Bank Street, Coleford Gloucestershire
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Care Scheme (Dora Matthews House) Bank Street, Coleford Gloucestershire Archaeological Watching Brief for Seddon Construction Limited CA Project: 4652/CR0035 CA Report: 18568 May 2019 Care Scheme (Dora Matthews House) Bank Street, Coleford Gloucestershire Archaeological Watching Brief CA Project: 4652/CR0035 CA Report: 18568 Document Control Grid Revision Date Author Checked by Status Reasons for Approved revision by A 29 May PA Busby A Thomson Final C Bateman 2019 and S. Boughton 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 © Cotswold Archaeology Care Scheme (Dora Matthews House), Bank Street, Coleford, Gloucestershire: Archaeological Watching Brief CONTENTS SUMMARY ..................................................................................................................... 2 1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................ 3 2. ARCHAEOLOGICAL BACKGROUND ................................................................ 3 3. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES ................................................................................... 4 4. METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................... 5 5. RESULTS (FIGS 2-5) ......................................................................................... 5 6. THE FINDS ........................................................................................................ 7 7. DISCUSSION ..................................................................................................... 7 8. CA PROJECT TEAM .......................................................................................... 8 9. REFERENCES ................................................................................................... 8 APPENDIX A: CONTEXT DESCRIPTIONS .................................................................... 9 APPENDIX B: THE FINDS .............................................................................................. 11 APPENDIX C: OASIS REPORT FORM .......................................................................... 11 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Fig. 1 Site location plan (1:25,000) Fig. 2 The site, showing location of observed groundworks (1:500). Fig. 3 Trench 1: Photographs Fig. 4 Trench 4: Photographs 1 © Cotswold Archaeology Care Scheme (Dora Matthews House), Bank Street, Coleford, Gloucestershire: Archaeological Watching Brief SUMMARY Project Name: Care Scheme (Dora Matthews House), Bank Street Location: Coleford, Gloucestershire NGR: 357592 210907 Type: Watching Brief Date: 29 November 2013-8 January 2014 Planning Reference: FDDC: PO438/13/FUL/Condition 3 Location of Archive: To be deposited with Dean Heritage Centre Accession Number: SOYDH: 2014.1 Site Code: CFBS 13 An archaeological watching brief was undertaken by Cotswold Archaeology during groundworks associated with the construction of a care home and five bungalows with associated landscaping and parking. Within the western extent of the site the remains of a large, partially intact structure, two abutting walls suggestive of a further structure and a large linear features were observed during the current works. Although undated, these remains correlate, and are likely associated, with a post-medieval Mission Hall, adjacent buildings and a tramroad as depicted on historic mapping. Within the north-eastern part of the site, a number of tree-throws and a single undated gully were recorded that are most probably associated with the site’s previous agricultural use as an orchard. A modern wall was also observed. 2 © Cotswold Archaeology Care Scheme (Dora Matthews House), Bank Street, Coleford, Gloucestershire: Archaeological Watching Brief 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 Between November 2013 and January 2014 Cotswold Archaeology (CA) carried out an archaeological watching brief for Seddon Construction Ltd at the Care Scheme (Dora Matthews House), Bank Street, Coleford, Gloucestershire (centred at NGR: 357592 210907; Fig. 1). The watching brief was undertaken to fulfil a condition attached to planning consent for the construction of a care home and facilities and five bungalows with associated landscaping and parking (FDDC planning ref: PO438/13/FUL/Condition 3). 1.2 The watching brief was carried out in accordance with recommendations by Charles Parry, Archaeologist, Gloucestershire County Council (GCC), the archaeological advisor to Forest of Dean District Council (FDDC), and with a subsequent detailed Written Scheme of Investigation (WSI) produced by CA (2013) that was approved by FDDC acting on the advice of Charles Parry. The fieldwork also followed the Standard and Guidance for an archaeological watching brief (CIfA 2009), the Management of Archaeological Projects 2 (English Heritage 1991) and the Management of Research Projects in the Historic Environment (MORPHE): Project Manager’s Guide (EH 2006). It was monitored by Charles Parry. The site 1.3 The proposed development area is approximately 0.9ha and comprises a car park and grassed area along the Bank Street frontage, with further areas of terracing beyond (Fig. 2). The site lies at approximately 175m AOD on land that gently slopes away to the south. 1.4 The underlying bedrock geology of the area is mapped as Coleford Member (Mudstone, Siltstone and Sandstone) of the Carboniferous Period with superficial deposits of Quaternary Alluvium (BGS 2019). Natural sandstone bedrock and yellow silty clay was observed during the current works. 2. ARCHAEOLOGICAL BACKGROUND 2.1 The site has been subject to a desk-based assessment (APS 2012) that noted that there is no recorded evidence for prehistoric, Roman or Early medieval activity in, or within the vicinity of, the application site, with the exception of Bronze Age flints 3 © Cotswold Archaeology Care Scheme (Dora Matthews House), Bank Street, Coleford, Gloucestershire: Archaeological Watching Brief found in a garden directly to the north. However, the assessment noted that the paucity of such evidence could be due to the lack of archaeological investigations in the area (ibid). 2.2 The assessment did note that medieval buildings may have previously fronted Bank Street, although the remainder of the development area is likely to have been under agricultural use. A building is depicted on the Bank Street frontage (then called Back Street) on a map of 1608 and may be one of three buildings shown within the application area on the subsequent 1840 Newland tithe map. The assessment also noted that buried remains of these buildings, along with a Mission Hall recorded in 1882, may still survive within the site. The southern extent of the application site was previously crossed by the line of the Monmouth to Coleford tramroad which was constructed in 1812 but was disused by 1880. There is also extensive evidence for medieval and later iron working in Coleford and further evidence for this may lie within the site (ibid). 2.3 Ordnance Survey (OS) maps dating between 1882 and 1922 depict much of the former agricultural land within the site as orchard or woodland and also that the tramroad had largely been removed, only partially surviving to the north of the Mission Hall in the south-west and also at the eastern extent of the site. 2.4 The development area was previously in use as a library and community centre (constructed in the later 20th century but now demolished) with associated parking and underground services, which may have had a negative impact on any surviving buried archaeological deposits (ibid). 3. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES 3.1 The objectives of the archaeological works were: • to monitor groundworks, and to identify, investigate and record all significant buried archaeological deposits revealed on the site during the course of the development groundworks; • at the conclusion of the project, to produce an integrated archive for the project work and a report setting out the results of the project and the archaeological conclusions that can be drawn from the recorded data. 4 © Cotswold Archaeology Care Scheme (Dora Matthews House), Bank Street, Coleford, Gloucestershire: Archaeological Watching Brief 4. METHODOLOGY 4.1 The fieldwork followed the methodology set out within the WSI (CA 2013). An archaeologist was present during intrusive groundworks comprising the excavation of foundation and service trenches as well as general ground reduction up to 3m (see Fig. 2 for location and extent of observed groundworks). 4.2 Where archaeological deposits were encountered written, graphic and photographic records were compiled in accordance with CA Technical Manual 1: Fieldwork Recording Manual (2013). 4.3 The archive and artefacts from the watching brief are currently held by CA at their offices in Kemble. Subject to the agreement of the legal landowner the artefacts will be deposited with the Dean Heritage Centre under accession number SOYDH: 2014.1, along with the site archive. A summary of information from this project, set out within Appendix C, will be entered onto the OASIS online database of archaeological projects in Britain. 5. RESULTS (FIGS 2-5) 5.1 This section provides an overview of the watching brief results; detailed summaries of the recorded contexts and finds are to be found in Appendices A and B,