Wheldon View, Wheldon Road, Castleford West Yorkshire An Archaeological Evaluation for Exemplar plc by Sarah Coles Thames Valley Archaeological Services Ltd Site Code WWC03/23 March 2003 Summary Site name: Wheldon View, Wheldon Road, Castleford, West Yorkshire Grid reference: SE 4524 2675 Site activity: Evaluation Date and duration of project: 11th–12th March 2003 Project manager: Steve Ford Site supervisor: Sarah Coles Site code: WWC 03/23 Area of site: 7600 sq m Summary of results: No modern graves or archaeological features were revealed. Anomalies located from geophysical results proved to be modern rubbish pits and concrete rubble. Monuments identified: None Location and reference of archive: The archives are presently held at Thames Valley Archaeological Services, 47-49 De Beauvoir Road, Reading, RG1 5NR and will be deposited with Castleford Museum 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 14.03.03 Steve Preston9 14.03.03 i Wheldon View, Wheldon Road, Castleford, West Yorkshire An Archaeological Evaluation by Sarah Coles Report WWC03/23 Introduction This report documents the results of an archaeological field evaluation carried out at Wheldon View, Wheldon Road, Castleford, West Yorkshire (SE 4524 2675) (Fig. 1). The work was commissioned by Mr Peter Reeves, Senior Archaeologist, Wardell Armstrong, Sutherland House, 5–6 Argyll Street, London, W1F 7TE for Exemplar plc, care of G and J Seddon, Armitage Avenue, Little Hulton, Worsley, Manchester, M37 0FH. Planning permission has been granted for an extension of Wheldon View Care Home that lies to the west of the site. The site lies adjacent to the former cemetery of St Peter’s Mission Church; during the environmental site assessment, a local resident informed the Wardell Armstrong staff that there was a possibility of modern unmarked graves being located in the site. It is possible that the original cemetery boundary marking the southern and western edge has moved. For the purpose of investigating this possibility a ground-probing radar (GPR) and resistivity survey was undertaken (White 2003), and eight anomalies were detected close to the boundary. The strong possibility that they may represent graves has led to a voluntary undertaking of evaluation of the nature of the anomalies. The fieldwork was undertaken by Sarah Coles and Simon Cass on the 11th–12th March 2003 and the site code is WWC03/23. The archive is presently held at Thames Valley Archaeological Services, Reading and will be deposited at Castleford Museum in due course. Location, topography and geology Castleford lies 5km north of Pontefract, on the southern bank of the River Aire. The site is located on the north- eastern edge of Castleford, at Wheldale, in the grounds of Wheldon View Care Home with the railway line forming the northern boundary and Wheldon Road the southern. The site lies at a height of 20m above Ordnance Datum overlooking the Aire. The underlying geology is Permian Magnesian Limestone (BGS 1979) with river terrace sands and gravels. This was confirmed in the trenches during fieldwork. 1 Archaeological background Castleford has origins in the Roman town of Lagentium (alternatively Lagecio or Legioleum; the Antonine itinerary, the only source which names it, is unclear), a major meeting point in the Roman road system. Saxon evidence is in the form of a possible church sited at Wheldale, which may be the same mentioned in a deed of endowment of 1332. The exact site has not been located. Castleford is noted for being the location of two battles, the first in 948 with the Saxons of King Edred against the Danes and the second, the Battle of Towton in 1461. St Peter’s Mission Church was built in 1896 to serve the newly developed colliery village. Prior to 1850 only open fields are noted on the site. The church was demolished in 1991 following the closure of the colliery, only the cemetery and war memorial remain (Castleford website). In recent times, the site has also been used as a dumping ground. Rubble is visible on the ground surface so the anomalies located by the geophysical surveys may represent formation of modern deposits. Objectives and methodology The purpose of the evaluation is to determine the nature of the geophysical anomalies found during previous investigations of the site. Specific aims were: a) To excavate to a depth of 300mm from the cleaned surface within any suspected graves but no further b) To investigate the presence/absence, extent, condition, character, quality and date of any archaeological deposits within the area of the anomalies Areas excavated were to be positioned over the anomalies located by geophysics and cleaned back using a JCB- type machine with a toothless bucket, under