Land at Hampton Farm Highworth, Swindon Wiltshire

LAND AT HAMPTON FARM HIGHWORTH, SWINDON WILTSHIRE

ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVALUATION

CA PROJECT: 1975 CA REPORT: 05093

Author: Franco A. Vartuca

Approved: Simon Cox

Signed: …………………………………………………………….

Issue: 01 Date: 26 May 2005

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.

Land at Hampton Farm, Highworth, Swindon, Wiltshire: Archaeological Evaluation © Cotswold Archaeology

CONTENTS

SUMMARY...... 2

1. INTRODUCTION...... 3

The site ...... 3 Archaeological background...... 3 Archaeological objectives ...... 4 Methodology ...... 4

2. RESULTS...... 4

3. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION...... 5

4. CA PROJECT TEAM...... 5

5. REFERENCES...... 6

APPENDIX 1: CONTEXT DESCRIPTIONS...... 7 APPENDIX 2: LEVELS OF PRINCIPAL DEPOSITS ...... 7

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Fig. 1 Site location plan (1:25,000) Fig. 2 The site, showing location of trench and wall footing 105 (1:1000)

1 Land at Hampton Farm, Highworth, Swindon, Wiltshire: Archaeological Evaluation © Cotswold Archaeology

SUMMARY

Site Name: Land at Hampton Farm Location: Highworth, Swindon, Wiltshire NGR: SU 1885 9215 Type: Evaluation Date: 25 May 2005 Planning Reference: S/04/3497RA Location of Archive: To be deposited with Swindon Museum and Art Gallery Site Code: HFH 05

An archaeological evaluation was undertaken by Cotswold Archaeology in May 2005 at the request of Fielder & Jones on the behalf of Mr R. Coleing, at Hampton Farm, Highworth, Swindon, Wiltshire. In compliance with an approved Written Scheme of Investigation, a single trench was excavated across the development area.

Apart from the remains of a post-medieval/modern boundary wall, no other significant archaeological deposits or finds pre-dating the modern period were encountered. Made-up ground was observed to directly overlie the natural substrate, which comprised of Lias clay, revealed at a height of between 95m and 96.22m AOD.

The evaluation has characterised the archaeological potential of the study area, and has indicated that it is unlikely that archaeological deposits survive within the site.

2 Land at Hampton Farm, Highworth, Swindon, Wiltshire: Archaeological Evaluation © Cotswold Archaeology

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 In May 2005 Cotswold Archaeology (CA) carried out an archaeological evaluation for Fielder & Jones on behalf of Mr Richard Coleing at Hampton Farm, Highworth, Swindon, Wiltshire (centred on NGR: SU 1885 9215; Fig. 1). The evaluation was undertaken to accompany a planning application (Ref. S/04/3497RA) for the construction of two cottages on the site, together with the conversion of existing farm buildings.

1.2 The evaluation was carried out in accordance with a Written Scheme of Investigation produced by CA (2005) and approved by the Local Planning Authority acting on the advice of Mr Roy Canham, County Archaeologist for Wiltshire County Council. The fieldwork also followed the Standard and Guidance for Archaeological Field Evaluation issued by the Institute of Field Archaeologists (1999), and the Standards for Archaeological Assessment and Field Evaluation (WCC Archaeology Service 1995). It was monitored by Mr Canham, including a site visit on 25 May 2005.

The site

1.3 The proposed development encloses an area of approximately 0.2ha, currently occupied by a range of farm buildings with surrounding yard areas (Fig. 2). The site lies at approximately 97.3m AOD, with ground level sloping down towards the west.

1.4 The underlying geology of the area is mapped as silt and sand which make up part of the Lower Corrallian beds of the Upper Jurassic Period (Geological Survey of Great Britain 1974).

Archaeological background

1.5 Archaeological interest in the site arises from its position within the settlement of Hampton, first recorded as Hantone at the time of the Domesday Survey in AD 1086.

3 Land at Hampton Farm, Highworth, Swindon, Wiltshire: Archaeological Evaluation © Cotswold Archaeology

Archaeological objectives

1.6 The objectives of the evaluation were to establish the character, quality, date, significance and extent of any archaeological remains or deposits surviving within the site. This information will assist the Local Planning Authority in making an informed judgement on the likely impact upon the archaeological resource by the proposed development.

