Dunton Fields, Laindon Basildon Essex Archaeological Evaluation

Dunton Fields, Laindon Basildon Essex

Archaeological Evaluation

for Bellway Homes Limited

CA Project: 660128 CA Report: 13381

June 2013

Dunton Fields, Laindon Basildon Essex

Archaeological Evaluation

CA Project: 660128 CA Report: 13381

prepared by Peter James, Project Supervisor

date 28 May 2013

checked by Derek Evans, Project Manager

date 30 May 2013

approved by Simon Carlyle, Principal Fieldwork Manager

signed

date 5 June 2013

issue 01

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

Cirencester Milton Keynes Andover Building 11 Unit 4 Office 49 Kemble Enterprise Park Cromwell Business Centre Basepoint Business Centre Kemble, Cirencester Howard Way, Newport Pagnell Caxton Close, Andover Gloucestershire, GL7 6BQ MK16 9QS Hampshire, SP10 3FG t. 01285 771022 t. 01908 218320 t. 01264 326549 e. [email protected]

CONTENTS

SUMMARY ...... 4

1. INTRODUCTION ...... 5

2. FIELDWORK RESULTS...... 8

3. DISCUSSION ...... 8

4. CA PROJECT TEAM ...... 9

5. REFERENCES ...... 9

APPENDIX A: CONTEXT DESCRIPTIONS ...... 10 APPENDIX B: OASIS REPORT FORM ...... 11

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Fig. 1 Site location plan, 1:25,000 Fig. 2 Trench location plan, showing archaeological features 1:1250 Fig. 3 Trench 1, looking east Fig. 4 Trench 2, looking north-east Fig. 5 Trench 2, tree bowl 205, looking east

3 © Cotswold Archaeology Dunton Fields, Basildon, Essex: Archaeological Evaluation

SUMMARY

Project name: Dunton Fields, Basildon Location: Laindon, Basildon, Essex NGR: TQ 6754 9010 Type: Evaluation Date: May 2013 Site code: DFB 13

In May 2013, an archaeological evaluation, comprising the excavation of two trial trenches, was undertaken by Cotswold Archaeology on a plot of land at Dunton Fields, Laindon, on the outskirts of Basildon, Essex. The work, which was commissioned by Bellway Homes Ltd, was carried out to fulfil the archaeological condition that had been attached to planning consent for the development of the site.

The trenches were positioned to investigate a circular cropmark that had been identified from an aerial photograph of the site, taken in 1951. The evaluation demonstrated that the cropmark had been formed by thicker deposits of subsoil surrounding a naturally occurring undulation in the surface topography of the slope. The only features encountered within the trenches were two shallow, irregular hollows, interpreted as tree bowls.

4 © Cotswold Archaeology Dunton Fields, Basildon, Essex: Archaeological Evaluation

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 In May 2013, an archaeological evaluation, comprising the excavation of two 30m trial trenches, was undertaken by Cotswold Archaeology (CA) on a plot of land at Dunton Fields, Laindon, on the outskirts of Basildon, Essex (site centred on NGR: TQ 6754 9010; Fig. 1). The work, which was commissioned by Bellway Homes (Essex Division) Ltd, was carried out to fulfil the archaeological condition that had been attached to planning consent for the development of the site (planning ref. BAS/11/01283/FULL; Condition 22). The site had previously been the subject of a Cultural Heritage Assessment that was prepared by CA and incorporated into the Environmental Statement (ES) submitted with the planning application (DJD 2012).

1.2 The archaeological condition was requested by Sue Tyler, Essex County Council’s Historic Environment Officer (ECCHEO) and archaeological advisor to Basildon District Council. It required a programme of archaeological work to be carried out as the site lies within an area of archaeological potential and a circular cropmark, potentially a prehistoric barrow, had been identified within its eastern perimeter. The scope of the evaluation was set out in a brief issued by ECCHEO (2013).

1.3 The project was undertaken in accordance with the Written Scheme of Investigation (WSI) issued by CA (2013), the preparation of which attended to the requirements of the brief and followed best practice, as set out in the Institute for Archaeologists’ Standard and Guidance for Archaeological Field Evaluation (IfA 2008) and the English Heritage procedural documents Management of Archaeological Projects 2 (EH 1991) and Management of Research Projects in the Historic Environment (MoRPHE): Project Manager’s Guide (EH 2006).

