Neath Port Talbot College Dwy Y Felin Road Neath Port Talbot
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NEATH PORT TALBOT COLLEGE DWY Y FELIN ROAD NEATH PORT TALBOT ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVALUATION For JAMES AND NICHOLAS on behalf of NEATH PORT TALBOT COLLEGE CA PROJECT: 2447 CA REPORT: 07145 OCTOBER 2007 NEATH PORT TALBOT COLLEGE DWR Y FELIN ROAD NEATH PORT TALBOT ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVALUATION CA PROJECT: 2447 CA REPORT: 07145 prepared by Alistair Barber, Senior Project Officer date 28th October 2007 checked by Cliff Bateman, Project Manager date 31 October 2007 approved by Mark Collard, Head of Contracts signed date 26 November 2007 issue 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, Kemble, Cirencester, Gloucestershire, GL7 6BQ Tel. 01285 771022 Fax. 01285 771033 E-mail: [email protected] © Cotswold Archaeology Neath Port Talbot College, Dwr y Felin Road, Neath Port Talbot: Archaeological Evaluation CONTENTS SUMMARY........................................................................................................................ 2 1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................. 3 The site ................................................................................................................ 3 Archaeological background.................................................................................. 4 Archaeological objectives .................................................................................... 5 Methodology ........................................................................................................ 5 2. RESULTS (FIGS 2-8) .......................................................................................... 6 Trench 1 (Figs 2, 3 & 5) ....................................................................................... 6 Trench 2 (Figs 2, 3 & 6) ....................................................................................... 6 Trench 3 (Figs 2, 4 & 7) ....................................................................................... 7 Trench 4 (Figs 2, 4 & 8) ....................................................................................... 7 The Finds ............................................................................................................. 8 3. DISCUSSION....................................................................................................... 8 4. CA PROJECT TEAM ........................................................................................... 8 5. REFERENCES .................................................................................................... 9 APPENDIX A: CONTEXT DESCRIPTIONS ..................................................................... 11 APPENDIX B: THE FINDS ............................................................................................... 13 APPENDIX C: LEVELS OF PRINCIPAL DEPOSITS AND STRUCTURES ..................... 14 APPENDIX D: OASIS REPORT FORM............................................................................ 15 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Fig. 1 Site location plan (1:50000) Fig. 2 Trench location plan, showing archaeological features (1: 500) Fig. 3 Trenches 1 and 2: plans (1:100), and sections (1:50) Fig. 4 Trenches 3 and 4: plans (1:100) and sections (1:50) Fig. 5 Photograph. Trench 1, looking north-east, showing ditch 110 and wall footing 106 Fig. 6 Photograph. Trench 2, looking south-east, showing ditch 206 and metalling 205 Fig. 7 Photograph. Trench 3, looking north-west, showing road surface 306 Fig. 8 Photograph. Trench 4, looking north-east, showing footings 406, 409 and 405 1 © Cotswold Archaeology Neath Port Talbot College, Dwr y Felin Road, Neath Port Talbot: Archaeological Evaluation SUMMARY Project Name: Neath Port Talbot College Location: Dwr y Felin Road, Neath Port Talbot NGR: SS 7485 9790 Type: Evaluation Date: 22-25 October 2007 Planning Reference: P/2007/1174 Location of Archive: Neath Museum and Art Gallery Site Code: DFN 07 An archaeological evaluation was undertaken by Cotswold Archaeology in October 2007 at the request of James and Nicholas, on behalf of Neath Port Talbot College, within the existing college campus. Four trenches were excavated within the proposed development area. Well-preserved metalled surfaces, with flanking drainage ditches, were recorded within trenches 2 and 3, confirming the conjectured line of a section of Roman road leading from the northeast gate of the fort at Neath (Nidum) to the fort at Coelbren. In addition, structural remains noted within trenches 1, 2 and 4 appear to represent remnant wall-footings set