3 Lutterworth Road Pailton Warwickshire Archaeological Watching Brief for Mr Matthew Findlay CA Project: 660053 CA Report: 12143 July 2012 3 Lutterworth Road Pailton Warwickshire Archaeological Watching Brief CA Project: 660053 CA Report: 12143 prepared by Simon Carlyle, Project Manager date 19 June 2012 checked by Simon Carlyle, Project Manager date 20 June 2012 approved by Roland Smith, Regional Manager signed 2 July 2012 date 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 Unit 4, Cromwell Business Centre, Howard Way, Newport Pagnell, Milton Keynes, MK16 9QS t. 01908 218320 e. [email protected] © Cotswold Archaeology 3 Lutterworth Road, Pailton: Archaeological Watching Brief CONTENTS SUMMARY .....................................................................................................................2 1. INTRODUCTION................................................................................................3 2. FIELDWORK RESULTS.....................................................................................6 3. DISCUSSION.....................................................................................................6 4. CA PROJECT TEAM..........................................................................................7 5. REFERENCES...................................................................................................7 APPENDIX A: CONTEXT DESCRIPTIONS ...................................................................8 APPENDIX B: OASIS REPORT FORM..........................................................................9 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Fig. 1 Site location plan, 1:25,000 Fig. 2 Site location plan, showing watching brief areas, 1:250 Fig. 3 Removal of topsoil from the car park and driveway, looking south-west Fig. 4 Section in footing for extension, looking south 1 © Cotswold Archaeology 3 Lutterworth Road, Pailton: Archaeological Watching Brief SUMMARY Project Name: 3 Lutterworth Road, Pailton Location: Pailton, Warwickshire NGR: SP 472 819 Type: Watching brief Date: 30 May 2012 Location of Archive: Warwickshire Museum Site Code: LUW12 In May 2012, an archaeological watching brief was undertaken by Cotswold Archaeology during groundworks associated with a residential development at 3 Lutterworth Road, Pailton, Warwickshire. The work was commissioned by the developer, Mr Matthew Findlay. Other than a late 19th-century rubbish pit, no archaeological features or deposits were observed during the watching brief, and no artefactual material pre-dating the modern period was recovered from the spoil. 2 © Cotswold Archaeology 3 Lutterworth Road, Pailton: Archaeological Watching Brief 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 In May 2012, Cotswold Archaeology (CA) carried out an archaeological watching brief at 3 Lutterworth Road, Pailton, Warwickshire (centred on NGR: SP 472 819; Fig. 1). The watching brief was undertaken during groundworks associated with the conversion and extension of a redundant outbuilding into a three bedroom house and the construction of a car parking area, with a new vehicle access off Lutterworth Road. The work was commissioned by the landowner, Mr Matthew Findley. 1.2 The watching brief, which was requested by Anna Stocks, Warwickshire County Council’s Planning Archaeologist (WCCPA), was carried out in order to fulfil Condition 13 in the Schedule of Planning Conditions attached to planning consent (planning ref. R11/1407). The aim of the watching brief, as set out in the brief issued by WCCPA (2012), was to investigate and record any archaeological remains that may be disturbed or exposed by groundworks associated with the development. 1.3 The project was undertaken in accordance with the approved Written Scheme of Investigation (WSI) prepared by CA (2012), the Institute for Archaeologists’ Standard and Guidance for Archaeological Watching Briefs (IfA 2008), and the English Heritage procedural documents Management of Archaeological Projects 2 (EH 1991) and the Management of Research Projects in the Historic Environment (MoRPHE): Project Manager’s Guide (EH 2006). The site 1.4 The site is located near the historic centre of the village of Pailton, and comprises a small plot of land to the north and west of 1 Lutterworth Rd and a 19th-century outbuilding to the rear of 3 Lutterworth Road; the outbuilding is to be converted and extended, to create a three bedroom house. The site is bounded by Lutterworth Road to the west and south-west, the property of 1 Luttterworth Road to the south, the property of 3 Lutterworth Rd to the east and a garden and modern housing to the north. The site lies at c. 110m above Ordnance Datum (aOD). 