2). Immediately to the south-west of the site lies the upstanding remains of part of the former Ironworks, which include the Coke Ovens, Calcining Ovens and Engine Houses. These structures, along with a small portion of the development area, are scheduled as an Ancient Monument under the 1979 Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act. 1.4 The underlying geology of the area is mapped as coal measures overlying limestone of the Carboniferous era (British Geological Survey 1981) 1.5 The site is currently derelict land, having been cleared of buildings by the National Coal Board (NCB) in 1991. It now consists of areas of concrete and tarmac hardstanding surrounded by scrub and young trees, with more mature trees occupying the westernmost parts of the site. 4 Land off Derllwyn Road, Tondu: Archaeological Evaluation © Cotswold Archaeology Archaeological background 1.6 Archaeological interest in the development site arises as it occupies part of the site of the former Tondu Ironworks which commenced production in 1839 and continued in operation until c. 1896. The site was then used for coke production and light engineering. After nationalisation of the coal industry after World War II, the site was an administrative and engineering centre for the NCB before ultimately becoming the regional headquarters for the West Wales area until the site was closed completely in 1986. 1.7 The Ironworks, and its associated industries, ancillary services and housing, covered an extensive area. Most of the buildings of the ironworks, and those from later uses of the site, have been demolished to ground level. The visible surviving upstanding structures (including the Coke Ovens, Calcining Kilns and Engine Houses, and some other buried remains) are scheduled as an Ancient Monument under the 1979 Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act. This scheduled area was extended in 2001 to include the site of the former rolling mills of the ironworks, part of which extends into the area of development. A programme of archaeological investigation has been carried out by Oxford Archaeological Unit within the main scheduled complex in and around the standing remains, which now form part of a Heritage Park, but no previous archaeological investigations have been carried out within the residential development site (although see 1.8 below, and CA 2002a). 1.8 An investigation of the extent and nature of contamination on the site, involving the excavation of 39 machine-dug trial pits by the Site Engineers, Integral Geotechnique in April 2002. These works were monitored by Cotswold Archaeology and the archaeological results are summarised in a report prepared on the works (CA 2002a). The results of the contamination testing show that the leat and the northern part of the tramway lie in areas of hydrocarbon contamination, as shown on the accompanying plan and may be affected by remediation measures to remove this contamination. 5 Land off Derllwyn Road, Tondu: Archaeological Evaluation © Cotswold Archaeology Archaeological objectives 1.9 Following this trial pit exercise, and having reviewed the previous geotechnical information available for the site, it is considered that it would be useful to obtain further information regarding the character, degree of preservation and exact course of Sir Robert Price’s tramroad and the leat which ran along its western side, and in particular the state of preservation and depth below present ground level in the northern part of the site. Information recovered from the evaluation will be used to assess the impact of the proposed development of the site on the buried archaeological remains, and to allow the formulation of detailed foundation, drainage and service