T H A M E S V A L L E Y ARCHAEOLOGICAL S E R V I C E S Chineham Park School, Shakespeare Road, Popley, Basingstoke, Hampshire Archaeological Evaluation by David Sanchez Site Code: CPB18/125 (SU 4640 5370) Chineham Park School, Shakespeare Road, Popley, Basingstoke, Hampshire An Archaeological Evaluation for Hampshire County Council by David Sánchez Thames Valley Archaeological Services Ltd Site Code CPB 18/125 October 2018 Summary Site name: Chineham Park School, Shakespeare Road, Popley, Basingstoke, Hampshire Grid reference: SU 4640 5370 Site activity: Archaeological Evaluation Date and duration of project: 11th - 17th October 2018 Project manager: Steve Ford Site supervisor: David Sánchez Site code: CPB 18/125 Area of site: 6200 sq m Summary of results: Eight trenches were successfully excavated during the course of the evaluation revealing a moderate amount of features of archaeological interest along with a number of doubtful ones thought more likely to be of natural origin. The chronology of these features remains uncertain as only a few sherds of probable prehistoric pottery were recovered along with a small collection of durable struck flint. The site is considered to have some archaeological potential. Location and reference of archive: The archive is presently held at Thames Valley Archaeological Services, Reading and will be deposited with Hampshire Cultural Trust in due course. This report may be copied for bona fide research or planning purposes without the explicit permission of the copyright holder. All TVAS unpublished fieldwork reports are available on our website: www.tvas.co.uk/reports/reports.asp. Report edited/checked by: Steve Ford 05.11.18 Steve Preston 05.11.18 i Thames Valley Archaeological Services Ltd, 47–49 De Beauvoir Road, Reading RG1 5NR Tel. (0118) 926 0552; email [email protected]; website: www.tvas.co.uk Chineham Park School, Shakespeare Road, Popley, Basingstoke, Hampshire An Archaeological Evaluation by David Sánchez Report 18/125 Introduction This report documents the results of an archaeological field evaluation carried out at the former Chineham Park School, Shakespeare Road, Popley, Basingstoke (SU 4640 5370) (Fig. 1). The work was commissioned by Mr. Andrew Parker, Senior Architect of Hampshire County Council, HCC Property Services, Three Minsters House, 76 High Street, Winchester, Hampshire SO23 8UL Planning permission is to be sought from Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council to develop the site for the construction of a new school. As a consequence of the possibility of archaeological deposits on the site which may be damaged or destroyed by the proposed re-development, a field evaluation was required to determine the archaeological potential of the site and to help formulate a mitigation strategy as necessary. This is in accordance with the Department for Communities and Local Government’s National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF 2012), and the Council’s policies on archaeology. The field investigation was carried out to a specification approved by Mr. Neil Adam, Senior Archaeologist of Hampshire County Council. The fieldwork was undertaken by David Sánchez, Cosmo Bacon, Daena Guest and Ashley Kruger between 11th and 17th October 2018 and the site code is CPB 18/125. The archive is presently held at Thames Valley Archaeological Services, Reading and will be deposited with Hampshire Cultural Trust in due course. Location, topography and geology The site is located in the northern margins of Basingstoke, in the residential area of Popley located just to the northwest of the A33 road between Reading and Basingstoke (Fig. 1). The site itself lies to the west of the A33 with the Sportlight Centre and a day nursery to the south and southeast and residential houses to the east. It is located in the former playing fields of the school and the topography shows a gentle slope to the south were was truncated by previous developments (Fig. 2). The underlying geology is mapped as Upper Chalk (BGS 1978), which was observed in all the trenches excavated, and the site lies at a height of between c.92m and c.96m above Ordnance Datum. 