perpendicular to, and to the west of, the identified Roman road. These remains suggest that Roman buildings associated with the vicus, or attached civilian settlement, survive within the proposed development area. 2 © Cotswold Archaeology Neath Port Talbot College, Dwr y Felin Road, Neath Port Talbot: Archaeological Evaluation 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 In October 2007 Cotswold Archaeology (CA) carried out an archaeological evaluation for James and Nicholas, on behalf of Neath Port Talbot College, within the existing college campus (centred on NGR: SS 7485 9790; Fig. 1). The evaluation was undertaken to accompany a planning application (ref. P/2007/1174) for the construction of a Performing Arts facility on the site. 1.2 The current archaeological works were carried out in accordance with a requirement for archaeological evaluation set out within a letter dated 9th October 2007 from Neil Maylan, Glamorgan Gwent Archaeological Trust Curatorial Division (GGAT Curatorial), the archaeological advisor to Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council, and with a subsequent detailed Written Scheme of Investigation (WSI) produced by CA (2007) that was approved by Mr Maylan. The fieldwork also followed the Standard and Guidance for Archaeological Field Evaluation issued by the Institute of Field Archaeologists (2001), and the Management of Archaeological Projects (English Heritage 1991). The fieldwork was monitored by Mr Maylan, including a site visit on 23rd October 2007. The site 1.3 The site lies within the eastern part of the college campus, within a triangle of land bound to the west by Dwr y Felin Road, to the south and east by Cadoxton Road, and to the north by the railway track (Fig. 2). The site lies at approximately 13m AOD, with ground levels dropping away on all sides. 1.4 The site is approximately 0.09ha and comprises a lawned area adjacent to existing college buildings, with an outlying area of tarmaced path. 1.5 The underlying drift geology of the area is mapped as fluvio-glacial gravels of Pleistocene and recent date (Geological Survey of Great Britain 1972). Natural sands and gravels were noted throughout the site during the course of the evaluation. 3 © Cotswold Archaeology Neath Port Talbot College, Dwr y Felin Road, Neath Port Talbot: Archaeological Evaluation Archaeological background 1.6 The application area is located on the projected line of a Roman road running north- east from the 1st-century AD and later fort at Neath (Nidum) to the nearby fort at Coelbren (Sherman and Evans 2004, Pearson 2004). Neath fort, discovered in 1949 (Nash-Williams 1950a, 1950b), has statutory protection as a Scheduled Ancient Monument (SAM GM 215 (NEP)). Excavations, notably in the 1950s and 1980s, further explored the fort’s defences and revealed parts of its interior plan, establishing a basic occupation sequence with three discernible periods of use between c. 75-80 AD, c. 140-170 AD, and c. 275-320 AD (Pearson 2004). Recent geophysical survey has further elucidated the internal form of the fort (Young 2003). 1.7 The proposed development area was also thought to lie within the extensive Roman vicus, an area of associated civilian settlement identified during recent works to the north-east, north-west and south-west of the military fort (Pearson 2004). Remains of a substantial late 1st or early 2nd-century stone building outside the fort’s north- east gate were noted during works in the area of the comprehensive school playing fields (Maynard 1993). Well-preserved structural remains associated with the vicus have also been identified within the grounds of Neath College (for example Sell 1997, Sell 2000). These roadside buildings were interpreted as having an industrial function (Pearson 2004). 1.8 Previous archaeological fieldwork to the west of the application area, associated with construction of an Electronic Learning Centre, noted that archaeological deposits had previously been destroyed by the meandering course of a small stream (GGAT 2003). However, Mr Maylan noted that the current development proposal lies on higher sand and gravel deposits on which significant archaeological features have been found elsewhere, including significant features revealed during construction of a nursery building immediately north-west of the current application area (Howell 2001) (see Fig.2 for location). 1.9 It was therefore considered that significant archaeological features were likely to be present within the application area, and that apart from minor damage caused by the construction of the current hard standings and two small buildings (now demolished), these deposits were likely to be well preserved. 4 © Cotswold Archaeology Neath Port