T H A M E S V A L L E Y AARRCCHHAAEEOOLLOOGGIICCAALL S E R V I C E S
Land at Winterbrook Lane, Wallingford, Oxfordshire
Archaeological Evaluation
by Jamie Lewis and Joanna Pine
Site Code: WLW10/28
(SU6029 8842)
Land at Winterbrook Lane, Wallingford, Oxfordshire
An Archaeological Evaluation
for The Trustees of the Bosley Family Settlement
by James Lewis and Jo Pine
Thames Valley Archaeological Services
Ltd
Site Code WLW10/28
March 2010 Summary
Site name: Land at Winterbrook Lane, Wallingford, Oxfordshire
Grid reference: SU6029 8842
Site activity: Field Evaluation
Date and duration of project: 25th March 2010
Project manager: Steve Ford and Jo Pine
Site supervisor: James Lewis
Site code: WLW 10/28
Area of site: 770 sq m
Summary of results: A small number of undated features (two pits and two pits or ditch termini ) were recorded.
Monuments identified: Undated pits or linear features
Location and reference of archive: The archive is presently held at Thames Valley Archaeological Services, Reading and will be deposited with Oxfordshire Museums Service in due course.
This report may be copied for bona fide research or planning purposes without the explicit permission of the copyright holder
Report edited/checked by: Steve Ford9 xx.xx.09 Steve Preston9 30.03.10
i
Thames Valley Archaeological Services Ltd, 47–49 De Beauvoir Road, Reading RG1 5NR
Tel. (0118) 926 0552; Fax (0118) 926 0553; email [email protected]; website: www.tvas.co.uk Land at Winterbrook Lane, Wallingford, Oxfordshire An Archaeological Evaluation
by James Lewis and Jo Pine
Report 10/28
Introduction
This report documents the results of an archaeological field evaluation carried out on land at Winterbrook Lane,
Wallingford, Oxfordshire, SU6029 8842 (Figs 1 and 2). The work was commissioned by Mr John Spratley,
Chartered Architect, Isis House, 43 Station Road, Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, RG9 1AT, on behalf of the
Trustees of the Bosley Family Settlement.
Planning permission is to be sought from South Oxfordshire District Council to develop the site for a single house which is a replacement structure for the now derelict 24 Winterbrook Lane. This site potentially lies in an area of archaeological importance. Evaluations on land adjacent to the site to the south, west and north has highlighted the high archaeological potential of the area (Lewis 2009). Due to this high archaeological potential of the site an archaeological evaluation has been requested to inform the planning process. The results of the evaluation will enable an informed planning decision to be made.
This is in accordance with the Department of the Environment’s Planning Policy Guidance, Archaeology and Planning (PPG16 1990), and South Oxford District Council’s policies on archaeology. The field investigation was carried out to a specification approved by Mr Richard Oram, Planning Archaeologist for
Oxfordshire County Archaeological Services, archaeological advisers to the District. The fieldwork was undertaken by James Lewis and James Early on 25th March 2010, and the site code is WLW10/28. The archive is presently held at Thames Valley Archaeological Services, Reading and will be deposited with Oxfordshire
Museums Service in due course
Location, topography and geology
The site currently consists of a small part of a undeveloped field on the south side of Winterbrook Lane, which is just south of Wallingford (Figs 1 and 2). The site is located on first (floodplain) terrace gravels (BGS 1980). It is at a height of approximately 45m above Ordnance Datum.
