LAND AT NETHERAVON HOUSE NETHERAVON WILTSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL WATCHING BRIEF For OPUSTREND LTD CA REPORT: 06080 OCTOBER 2006 LAND AT NETHERAVON HOUSE NETHERAVON WILTSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL WATCHING BRIEF CA PROJECT: 1662 CA REPORT: 06080 Author: Laurent Coleman Approved: Richard Young Signed: ……………………………………………………………. Issue: 01 Date: OCTOBER 2006 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 Building 11, Kemble Enterprise Park, Kemble, Cirencester, Gloucestershire, GL7 6BQ Tel. 01285 771022 Fax. 01285 771033 E-mail:[email protected] Netheravon House, Netheravon, Wiltshire: Archaeological Watching Brief © Cotswold Archaeology CONTENTS SUMMARY........................................................................................................................ 4 1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................. 5 The site ................................................................................................................ 5 Archaeological and historical background ........................................................... 6 Methodology ........................................................................................................ 6 2. RESULTS ............................................................................................................ 7 3. DISCUSSION....................................................................................................... 7 4. CA PROJECT TEAM ........................................................................................... 7 5. REFERENCES .................................................................................................... 8 APPENDIX 1: CONTEXT DESCRIPTIONS..................................................................... 9 2 Netheravon House, Netheravon, Wiltshire: Archaeological Watching Brief © Cotswold Archaeology LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Fig. 1 Site location plan (1:50,000) Fig. 2 The site, showing location of groundworks (1:1,250) Fig. 3 South-west facing section of ditch 404 (1:20) 3 Netheravon House, Netheravon, Wiltshire: Archaeological Watching Brief © Cotswold Archaeology SUMMARY Site Name: Netheravon House Location: Netheravon, Wiltshire NGR: SU 1480 4820 Type: Watching Brief Date: 15 March 2003 to 22 October 2004 Planning Reference: K/043531 and K/046658 Location of Archive: To be deposited with Devizes Museum Site Code: NAH 03 and NAH 04 An archaeological watching brief was undertaken by Cotswold Archaeology (CA) during groundworks associated with the development of land at Netheravon House, Netheravon, Wiltshire. A single ditch of probable post-medieval or modern date was observed during groundworks and no artefactual material predating the modern period was recovered. 4 Netheravon House, Netheravon, Wiltshire: Archaeological Watching Brief © Cotswold Archaeology 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 Between March 2003 and October 2004 Cotswold Archaeology (CA) carried out an archaeological watching brief for Opustrend Ltd at Netheravon House, Netheravon, Wiltshire (centred on NGR: SU 1480 4820; Fig. 1). 1.2 The watching brief was undertaken to fulfil archaeological conditions placed on two Planning Permissions granted in connection with the redevelopment of the site: The first permission (Ref. No. K/043531) concerned the redevelopment of Netheravon House, the Stables, the Officers Quarters, the provision of associated services and the construction of an access road linking the site to the A345. The second (Ref. No. K/046658) concerns the re-alignment of the access road and park railings, changes to the tree management plan and the construction of additional services. 1.3 The archaeological fieldwork was carried out in accordance with a Written Scheme of Investigation (WSI) produced by CA (2004) and approved by the Local Planning Authority (LPA) acting on the advice of Sue Farr, Assistant Archaeologist, Wiltshire County Council (WCC). The fieldwork also followed the Standard and Guidance for an Archaeological Watching Brief issued by the Institute of Field Archaeologists (1999), the Standards for Archaeological Assessment and Field Evaluation (WCC Archaeology Service 1995) and the Management of Archaeological Projects (English Heritage 1991). The site 1.4 The site is bounded to the west by the A345 (Marlborough to Salisbury) road, to the north by residential properties and All Saints’ Church, to the east by the River Avon and to the south by the School of Infantry (Fig. 2). The site lies between 80-100m AOD on a spur of higher ground to the south of the village of Netheravon. 