Land at Oldland Common Bitton South Gloucestershire
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LAND AT OLDLAND COMMON BITTON SOUTH GLOUCESTERSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVALUATION For STRATEGIC LAND PARTNERSHIPS CA PROJECT: 2766 CA REPORT: 09012 JANUARY 2009 LAND AT OLDLAND COMMON BITTON SOUTH GLOUCESTERSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVALUATION CA PROJECT: 2766 CA REPORT: 09012 prepared by Mark Brett; Senior Project Officer date 19 December 2008 checked by Cliff Bateman; Project Manager date 18 January 2009 approved by Mark Collard, Head of Contracts signed date 22 January 2009 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 Building 11, Kemble Enterprise Park, Kemble, Cirencester, Gloucestershire, GL7 6BQ Tel. 01285 771022 Fax. 01285 771033 E-mail: [email protected] © Cotswold Archaeology Land at Oldland Common, Bitton, South Gloucestershire: Archaeological Evaluation CONTENTS SUMMARY........................................................................................................................2 1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................. 3 2. RESULTS (FIGS. 2 TO 7).................................................................................... 6 3. DISCUSSION....................................................................................................... 11 4. CA PROJECT TEAM ........................................................................................... 13 5. REFERENCES .................................................................................................... 13 APPENDIX A: CONTEXT DESCRIPTIONS ..................................................................... 15 APPENDIX B: THE FINDS ............................................................................................... 21 APPENDIX C: OASIS REPORT FORM............................................................................ 22 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Fig. 1 Site location plan (1:25,000) Fig. 2 Trench location plan, showing archaeological features - north (1:1500) Fig. 3 Trench location plan, showing archaeological features - south (1:1500) Fig. 4 Trench 9; plan and sections Fig. 5 Trench 16; plan, section and photograph Fig. 6 Trench 21; plan and section Fig. 7 Trench 24; plan, section and photograph 1 © Cotswold Archaeology Land at Oldland Common, Bitton, South Gloucestershire: Archaeological Evaluation SUMMARY Project Name: Land at Oldland Common Location: Bitton, South Gloucestershire NGR: ST 6750 7095 Type: Evaluation Date: 8-17 December 2008 Location of Archive: to be deposited with Bristol’s Museums, Galleries and Archives Accession No. BRSMG 2008.103 Site Code: OLD 08 An archaeological evaluation was undertaken by Cotswold Archaeology in December 2008 on land at Oldland Common, Bitton, South Gloucestershire. Twenty three trenches were excavated. The evaluation identified a range of features within the proposed development area, including what is presumed to be the alignment of the Roman road between Berkeley Street and Bitton. Other features encountered include ditches, pits, furrows and a palaeochannel. A number of the ditches correspond with field boundaries depicted on the 1843 Tithe map, whilst others were previously unknown. Of these, some relate to features visible as cropmarks on aerial photographs. A large earthwork feature, which is probably a fishpond of medieval or post-medieval date, lies in the south-western area of the site. South Gloucestershire Council has indicated that a strategy for preserving this feature in situ would be required for any development of the site and consequently this feature was not been targeted by the current trenching. Following the submission of a draft of this report to David Evans, Historic Environment Record Officer at South Gloucestershire Council, Mr Evans confirmed that only the extant possible fishpond earthwork feature would require preservation in situ, and that a programme of archaeological recording secured by a condition to any permission granted would be appropriate mitigation for any disturbance caused by the proposed development on archaeological remains in the remainder of the site. 2 © Cotswold Archaeology Land at Oldland Common, Bitton, South Gloucestershire: Archaeological Evaluation 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 In December 2008 Cotswold Archaeology (CA) carried out an archaeological evaluation for Strategic Land Partnerships on land at Oldland Common, Bitton, South Gloucestershire (centred on NGR: ST 6750 7095; Fig. 1). The evaluation was undertaken as Stage 3 of a package of archaeological evaluation works, including desk-based assessment (Stage 1) and geophysical survey (Stage 2), which will inform an application for development at the site. 1.2 The scope of the evaluation was agreed between David Evans, Historic Environment Record Officer, South Gloucestershire Council and Gail Stoten, Senior Consultancy Manager, CA. Subsequently, a detailed Written Scheme of Investigation (WSI) for the evaluation was produced by CA (2008) and approved by David Evans. 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). It was monitored by David Evans, including a site visit on 10 December 2008. The site 1.3 The site is approximately 17.93ha in area and comprises five fields currently under pasture. It is bounded to the west by the modern A4175 (Barry Road), to the north by properties fronting onto the same road, to the east by farmland and to the south by a commercial nursery. 1.4 The site slopes generally from south-east to north-west, from approximately 60m AOD to 45m AOD. The underlying solid geology of the area is mapped as Mercia Mudstone (formerly Keuper Marl) of the Triassic period (BGS 1990). Locally, this comprised clays with outcrops of sandstone in the north-western part of the site. Archaeological background 1.5 The archaeological background is contained within a previous desk-based assessment (CA 2007) and is briefly summarised below. A large earthwork feature, which is probably a fishpond of medieval or post-medieval date, lies in the south- western area of the site. South Gloucestershire Council has indicated that a strategy 3 © Cotswold Archaeology Land at Oldland Common, Bitton, South Gloucestershire: Archaeological Evaluation for preserving this feature in situ would be required for any development of the site and consequently this feature was not been targeted by the current trenching. 1.6 The line of a Roman road running from Berkeley Street to Bitton is thought to cross the western area of the site. Although no conclusive evidence has previously been identified for this feature on historic maps, aerial photographs or during a preceding site visit, it is reported to have been observed during a watching brief in the Nursery to the south of the site. 1.7 Undated cropmarks indicating a possible ring ditch and enclosure were identified from aerial photographs in the eastern area of the site. Their form suggests possible Neolithic/Bronze Age and Romano-British dates respectively although the origin of these marks is currently uncertain, and they may not reflect the presence of archaeological deposits. 1.8 Two cottages were depicted in the north-western area of the site on the 1843 Tithe map. These have since been demolished, but remains of their foundations may be present below current ground levels. 1.9 A geophysical survey consisting of 17 ha of magnetic susceptibility reconnaissance survey followed by approximately 3.2 ha of targeted detailed magnetometry was carried out as Stage 2 of the evaluation process in October and November 2007 (AS 2007; results shown on Figs. 2 and 3). Areas of enhanced magnetic susceptibility, in general, could not be clearly related to the presence of archaeological features although is likely to be of anthropogenic origin. Detailed magnetometry targeted over an area immediately to the east of the fishpond revealed a number of anomalies of archaeological potential (Fig. 3; Area 1). A sample area covering the postulated alignment of the Roman road failed to reveal evidence for its location (Fig. 3; Areas 1 and 2). Magnetometry targeted over the previously identified cropmarks indicated the presence of a very low magnitude curvilinear, a discrete positive anomaly, and a strong linear response (Fig. 3; Area 3). Archaeological objectives 1.10 The objectives of the evaluation were to provide data on the date, character, quality, survival and extent of the archaeological deposits within the application area in order that an informed decision on their importance in a local, regional or national context 4 © Cotswold Archaeology Land at Oldland Common, Bitton, South Gloucestershire: Archaeological Evaluation can be made. This information will clarify whether any remains are of sufficient importance to warrant consideration for preservation in situ, or alternatively form the basis of mitigation measures that may seek to limit damage to significant remains. Methodology 1.11 The fieldwork comprised the excavation of 23 trenches (Fig. 2). With the exception of trench 10 which was added to the western end of trench 11, and the addition of a further trench (trench 24), in both cases to investigate linear soilmarks