The site 1.4 The site, which covers an area of c. 24ha, is located on the northern outskirts of Laindon, approximately 3.6km to the north-west of Basildon town centre (Fig. 1). The main part of the site comprises an irregular block of farmland bounded by the A127 Southend Arterial Road to the north, the Ford Dunton Technical Centre to the west and residential and commercial/industrial premises to the south and east. A narrow strip of land for the proposed access road off West Mayne (B148) extends westwards from the north-west corner of the main part of the site, bounded by the northern edge of the Ford complex and the A127. The site, which is currently under coarse pasture, is subdivided by hedgerows into a number of small fields, most of

5 © Cotswold Archaeology Dunton Fields, Basildon, Essex: Archaeological Evaluation

which are remnants of larger fields that have been taken for development previously.

1.5 The main part of the site is situated on a low-relief hill, with the ground descending from c. 53m above Ordnance Datum (aOD) at the top of the hill to c. 40m aOD at its eastern edge. The geology comprises Eocene rocks of the London Clay Formation, overlain intermittently by Quaternary Head deposits (BGS 2013).

Archaeological and historical background 1.6 The historical and archaeological background of the site and its surroundings (the study area) is presented in the Cultural Heritage Assessment that was prepared by CA for inclusion in the ES (DJD 2012). This established that there were no known archaeological sites within the proposed development area, although a potential archaeological site, possibly the remains of a prehistoric barrow, was identified close to its eastern edge, where a circular cropmark is shown on an aerial photograph taken in 1951.

1.7 In the wider study area, beyond the limits of the site, there are thirteen sites of archaeological interest. With the exception of the discovery of a Mesolithic tranchet axehead, which was found c. 0.9km to the south-east of the site, in the vicinity of High Road, there are no records of any prehistoric remains. In the Roman period a road, partly following the route of modern Dunton Road, passed by the site c. 250m to the north and there is speculative evidence that it was joined by a tributary road heading northwards from the estuary.

1.8 In the medieval period the site probably lay within the agricultural hinterland of local manors. At the Old Rectory, c. 1.0km to the south-west of the site, are the remains of a medieval moated manor and the site of a second medieval manor house, of which no trace survives, has been identified in the area between Worthing Road and West Mayne. At Dunton Wayletts, close to the western end of the site, there is a 16th-century timber-framed house and 200m to the north, near Carver’s Farm, are two 18th-century cottages (all Grade II Listed).

1.9 Adjacent to the proposed access road is the site of Southfields Manor Farm, which was built in 1710 and may have medieval antecedents, as suggested by the name; the farm was demolished in the years following WWII. The site of a second farmhouse, dating to around the same period, lies c. 1.0km to the south of the site,

6 © Cotswold Archaeology Dunton Fields, Basildon, Essex: Archaeological Evaluation

close to West Mayne (B148). To the south-east, near High Road, are the sites of a windmill and a modern boundary stone.

Archaeological objectives 1.10 The general aim of the evaluation was to investigate the circular cropmark at the eastern edge of the site to determine if it was an archaeological feature, possibly a prehistoric barrow, or was of geological origin. The specific objectives, as set out in the WSI (CA 2013), were to:

• establish the presence, location, extent, nature, character, state of preservation and date of any buried archaeological features or deposits that may be present, particularly those relating to the circular cropmark;

• determine the palaeo-environmental potential of the site through the assessment of bulk soil samples taken from archaeological deposits.

1.11 The results of the evaluation will assist ECCHEO in making an informed judgement on the significance of the archaeological resource and the likely impact upon it of the proposed development.

Methodology 1.12 The evaluation comprised the excavation and investigation of two 30m trial trenches (Fig. 2). The trenches were excavated using a JCB-type mechanical excavator fitted with a 1.6m wide toothless ditching bucket. All machine excavation was undertaken under constant archaeological supervision, to the top of the first significant archaeological horizon or the geological substrate, whichever was encountered first.

1.13 Following machining, features and deposits were cleaned, hand-excavated, planned and recorded in accordance with CA’s Technical Manual 1: Fieldwork Recording Manual (CA 2007). Plans and sections were hand-drawn at an appropriate scale and a photographic record of the project was maintained using 35mm black & white negative film and digital images. Trenches were surveyed using a Leica 1200 series SmartRover GPS, in accordance with CA’s Technical Manual 4: Survey Manual (CA 2009). All works were carried out in accordance with Standards for Field Archaeology in the East of England (Gurney 2003).