Methodology

1.7 The fieldwork comprised the excavation of a trench measuring 20m long by 1.6m wide in the location shown on Figure 2. The trench was sited as close as possible to the footprint of the proposed new cottages.

1.8 All trenches were excavated by mechanical excavator equipped with a toothless grading bucket. All machine excavation was undertaken under constant archaeological supervision to the top of the first significant archaeological horizon or the natural substrate, whichever was encountered first. Where archaeological deposits were encountered they were excavated by hand in accordance with the CA Technical Manual 1: Excavation Recording Manual (1996).

1.9 Deposits were assessed for their palaeoenvironmental potential in accordance with the CA Technical Manual 2: The Taking and Processing of Environmental and Other Samples from Archaeological Sites (2003). In the event no samples were taken for further analysis.

1.10 The archive from the evaluation is currently held by CA at their offices in Kemble. Subject to the agreement of the legal landowner the site archive will be deposited with Swindon Museum and Art Gallery.

2. RESULTS

2.1 This section provides an overview of the evaluation results; detailed summaries of the recorded contexts and details of the relative heights of the principal deposits

expressed as metres Above Ordnance Datum (m AOD) appear in Appendices 1 and 2 respectively.

2.2 The natural geological substrate 106, comprising silt and sand, was revealed throughout the trench at an average depth of between 0.52m and 0.75m below the present ground surface. This was overlain by a dump/make-up deposit 102, approximately 0.4m in thickness, consisting of redeposited natural silt and sand mixed with occasional building rubble. This in turn was overlain in part by topsoil 101 containing an abundant mixture of modern building rubble and domestic refuse, and by a dump deposit 103, approximately 0.35m in thickness, consisting of limestone and brick hardcore mixed with gravel and tarmac. Finally, a modern wall footing 105 constructed using a mixture of rough limestone fragments, bricks and concrete, was revealed at the western end of the trench, cutting through the entire stratigraphical sequence revealed in the trench.

3. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

3.1 Apart from a modern footing for a boundary wall, no significant deposits or features of archaeological interest were revealed by the evaluation trench and, despite visual scanning of spoil, no artefactual material pre-dating the modern period was recovered. The presence of dump/levelling deposits 102 and modern topsoil 101 directly overlying the natural substrate suggests that the original ground level has been truncated during the modern period, probably during the construction of the extant farm buildings and associated yards. This truncation would, in all probability, have removed any trace of archaeological remains, had they been present.

4. CA PROJECT TEAM

Fieldwork was undertaken by Franco A. Vartuca, assisted by Darran Muddiman. The report was written by Franco A. Vartuca. The illustrations were prepared by Lorna Gray. The archive has been compiled by Franco A. Vartuca, and prepared for deposition by Ed McSloy. The project was managed for CA by Simon Cox.

5. REFERENCES

CA 2005 Land at Hampton Farm, Highworth, Wiltshire: Written Scheme of Investigation for an Archaeological Evaluation

Geological Survey of Great Britain (England and Wales) 1974 Sheet 252: Swindon 1’’: 1 mile

APPENDIX 1: CONTEXT DESCRIPTIONS

101 Topsoil: depth 1m. 102 Levelling/make-up deposit for 103: compact, mid yellow brown silt and sand with occasional building rubble. Depth 0.4m. 103 Yard surface: hardcore. Depth 0.35m. 104 Construction cut for wall footing 105: straight, vertical cut with a flat bottom, orientated north-south. Depth 1.2m, width 0.8m. 105 Wall footing: constructed using a mixture of rough, medium and large sized fragments of limestone, red bricks and concrete. Depth 1.2m, width 0.8m. 106 Natural substrate: compact, mid yellow orange silt and sand (Corallian Beds). Not excavated.

APPENDIX 2: LEVELS OF PRINCIPAL DEPOSITS

Levels are expressed as metres below current ground level and as metres Above Ordnance Datum (AOD), calculated using a spot height located in the centre of the lane adjacent to the western boundary of the site (94.2m AOD).

Trench Current ground level 0.00m (95.52m-97.34m) Limit of excavation 0.52m-0.63m (95m-96.71m)

Upper figures are depth below modern ground level, lower figures in parentheses are metres AOD.