constant archaeological supervision. Surface anomalies exposed were to be cleaned by hand and spoilheaps monitored for finds. The anomalies were to be cleaned down 300mm from the cleaned ground surface but no further; this would require a Home Office Licence under the Burial Act 1857, Section 25 (Garratt-Frost 1992). It was to be determined from this level if the anomaly was a modern grave cut or an archaeological or geological feature. If modern grave cuts were revealed, excavation would cease and the cut would be fully recorded. If archaeological graves are revealed, excavation would cease until consultation with the client and the local archaeological curator, full excavation could then continue at a later date. The trenches excavated were located with reference to the grid previously laid out by Stratascan. Trenches 4 and 6 were lengthened in order to target two anomalies. 2 A complete list of trenches giving lengths, breadths, depths and a description of sections and geology is given in Appendix 1. Results Six trial trenches were excavated to target the eight anomalies shown by the geophysical survey. The lengths of trenches ranged between 2.50m and 4.00m. Stratigraphy encountered in all trenches was similar and, consisted of a thin layer of topsoil onto made ground, onto a buried soil of unknown date onto the limestone geology. The maximum depth of made ground observed on site was 2.75m below the current ground surface. No graves or archaeological features were identified and no finds retrieved. Trenches 1 and 2 (Pls 1 and 2) Trenches 1 and 2 were 3.00m and 3.60m in length and ranged between 1.20–1.50m deep. Trench 2 had a 2.00m deep test pit dug at the south-west end. These trenches identified no archaeology, however a large concrete platform was observed at the eastern extent of Trench 1. This was 0.20m deep and over 3.00m in width. It was possibly the remnants of an old outhouse. The excavation of Trench 2 showed a high incidence of very large slabs of the natural limestone in comparison to the other trenches. The stratigraphy observed in both of these trenches was 0.15–0.20m of topsoil, onto 0.20m–0.35m of made ground containing crushed brick rubble, onto 0.70m of a mid orange brown sandy silt. This sealed the limestone geology. Trenches 3, 4 and 6 (Pls 3, 4, 5) These trenches ranged in length between 2.50m and 4.00m, to depths between 2.40m and 3.00m below the current land surface. Anomalies possibly identified by the geophysical survey may have been created by a discarded concrete ramp (Trench 3), a section of brick wall (Trench 4) and a change in the density and composition of the made ground, which contained clay (Trench 6). The stratigraphy comprised 0.10m of topsoil onto a loose rubble made ground onto a mid orange brown sandy silt onto the natural limestone geology. 3 Trench 5 (Plate 6) The trench was 3.00m in length and 2.80m deep. The anomaly identified during the excavation was a modern pit containing plastic rubbish and was 2.75m below the current ground surface. This cut the mid orange brown sandy silt buried soil, which sealed the limestone geology. Finds No finds were retrieved during the investigation. Conclusion The anomalies investigated have been proven to be remnants of modern dumping activity. Trench 5 in particular showed clear evidence of a modern pit. The remains of a concrete slab in Trench 1 and a concrete ramp in Trench 3 may account for the anomalies in these areas while a layer of made ground and rubble overlaid the whole site. This may have been as a result of the demolition of the church in 1991. No archaeological features or finds were recovered and no evidence of modern graves associated with the church was visible. References BGS, 1979, British Geological Survey South Sheet, 1:50 000, Third Edition, Solid, Keyworth Castleford website, 2003, www.castleford.org/history.html. Garratt-Frost, S, 1992, The Law and Burial Archaeology, IFA Technical Paper No. 11, Institute of Field Archaeologists, Birmingham White, R, G, February 2003, Geophysical Survey at Wheldon View, Castleford, Stratascan, Upton upon Severn 4 APPENDIX 1: Trench details 0m at South or West end Trench No. Length (m) Breadth (m) Depth (m) Comment 1 3 1.6 1.5 Topsoil (0.15m) onto made ground (0.35m) onto orange brown buried subsoil (0.7m) onto limestone natural. Concrete slab at E end 2 3.6 1.6 2 at SW, 1.2 Topsoil (0.2m) onto made ground (0.2m) onto orange brown buried at NE subsoil (0.7m) onto limestone natural. 3 2.5 1.6 2.7 Topsoil (0.1m) onto made ground (1.15m) onto orange brown buried subsoil (1.2m) onto limestone natural. 4 4.2 1.6 2.5 Topsoil (0.1m) onto made ground (1.2m) onto orange brown buried subsoil (1m) onto limestone natural.