7 © Cotswold Archaeology Dunton Fields, Basildon, Essex: Archaeological Evaluation

1.14 There were no finds and there were no features suitable for environmental sampling. All features and the spoil heaps were scanned with a metal detector, but this only resulted in the recovery of modern refuse.

1.15 The archive and artefacts from the evaluation are currently held by CA at their offices in Milton Keynes. Subject to the agreement of the legal landowner, the site archive will eventually be deposited with Southend-on-Sea Museums Service (Accession no. SOUMS: A2013.19). A summary of information from this project will be entered onto the OASIS online database of archaeological projects in Britain.

2. FIELDWORK RESULTS

Trench 1 2.1 Trench 1, which was aligned east to west, was positioned to investigate the interior and western circumference of the circular cropmark (Fig. 2). The geological substrate, which was encountered at a depth of between 0.40m and 0.70m below current ground level (bcgl), was glacial till, comprising firm, light yellow clay with light blue mottles and occasional flint pebbles, 103 (Fig. 3). At either end of the trench the clay was overlain by subsoil, 102, which was up to 0.22m thick and petered out towards the centre of the trench, where the subsoil was entirely absent. The overlying topsoil was approximately 0.25m thick.

Trench 2 2.2 Aligned north-east to south-west, Trench 2 investigated the area to the south-west of the cropmark (Fig. 2). The geological substrate, 207, which was the same as that recorded in Trench 1, was encountered at a depth of between 0.46m and 0.68m bcgl (Fig. 4). Two shallow, irregular hollows, 203 and 205, measuring at least 2.0m wide by up to 0.24m deep, were investigated in the north-eastern part of the trench; these were interpreted as tree bowls (Fig. 5). The overlying subsoil, 202, was approximately 0.17m thick but was absent near the centre of the trench, where the topsoil, 201, which was approximately 0.3m thick, lay directly over the glacial till.

3. DISCUSSION

3.1 The trial trenches had been positioned to investigate a circular cropmark that was shown on an aerial photograph of the site, taken in the 1950s. Potentially this feature could have been a prehistoric barrow, but excavation demonstrated the

8 © Cotswold Archaeology Dunton Fields, Basildon, Essex: Archaeological Evaluation

cropmark was formed by thicker deposits of subsoil surrounding a naturally occurring undulation in the topography of the slope where the subsoil was entirely absent. The only features encountered in the trenches were two shallow, irregular hollows, interpreted as tree bowls. There was no pre-modern artefactual material in the excavated spoil.

4. CA PROJECT TEAM

4.1 The fieldwork was supervised by Peter James, assisted by Dan Riley. The report was written by Peter James and the illustrations were prepared by Lorna Gray. The archive will be compiled and prepared for deposition by Derek Evans. The project was managed for CA by Simon Carlyle.

5. REFERENCES

BGS (British Geological Survey) 2013 Online resource at http://www.bgs.ac.uk/geoindex (accessed 1 May 2013)

CA (Cotswold Archaeology) 2013 Dunton Fields, Laindon, Basildon, Essex: Written Scheme of Investigation, unpublished document

DJD (Drivers Jonas Deloitte) 2012 Dunton Fields, Laindon, Basildon, Essex; Environmental Statement

ECCHEO (Essex County Council Historic Environment Officer) 2013 Brief for an Archaeological Evaluation: Land at Dunton Fields, Basildon, Essex , unpublished document

Gurney, D, 2003 Standards for Field Archaeology in the East of England , East Anglian Archaeol. Occ. Pap. 14

APPENDIX A: CONTEXT DESCRIPTIONS

Trench 1

Context Type Description Length Width Dep th Spot -date no. (m) (m) (m) 101 Topsoil Soft mid brown clayey silt with - - 0.25 - occ. pebbles. 102 Subsoil Soft light brown silt, thickest at - - 0-0.22 - either end of trench, peters away in centre. 103 Geology Firm light yellow clay with bluish- - - - - grey mottles and occ. flint pebbles.