1.5 The underlying geology of the area is mapped as Upper Chalk of the Cretaceous era (BGS 1967). 5 Netheravon House, Netheravon, Wiltshire: Archaeological Watching Brief © Cotswold Archaeology 1.6 The ground surface comprised concrete hardstanding, tarmac roadways, small patches of grass cover and a disused tennis court. Archaeological and historical background 1.7 Signs of prehistoric settlement in the vicinity of the site are slight, with a single Bronze Age chisel being found in a field to the south-west of Netheravon House (SMR ref: SU14NW154), but there is strong evidence for a substantial Romano- British building c. 100m to the south of the house (SMR ref: SU14NW301). Excavations in 1907 and 1936 uncovered a bath house and part of a tessellated pavement. Further archaeological work by Time Team in 1996 identified a series of wall footings and associated building debris, such as roof tiles and wall plaster. Quantities of Romano-British pottery sherds were also found. It has been hypothesised that these remains relate to a high status Romano-British villa (WA 1997). 1.8 All Saints’ Church, which lies to the north-east of Netheravon House, appears to date to the latter half of the 11th century AD, and the village of Netheravon itself is first recorded in 1086 as ‘Nigna Avia’. Undated, but probably medieval, earthworks also survive to the east and north of Manor Farm and to the north of the church. Netheravon House was constructed in the mid 18th century, was acquired by the War Office via compulsory purchase in 1898 and became (together with the stables and Officers Quarters) The Cavalry School in 1904. The site remained under the ownership of the MOD until the 1990s. Methodology 1.9 The fieldwork followed the methodology set out within the WSI (CA 2004). An archaeologist was present during intrusive groundworks, comprising the construction of a gas main, water main and foul drains (Fig. 2). 1.10 Written, graphic and photographic records were compiled in accordance with CA Technical Manual 1: Excavation Recording Manual (1996). 1.11 Subject to the agreement of the legal landowner the site archive will be deposited with Devizes Museum. 6 Netheravon House, Netheravon, Wiltshire: Archaeological Watching Brief © Cotswold Archaeology 2. RESULTS 2.1 The natural geological substrate (102, 203, 403, 503, 603, 703 and 802) consisting of flinty chalk, was revealed across the site at depths of between 0.1m and 1.0m below present ground level. This was overlain by between 0.3 and 0.9m of subsoil and made ground (202, 402, 502, 602, 702, 704, and 803), which was in turn sealed by between 0.1m and 0.7m of topsoil (101, 201, 401, 501, 601, 701 and 801). A modern tarmac surface (804) was also identified. 2.2 A north-east/south-west orientated ditch 404 was identified in trench 4 (Figs 2 and 3). The length of the feature was unknown but it was 2.2m in width, 0.55m in depth and had gently sloping sides and a flat base. Pottery and building material dating to the 19th century was observed in the fill 405. The feature may represent a boundary or drainage ditch of post-medieval or modern date which was backfilled during the construction of The Cavalry School. 2.3 No other features or deposits of archaeological interest were observed during groundworks and, despite visual scanning of spoil, no artefactual material predating the modern period was recovered. This material has not been retained. 3. DISCUSSION 3.1 Despite the archaeological potential of the application area (see archaeological and historical background above), the watching brief identified no archaeological remains pre-dating the post-medieval period within the area of observed groundworks. The absence of archaeological deposits may indicate that structural remains associated with the site of the Romano-British villa do not extend as far as the current development. Alternatively, they may have been removed during 19th or 20th- century development of the site or were simply not exposed during the current groundworks. 4. CA PROJECT TEAM 4.1 Fieldwork was undertaken by Tim Havard, Jon Hart, Dave Kenyon, Jon Webster and Franco Vartuca. Laurent Coleman compiled this report. The illustrations were prepared by Peter Moore. The archive has been compiled by Laurent Coleman and 7 Netheravon House, Netheravon, Wiltshire: Archaeological Watching Brief © Cotswold Archaeology prepared for deposition by Ed McSloy. The project was managed for CA by Simon Cox and Richard Young. 5. REFERENCES BGS (British Geological Survey) 1967 Geological Survey of England and Wales: one inch to one mile (1: 63360) series; Solid and Drift. Sheet 282: Devizes CA (Cotswold Archaeology) 2004 Land