1
Archaeological background
The archaeological potential of the site has been highlighted (in general terms) within a desk-based assessment for a large parcel of land at Winterbrook which includes the proposal site (Preston 2009) as well as a brief for that project prepared by Richard Oram of Oxfordshire County Archaeological Service. A subsequent evaluation
(Lewis 2009; Smalley 2009) has added detailed field-derived information. In summary, the general area surrounding the site is one of generally high archaeological potential for almost all periods (Benson and Miles
1974, Cromarty et al. 2006). Previously recorded sites and monuments abound all around Wallingford, and the town itself is of exceptional historical and archaeological importance. On a general level, therefore, the site can be considered to be of moderate to high archaeological potential. The nearby evaluation (Lewis 2009) revealed prehistoric (Iron Age) occupation to the north-west and south-west, along with three human burial deposits (two of Early Bronze Age date and one undated). Cropmarks of circular monuments visible from the air, one of which lies to the south of the proposal area are possibly the remains of Bronze Age burial mounds. There was therefore reason to expect that development on the site might have an impact on buried archaeological remains.
Objectives and methodology
The aims of the evaluation were to determine the presence/ absence, extent, condition, character, quality and date of any archaeological or palaeoenvironmental deposits within the area of development. This work was to be carried out in a manner which would not compromise the integrity of archaeological features or deposits which might warrant preservation in situ, or might better be excavated under conditions pertaining to full excavation.
The specific research aims of this project are:
to determine if archaeologically relevant levels have survived on the site;
to determine if archaeological deposits of any period are present.
A single trench 15m in length and 1.6m wide was proposed to be excavated, targeted on the footprint of the proposed building, using a machine fitted with a toothless ditching bucket under the supervision of an experienced archaeologist (Fig.2). All spoil heaps were to be monitored for finds. Where archaeological features are certainly or probably present, the stripped areas were to be cleaned using appropriate hand tools. Sufficient of the archaeological features and deposits exposed were to be excavated or sampled by hand to satisfy the aims of the brief.
2 Results
Trench 1 (Figs 3 and 4; Pl. 1 and 2)
The trench was aligned north-south and was 15.80m long and 0.66m deep. The stratigraphy of the trench comprised 0.21m of topsoil over a mid brownish/grey silty clay subsoil onto a greyish/yellow sandy silt natural geology. Four features were revealed within this trench and were investigated.
Pit 1 was sub-rounded in plan, 0.71m by 0.64m and 0.22m deep with steep sides and a rounded base. It contained a mid brownish/grey sandy silt fill (52); no finds were retrieved from this.
Pit 2 was oval in plan, 0.71m by 0.67m and 0.46m deep again with steep sides but with an uneven base. It contained a mid brownish/grey sandy silt fill (53), no finds were retrieved from this deposit. Pit 2 cut pit 3.
Pit 3 was recorded being irregular in plan and truncated by pit 2. Again no finds were recovered from its silty clay fills (54 and 55) A sample of 20 litres of soil was processed for finds from the latter deposit although none were recovered. A pit or ditch terminal (4) was not fully exposed in the trench. It was 0.85m north-south, at least 0.30 east-west and 0.31m deep with steep sides and a rounded base. It contained a dark brownish/grey sandy silt fill (56). No finds were retrieved from this fill.
Finds
A sherd of mass produced white ware pottery of 20th century date and a sherd of brown glazed red earthenware of 16th to 18th century date were recovered from the topsoil. Fragments of tile, including peg tile, weighing
102g and a clay tobacco pipe stem were also recorded from the topsoil (not retained)
Conclusion
This evaluation has revealed a moderate density of archaeological deposits. None of these produced dating evidence though the character of their fills and stratigraphic position (beneath subsoil) indicates that they are of some antiquity (medieval or earlier) and are therefore of archaeological interest. The proposal site can be considered as having archaeological potential.