Trench 2

Context Type Description Length Width Depth Spot -date no. (m) (m) (m) 201 Topsoil Soft mid brown clayey silt with - - 0.30 - occ. pebbles. 202 Subsoil Soft light brown silt, thickest at - - 0-0.19 - SW end of trench, peters away to NE. 203 Tree bowl Roughly circular cut with 2.0 0.7+ 0.23 shallow, irregular profile. 204 Fill of 203 Soft mid yellowish brown silty - - 0.23 Undated clay with occ. flint pebbles. 205 Tree bowl Roughly circular cut with 2.1 1.0+ 0.24 - shallow, irregular profile. 206 Fill of 205 Soft mid yellowish brown silty - - 0.24 Undated clay with occ. flint pebbles. 207 Geology Firm light yellow clay with bluish- - - - - grey mottles and occ. flint pebbles.

APPENDIX B: OASIS REPORT FORM

PROJECT DETAILS Project name Dunton Fields, Basildon Short description The trenches were positioned to investigate a circular cropmark that had been identified from an aerial photograph of the site, taken in 1951. The evaluation demonstrated that the cropmark had been formed by thicker deposits of subsoil surrounding a naturally occurring undulation in the surface topography of the slope. The only features encountered within the trenches were two shallow, irregular hollows, interpreted as tree bowls. Project dates 21-22 May 2013 Project type Field evaluation Previous work CHA (DJD 2012) Future work None Monument type None Significant finds None PROJECT LOCATION Site location Dunton Fields, Laindon, Basildon, Essex Study area c. 24ha Site co-ordinates TQ 6754 9010 PROJECT CREATORS Name of organisation Cotswold Archaeology (CA) Project Brief originator Sue Tyler (ECCHEO) Project Design (WSI) originator CA Project Manager Simon Carlyle (CA) Project Supervisor Peter James (CA) PROJECT ARCHI VE Accession no: Content SOUMS : A2013.19 Physical Southend-on-Sea Museums None Paper Service Site records Digital Essex HER Report, digital photos BIBLIOGRAPHY

CA (Cotswold Archaeology) 2013 Dunton Fields, Laindon, Basildon, Essex: Archaeological Evaluation. CA typescript report 13381

11 N Cirencester 01285 771022 Milton Keynes 01908 218320 Cotswold Andover 01264 326549 Archaeology w www.cotswoldarchaeology.co.uk e [email protected]

PROJECT TITLE Essex Dunton Fields, Laindon, Basildon, Essex

FIGURE TITLE Site location plan

0 1km

FIGURE NO. Reproduced from the 2008 Ordnance Survey Explorer map with PROJECT NO. 660128 DATE 07-06-2013 the permission of Ordnance Survey on behalf of The Controller DRAWN BY DJB REVISION 00 of Her Majesty's Stationery Office c Crown copyright Cotswold Archaeology Ltd 100002109 APPROVED BY PJM SCALE@A4 1:25,000 1

Cirencester 01285 771022 Milton Keynes 01908 218320 Cotswold Andover 01264 326549 3 Trench 1, looking east (scales 1m) Archaeology w www.cotswoldarchaeology.co.uk e [email protected]

PROJECT TITLE Dunton Fields, Laindon, Basildon, Essex

FIGURE TITLE Photograph

PROJECT NO. 660128 DATE 07-06-2013 FIGURE NO. DRAWN BY DJB REVISION 00 APPROVED BY PJM SCALE@A4 N/A 3 4

Cirencester 01285 771022 Milton Keynes 01908 218320 Cotswold Andover 01264 326549 4 Trench 2, looking north-east (scales 1m) Archaeology w www.cotswoldarchaeology.co.uk e [email protected]

PROJECT TITLE Dunton Fields, Laindon, Basildon, Essex

FIGURE TITLE Photograph

PROJECT NO. 660128 DATE 07-06-2013 FIGURE NO. DRAWN BY DJB REVISION 00 APPROVED BY PJM SCALE@A4 N/A 4 5

Cirencester 01285 771022 Milton Keynes 01908 218320 Cotswold Andover 01264 326549 5 Trench 2, tree bowl 205, looking east (scale 1m) Archaeology w www.cotswoldarchaeology.co.uk e [email protected]

PROJECT TITLE Dunton Fields, Laindon, Basildon, Essex

FIGURE TITLE Photograph

PROJECT NO. 660128 DATE 07-06-2013 FIGURE NO. DRAWN BY DJB REVISION 00 APPROVED BY PJM SCALE@A4 N/A 5