Land at Duffryn Newport Archaeological Watching Brief Report for Persimmon Homes (East Wales) CA Project: 4860 CA Report: 15019 February 2015 Land at Duffryn Newport Archaeological Watching Brief CA Project: 4860 CA Report: 15019 prepared by Damian De Rosa, Project Manager date 30/01/2015 approved by Richard Greatorex, Principal Fieldwork Manager signed date 02/02/2015 issue 01 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 Cirencester Milton Keynes Andover Building 11 Unit 4 Stanley House Kemble Enterprise Park Cromwell Business Centre Walworth Road Kemble, Cirencester Howard Way, Newport Pagnell Andover, Hampshire Gloucestershire, GL7 6BQ MK16 9QS SP10 5LH t. 01285 771022 t. 01908 218320 t. 01264 347630 f. 01285 771033 e. [email protected] CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................ 5 The site .............................................................................................................. 6 Archaeological background ................................................................................ 7 Appraisal of modern development impacts ......................................................... 7 Archaeological objectives ................................................................................... 8 Methodology....................................................................................................... 8 2. RESULTS (FIGS 3 TO 10) ................................................................................. 9 3. DISCUSSION ..................................................................................................... 10 4. CA PROJECT TEAM .......................................................................................... 11 5. REFERENCES ................................................................................................... 11 APPENDIX A: SUMMARY REPORT FORM ................................................................... 12 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Fig. 1 Site location plan (1:25,000) Fig. 2 Watching brief area (1:2500) Fig. 3 View of site looking south-east Fig. 4 North-west corner of site showing in situ terram and made ground Fig. 5 View looking north showing in situ made ground at north end of site Fig. 6 View showing raft construction Fig. 7 View showing raft construction Fig. 8 View north showing excavated service trench Fig. 9 View north showing section in service trench Fig. 10 View looking north of section through service trench in north-west corner of site 3 Summary Project Name: Land at Duffryn, Newport Location: NGR: ST 2884 8465 Type: Watching Brief Date: April to October 2014 Planning Reference: 13/0669 Location of Archive: CA Andover to be submitted to National Museum of Wales Site Code: SPD14 An archaeological watching brief was undertaken by Cotswold Archaeology during groundworks associated with the development. No features or deposits of archaeological interest were observed during groundworks, and no artefactual material was recovered. The monitoring of the groundworks established and confirmed that there had been significant modern ground disturbance, which is likely to have impacted upon and removed any archaeological features and or deposits that may have been present. 4 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 In 2014 and 2015 Cotswold Archaeology (CA) carried out an archaeological watching brief at the former Panasonic site on Land at Duffryn, Newport (centred on NGR: ST 2884 8465; Fig. 1) at the request of Persimmon Homes (East Wales). 1.2 Conditional planning permission (Ref: 13/0669) for the demolition of the existing buildings and redevelopment of the site for Housing and Associated Infrastructure was granted by Newport City Council, the local planning authority (LPA). 1.3 The permission is conditional on a programme of archaeological work being undertaken during the course of the development and condition 21 states that: No development, to include demolition, shall take place until the applicant, or their agents or successors in title, has secured the implementation of a programme of archaeological work in accordance with a written scheme of investigation which has been submitted by the applicant and approved in writing by the local planning authority. Reason: To identify and record any features of archaeological interest discovered during the works, in order to mitigate the impact of the works on the archaeological resource. 1.4 The archaeological condition and the recommendation for an archaeological watching brief followed consultation with the Glamorgan and Gwent Archaeological Trust (GGAT) the archaeological planning advisors to the LPA. Their decision was informed by the production of a heritage desk-based assessment (CA 2013) prepared prior to the submission of the planning application. 1.5 The watching brief was carried out in accordance with a written scheme of investigation (CA 2013) approved by GGAT prior to the commencement of groundworks. The work also followed the Standard and Guidance for an archaeological watching brief (IfA 2009), the county standards (if applicable) and the Management of Archaeological Projects 2 (English Heritage 1991), the Management of Research Projects in the Historic Environment (MORPHE): Project Manager’s Guide (EH 2006). 5 The site 1.6 The site is located just beyond the south-western edge of Newport, approximately 4.5km from the city centre. It is set within an industrial and residential area, with industrial parks surrounding to the east and west, and residential areas to the south. Main roads surround the site to the north and east. The M4 runs approximately 800m to the north of the site, while the mouth of the River Usk lies c. 2.8km to the south of the site, beyond the Newport Levels. The surrounding landscape is characterised by the flat land of the Levels to the south, and rising topography to the north, with the majority of the proposed development site lying at between 7-8m above Ordnance Datum (aOD). The north-western corner of the site rises northward, to 12.85m aOD. 1.7 The site is approximately 6.9ha in size. The site prior to development comprised one large enclosed area, with hardstanding for car parking in the western and eastern parts of the site, and two large warehouses located centrally within the site. The area to the south of these warehouses was devoid of any structures, although a road ran across the southern part of this area. The site is surrounded by trees situated on an embankment on all sides, which lie beyond the site boundary, as demarcated by a metal fence. 1.8 The proposed development site lies on mainly flat ground, between 7-8m aOD. The north-western corner of the site rises to the north, and lies at approximately 12m aOD. The elevation in the north-west corner represents the interface between the lower area of the Wentlooge levels and higher ground characterised by superficial river terrace deposits of sand and gravel. The Gwent Levels were created by the deposition of sediment on the banks of the Severn during the rise in sea-level at the end of the last period of glaciation. 1.9 The solid geology of the proposed development site comprises Mudstones of the Triassic Mercia formation. Superficial deposits of alluvial clay, sand, silts and gravel laid down in the Quaternary period are recorded across the site (BGS Viewer 2014), overlying river terrace deposits comprising gravels of sandstone and mudstone (Earth Science Partnership 2000) 6 Archaeological background 1.10 A heritage desk-based assessment (CA 2013) was undertaken of the site, which detailed its archaeological and historical background. Only a very brief summary of the results is presented below and the full document should be consulted for the full background. 1.11 There is some limited potential for Palaeolithic, Neolithic, Bronze Age, Iron Age and Roman remains to be present within the site. This potential is based on geological factors, and the fen-edge location of the site. The potential for Bronze Age and Roman remains is also supported by evidence from within the wider vicinity of the site. There is also considered to be potential for remains of medieval and later agricultural practices to be present within the site. Cropmarks observed within the southern part of the site are likely to relate to former drainage systems, demarcating fields. There is some potential for remains relating to these cropmarks to survive. Appraisal of modern development impacts 1.12 The potential for archaeological remains of any period to survive within the site was dependent on the extent of modern disturbance as a result of the development of the site from the 1980s (Fig. 2). 1.13 An aerial photograph dating from 1988 shows the site during the construction phase of the first, northernmost, warehouse. The photograph indicated that the whole area of the site was stripped during this period, with bare earth apparent across the site. This is likely to have caused disturbance to any archaeological deposits within the upper levels of the site. The most extensive areas of disturbance are likely to have been around the warehouse, with the southern part of the site also exhibiting more marked evidence of disturbance than the rest of the site 1.14 An aerial