3 © Cotswold Archaeology 3 Lutterworth Road, Pailton: Archaeological Watching Brief 1.5 The bedrock comprises Triassic red, and occasionally green-grey, mudstones and subordinate siltstones of the Mercia Mudstone Group, with superficial Pleistocene deposits of Wolston Sand and Gravel (BGS 2012). Historical and archaeological background 1.6 There are no records of known archaeological sites within the proposed development area held in the Warwickshire Historic Environment Record (HER), although the site does lie within the estimated limits of the medieval settlement of Pailton (MWA 9572). 1.7 In the wider area, there are records for archaeological sites and finds dating back to the prehistoric period, the majority of them lying to the west of the village, in the valley of Smite Brook. The earliest finds consist of a small assemblage of worked flint collected by a fieldwalking survey near Monks Kirby (MWA 9995), and a large, early Bronze Age ogival dagger, possibly eroded from a barrow, found near Smite Brook, 1.2km to the north-east of the village (MWA 7916). 1.8 Approximately 1.8km to the south-west, in a field to the west of Conery Spinney, Roman coins and part of a Roman brooch have been found in the ploughsoil (MWA 5206, 5207, 5208); the close proximity of the finds suggest that they may come from a horde disturbed by ploughing. Near Street Ashton, 1.3km to the west of the village, an Anglo-Saxon iron spearhead, dated to the 5th/6th century AD, was found close to Smite Brook (MWA 4245). 1.9 The village of Pailton probably has Saxon origins, but it is first documented in the early 13th century when the manor was held by one William de Turville (VCH 1951). In the medieval period the manor formed part of the large parish of Monks Kirby, and had three open fields; following an Act of Parliament in 1554, these were turned over to pasture for sheep-grazing. The site of Pailton Mill, which may date back to the medieval period and is probably the mill that was granted to John Revel in 1341, lies to the west of the village, on Smite Brook (MWA 3549). The mill continued in use until the eve of the First World War, when the main building was demolished; several of the outbuildings still survive and the wheel pit, mill pond and tail race can still be seen as earthworks to the north of Coventry Road. The disputed site of a post-mill may lie c. 120m to the north of Pailton Mill (MWA 3550); this was in existence in 1598, but had been dismantled by the end of the 18th century. 4 © Cotswold Archaeology 3 Lutterworth Road, Pailton: Archaeological Watching Brief 1.10 Following the construction of the Market Harborough to Coventry turnpike in 1754, Pailton began to prosper and many new businesses were established to cater for the increased traffic and numbers of travellers. The White Lion and Plough Inns both date to this period, and a forge was founded at the east end of Lutterworth Road (MWA 3555). A second turnpike was built in 1812, linking Rugby and Hinckley, and a toll gate was established on the road at Pailton, close to Easenhall Lane. The open fields surrounding Pailton were enclosed following an Act of Parliament in 1761 (VCH 1951). The Church of St. Denis, a Chapel of Ease to Monks Kirby, was built in 1884 in a 12th-century style, using red brick and stone dressings (MWA 3546). 1.11 The redundant outbuilding within the current site, which was proably built towards the end of the 19th century, is shown on the First Edition Ordnance Survey Map of 1890; its original use is uncertain but it is thought to have been used as an undertakers until approximately twenty years ago (HB Architects 2011). 1.12 The site has not been subject to previous archaeological investigation, although an evaluation was carried out on the site of the old coach depot at the east end of Lutterworth Road by Warwickshire Museum Field Services (Coutts 2001). The only remains encountered at this site dated to the post-medieval period. Archaeological objectives 1.13 The objective of the archaeological watching brief was to identify, record and investigate, so far as was reasonably practicable, any archaeological features, deposits or finds revealed during construction works for the new development. Methodology 1.14 The fieldwork comprised the observation of deposits encountered during the removal of topsoil for the car park, driveway and new access and the excavation of footings for the extension. 5 © Cotswold Archaeology 3 Lutterworth Road, Pailton: Archaeological Watching Brief 1.15 Deposits were removed using a 360 o mechanical excavator fitted with a 0.5m and 1.8m wide toothless