3 References
Benson, D and Miles, D, 1974, The Upper Thames Valley: an archaeological survey of the river gravels, Oxfordshire Archaeol Unit Survey 2, Oxford Cromarty, A M Barclay, A Lambrick G and Robinson M, 2006, (eds), Late Bronze Age ritual and habitation on a Thames eyot at Whitecross Farm, Wallingford: the archaeology of the Wallingford bypass 1986–92, Thames Valley Landscapes Monogr 22, Oxford, 201–24 Lewis J, 2009, ‘Land at Winterbrook, Wallingford Oxfordshire, an archaeological evaluation’, Thames Valley Archaeological Services report 09/57b, Reading. Oram, R, 2009, ‘Land at Winterbrook Wallingford: Design Brief for Archaeological Field Evaluation’, Oxfordshire County Archaeological Services, Oxford Preston, S, 2009, ‘Land at Winterbrook, Wallingford Oxfordshire, an archaeological desk-based assessment’, Thames Valley Archaeological Services report 09/57, Reading. PPG16, 1990, Archaeology and Planning. DoE Planning Policy Guidance note 16. (HMSO). Smalley, R, 2009, ‘Winterbrook, Wallingford, Oxfordshire, Geophysical Survey’, Stratascan report 2629, Upton on Severn
4 APPENDIX 1: Trench details
Trench Length (m) Breadth (m) Depth (m) Comment 1 15.80 1.6m 0.66m 0–0.21m topsoil, 0.21-0.58m subsoil, (mid brown/grey silty clay) onto 0.58m+ natural geology (grey/yellow silt) ( Features 1-4). [Plate 1]
1 APPENDIX 2: Feature details
Trench Cut Fill (s) Type Date Dating evidence 1 1 52 Pit - 1 2 53 Pit - 1 3 54, 55 Pit - 1 4 56 Pit/Ditch Terminus -
2 Banbury
90000 Bicester
Witney
Thame
Abingdon OXFORD
Didcot Wallingford Wantage Henley-on -Thames SITE
89000
SITE
88000
SU60000 61000 WLW 10/28 Land at Winterbrook Lane, Wallingford, Oxfordshire, 2010 Archaeological Evaluation
Figure 1. Location of site within Wallingford and Oxfordshire.
Reproduced from Ordnance Survey Explorer 170 at 1:12500. Ordnance Survey Licence 100025880 El Sub Sta Ppg Sta
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Track
SU59900 60000 60100 60200 60300 60400 60500 WLW 10/28
N 24 Winterbrook Lane, Wallingford, Oxfordshire, 2010 Archaeological Evaluation Figure 2. Location of evaluation in relation to geophysical anomalies and recent evaluation trenching (Lewis 2009).
0 250m 88450
Lane rbrook Winte
1 2 3
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No. 23 SITE 1
88400
SU60300 WLW 10/28 N Land at Winterbrook Lane, Wallingford, Oxfordshire, 2010 Archaeological Evaluation
Figure 3. Location of trench.
0 25m Trench 1
1 3 0m 5m 2 14m
4 N
plan only
0 5m
46.58m 46.51maOD 46.58m 54 55 52 53 3
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50
51 46.43m
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0 1m
WLW 10/28
Land at Winterbrook Lane, Wallingford, Oxfordshire, 2010 Archaeological Evaluation
Figure 4. Detail of Trench 1 and sections. Plate 1. Trench 1, looking south, scales: 2m, 1m and 0.5m
Plate 2. Trench 1, pit 2, looking south, horizontal scale 1m, vertical 0.5m WLW 10/28
Land at Winterbrook Lane, Wallingford, Oxfordshire, 2010 Archaeological Evaluation
Plates 1 and 2 TIME CHART
Calendar Years
Modern AD 1901
Victorian AD 1837
Post Medieval AD 1500
Medieval AD 1066
Saxon AD 410
Roman AD 43 BC/AD Iron Age 750 BC
Bronze Age: Late 1300 BC
Bronze Age: Middle 1700 BC
Bronze Age: Early 2100 BC
Neolithic: Late 3300 BC
Neolithic: Early 4300 BC
Mesolithic: Late 6000 BC
Mesolithic: Early 10000 BC
Palaeolithic: Upper 30000 BC
Palaeolithic: Middle 70000 BC
Palaeolithic: Lower 2,000,000 BC Thames Valley Archaeological Services Ltd, 47-49 De Beauvoir Road, Reading, Berkshire, RG1 5NR
Tel: 0118 9260552 Fax: 0118 9260553 Email: [email protected] Web: www.tvas.co.uk