National College for High Speed Rail (HS2) Dartmouth Middleway, Birmingham
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National College for High Speed Rail (HS2) Dartmouth Middleway, Birmingham Archaeological Watching Brief for Birmingham City Council CA Project: 5826 CA Report: 16337 June 2016 National College for High Speed Rail (HS2) Dartmouth Middleway, Birmingham Archaeological Watching Brief CA Project: 5826 CA Report: 16337 Document Control Grid Revision Date Author Checked by Status Reasons for Approved revision by A 10/06/2016 Alex Jones Mark For Mark Hewson issue Hewson 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 National College for High Speed Rail (HS2), Dartmouth Middleway, Birmingham: © Cotswold Archaeology Archaeological Watching Brief CONTENTS SUMMARY ........................................................................................................................ 2 1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................. 3 2. ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL BACKGROUND .................................. 6 3. METHODOLOGY (FIG. 2) ................................................................................... 9 4. RESULTS ............................................................................................................ 10 5. THE FINDS AND BIOLOGICAL EVIDENCE ....................................................... 11 6. DISCUSSION ....................................................................................................... 12 7. CA PROJECT TEAM ........................................................................................... 13 8. REFERENCES .................................................................................................... 14 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Fig. 1 Site location plan (1: 25,000) Fig. 2 The site former layout and area of former canal basin Fig. 3 Piggott-Smith map (1828) Fig. 4 Piggott-Smith map (1855) Fig. 5 Ordnance Survey First Edition (1889) Fig. 6 Basin area on completion of second stage machining, view: southeast Fig. 7 Second stage machining in progress, west end of former basin in foreground, view: east Fig. 8 Basin area prior to first stage machining, view: northwest Fig. 9 Basin area on completion of first stage machining, view: east Fig. 10 First stage machining in progress, concrete machine base in foreground, view: east Fig. 11 Fragment of brick arch, scale: 1m Fig. 12 Selection of glass finds, scale: 30cm 1 National College for High Speed Rail (HS2), Dartmouth Middleway, Birmingham: © Cotswold Archaeology Archaeological Watching Brief SUMMARY Project Name: National College for High Speed Rail (HS2) Location: Dartmouth Middleway, Birmingham NGR: SP 0791 8774 Type: Watching Brief Date: 13 – 20 May 2016 Site Code: NCB16 In May 2016 Cotswold Archaeology was commissioned by Birmingham City Council through Acivico Ltd to undertake an archaeological watching brief during groundworks in advance of the construction of the National College for High Speed Rail (HS2), Birmingham (centred on NGR SP 0791/8774). The archaeological watching brief was targeted to investigate groundworks within a former canal basin to the east of the Digbeth Branch Canal. Previous archaeological work in connection with this development comprised a desk-based assessment which identified the Victoria Glassworks, the former canal basin and also subsequent industrial use of the site, including the Delta Metal Works, which occupied the site of the demolished glassworks and infilled basin in the 1930s. The site is located on the east side of the Aston University Campus, to the south of the Aston Engineering Academy and Lister Street. The eastern and southern boundaries are formed by Dartmouth Middleway and Heneage Street West respectively. The western site boundary is defined by the Digbeth Branch Canal. The watching brief identified demolition deposits measuring a maximum of 1.5m in depth containing brick and concrete rubble and machine-bases. There was no surviving evidence for in situ walls of the canal basin, or of any associated structures. A fragment of a brick arch could represent part of the elevation of a canal bridge, or possibly an arch for a doorway, window or large flue set into a factory wall. A small quantity of glassmaking waste was also recovered, including fragments of lead crystal glass and coloured glass. The evidence from this watching brief suggests that the canal basin was demolished and infilled preparatory to the layout of the Delta Metal Works in the 1930s. 2 National College for High Speed Rail (HS2), Dartmouth Middleway, Birmingham: © Cotswold Archaeology Archaeological Watching