Dunton Fields, Laindon Basildon Essex Archaeological Evaluation

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