1 Archaeological background The archaeological potential of the site stems from its location close to areas where excavation fieldwork in advance of new housing has revealed a wealth of archaeological deposits. To the north excavation has revealed prehistoric and Roman landscape and occupation (Wright et al. 2009) and to the west a further component of Roman occupation has also been recorded (Elliott 2017). Additional Roman deposits have also been examined further afield at Park Prewett hospital (Coles et al. 2011) and a range of other sites and finds are recorded in north Hampshire. Objectives and methodology The purpose of the evaluation was to determine the presence/absence, extent, condition, character, quality and date of any archaeological deposits within the area of development. The specific research aims of this project were: to determine if archaeologically relevant levels had survived on this site; to determine if archaeological deposits of any period were present; to determine if there was any prehistoric or Roman settlement on the site; and to inform a strategy for mitigation if required. Eight trenches were to be dug, each 25m long and 1.6m wide. A contingency for the equivalent of an additional 15m length of trenching was included within the proposal should this be required to clarify any deposits found in the initial trenching, but this was not required. Topsoil and any other overburden was to be removed by a JCB-type machine fitted with a toothless ditching bucket under constant archaeological supervision. The excavation had to be undertaken in spits, to enable the recovery or artefactual remains from individual layers and spoilheaps were to be searched for finds. Where archaeological features were certainly or probably exposed, the stripped areas were to be cleaned using appropriate hand tools. Results All eight trenches were dug as intended ranging in length between 26.20m and 24.40m and with a depth between 0.55m and 0.30m. (Fig. 2) A complete list of trenches giving lengths, breadths, depths and a description of sections and geology is given in Appendix 1. The excavated features, with dating evidence, are summarized in Appendix 2. 2 Trench 1 (Figs 3, 4, 6) Trench 1 was aligned WNW - ESE and was 26m long and 0.32m deep. The stratigraphy consisted of 0.32m of topsoil overlying natural chalk. At 10m from the WNW end of the trench two intercutting shallow pits (22 and 23) were uncovered. Pit 22 had circular shape with a diameter of one meter and a depth of 0.12m, filled with one single deposit (72) of dark greyish brown silty clay with chalk inclusions. One flake of flint was recovered from this fill. Pit 23 was cut by pit 22 and it had circular shape with a diameter of 0.70m and a depth of 0.18m. It was filled with one single deposit (73) of mid greyish brown silty clay with very frequent chalk inclusions. No finds were recovered from this feature. Trench 2 (Figs 3, 4, 6, 7; Pl. 1 and 4 ) Trench 2 was aligned NW - SE and was 25.50m long and 0.55m deep. The stratigraphy consisted of 0.25m of topsoil and 0.25m of subsoil overlying degraded natural chalk with frequent plough scars. Six possible linear features were uncovered in this trench. Ditch 25 and gully 24 were uncovered at 10m from the SE end of the trench with a relationship uncertain and a NE - SW alignment. A one meter slot was dug in these features, subsequently extended after recording to the full length exposed in the trench by request of the Senior Archaeologist of Hampshire County Council, showing gully 24 to be 0.48m wide and 0.31m deep, with concave base and steep sides. It was filled with one single deposit (81) of mid brownish red clay silt with occasional inclusions of gravel and flint. Ditch 25 was 1.05m wide and 0.47m deep, with V shape profile and concave base. It was filled with one deposit (82) with similar composition and inclusions to fill 81 and one flint spall was recovered from this fill. At 19m from the SE end two very similar features were uncovered with the same alignment that the features described above. A one meter slot was dug in these features, then extended after recording to the full length exposed in the trench, by request of the Senior Archaeologist of Hampshire County Council. Gully 20 was 0.50m wide and 0.31m deep with concave base and steep sides, and it was filled with one deposit (77) of mid brownish red clay silt with occasional gravel, chalk and flint inclusions. One flake of flint was recovered from this deposit. Ditch 21 cut gully 20, and was 1.05m wide and 0.42m deep, with a V-shaped profile and concave base. It was filled with one deposit (78) of mid orange red silty clay with occasional flint, chalk and gravel inclusions. Gully 28 was aligned approximately north-south and measured 0.45m wide, with a concave profile and was 0.18m deep, infilled with deposits 79 (a light red brown clay silt deposit 0.15m thick, with sparse gravel) and 80 3 (a red brown clay silt 0.04m thick, with sparse gravel). A 1m long slot was excavated through it and the feature did returned one flake of flint. Also in this trench, gully terminus 29 was aligned SW-NE, with the terminus at the southwest and extending beyond the edge of the trench to the northeast. It was 0.55m wide in section, with a concave profile, and was disturbed at the southwest by a tree root disturbance.