Brief 1. INTRODUCTION The Site 1.1 In May 2016 Cotswold Archaeology was commissioned by Birmingham City Council through Acivico Ltd to undertake an archaeological watching brief during groundworks in advance of the construction of the National College for High Speed Rail (HS2), Birmingham (centred on NGR SP 0791/8774, Figs 1–2). The archaeological watching brief was targeted to investigate groundworks within a former canal basin to the east of the Digbeth Branch Canal. Previous archaeological work in connection with this development comprised a Desk-Based Assessment (Cotswold Archaeology 2015) which identified the Victoria Glassworks, the former canal basin and also subsequent industrial use of the site, including the Delta Metal Works, which occupied the site of the demolished glassworks and infilled basin in the 1930s. 1.2 The site is located on the east side of the Aston University Campus, to the south of the Aston Engineering Academy and Lister Street (Fig. 2). The eastern and southern boundaries are formed by Dartmouth Middleway and Heneage Street West respectively. The western site boundary is defined by the Digbeth Branch Canal. 1.3 The site is located on bedrock of the Bromsgrove Sandstone Formation overlain by superficial glacio-lacustrine clay and silt deposits over most of the site, with glaciofluvial deposits in its southeastern corner (www.bgs.ac.uk/discoveringgeology/geologyofbritain/home.html). The site and its environs lie at an elevation of approximately 115m aOD, with the surrounding land being relatively flat. 1.4 The archaeological watching brief was undertaken in accordance with the Standard and Guidance for Archaeological Watching Briefs (Chartered Institute for Archaeologists 2014a), the Code of Approved Practice for the Regulation of Contractual Arrangements in Field Archaeology (Chartered Institute for Archaeologists 2014b), the Management of Archaeological Projects 2 (English Heritage 1991) and the Management of Research Projects in the Historic Environment (MoRPHE): the Project Manager’s Guide (Historic England 2015). The scope of this project was set out in a Written Scheme of Investigation (Cotswold 3 National College for High Speed Rail (HS2), Dartmouth Middleway, Birmingham: © Cotswold Archaeology Archaeological Watching Brief Archaeology 2016) which was approved by Ross Brazier, Principal Conservation Officer for Birmingham City Council prior to implementation. Legislation, policy and guidance National policies 1.5 The National Planning Policy Framework (The Framework) 2012 establishes a presumption in favour of sustainable development (paras. 18–219). 1.6 The twelve core planning principles set out in para. 17 of the Framework include to ‘conserve heritage assets in a manner appropriate to their significance, so that they can be enjoyed for their contribution to the quality of life of this and future generations’. 1.7 Section 12 (Conserving and Enhancing the Historic Environment) of the Framework describes the policies concerning the historic environment. Birmingham City Council policies 1.8 Policy 8.36 of Birmingham Unitary Development Plan (2005) requires developers to assess the archaeological implications of their developments where sites may contain archaeological remains, in accordance with national guidance, and provides criteria for the determination of planning applications affecting archaeological deposits. 1.9 The Council’s Archaeology Strategy (2004), which has been adopted as Supplementary Planning Guidance, provides detailed guidance on protecting and managing the city’s archaeological resource and gives further advice to developers concerning the archaeological implications of development schemes. 1.10 Policy 8 (Archaeological Assessment) of the City Council’s Local Validation Criteria is concerned with assessment of the archaeological effects of developments within or adjoining areas containing archaeological interests. 1.11 The draft Birmingham Development Plan (2031) will be adopted in the future to replace the Unitary Development Plan (2005) (www.birmingham.gov.uk/plan2031). Policy TP12 of the draft plan is concerned with heritage and archaeology. 4 National College for High Speed Rail (HS2), Dartmouth Middleway, Birmingham: © Cotswold Archaeology Archaeological Watching Brief Aims and objectives 1.12 The principal aims of the watching brief were to: Monitor post-demolition groundworks, and to identify, investigate and record all significant archaeological remains revealed on the site during the course of these groundworks; Produce an integrated archive and illustrated report on completion of the fieldwork, describing the archaeological results and the conclusions that can be drawn from