Cowstead. Land off Queenborough Road, Sheerness, Kent Point of Contact Site (Impact Statement) Cowstead Land off Queenborough Road Sheerness, Kent Point of Connection Site – Impact Statement 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Project background 1.1.1 Wessex Archaeology was commissioned by Sembcorp Energy UK to undertake archaeological works associated with a new substation and associated infrastructure on land off Queenborough Road, Sheerness, Kent, centred on NGR 592615, 171404. Appendix 1 shows the site in its entirety. 1.1.2 The site has been divided into three areas. Below is a brief summary of each area to assist with the description; 1. The Main Site. Located east of Neats Court Cottages and comprises the construction of an electricity battery storage facility within a steel framed portal building. The site will also include a transformer facility, access and infrastructure as well as hard standing and landscaping. 2. Cabling runs to the west from the main site. Located south of Neat’s Court Farm and enters the Point of Connection Site. 3. Point of Connection Site (PoC). The 132kV electricity cables will terminate in a compound at the PoC via electrical switchgear. The switchgear will connect to an existing electricity pylon. Archaeological works have been agreed for the Main Site and the Cabling route which will connect to the Main Site to the Point of Connection Site (outlined below). Previous Archaeological Works across the Project 1.1.3 A summary of the archaeological and historical background is presented in a specification prepared by Kent County Council for the main site (KCC 2019). This states that: The site lies on the Isle of Sheppey close to the discovery of the remains of prehistoric, Roman and medieval date on the nearby Neatscourt Phase 1 development and on the remodelled A249 road. Of particular relevance are the finding of Iron Age and Roman cremation burials scattered in the area close to the south and east of the site. Iron Age and other Roman features also lie in proximity. The site is located on the margins of the land emerging from the Sheppey marshes which would have been attractive to ancient peoples for their resources. 1.1.4 A number of archaeological investigations have been undertaken upon a site to the immediate south of the section of the A249 which forms the site boundary (WA 2015). Results from of this included: 1 Doc ref 225530.5 Feb 2020 Cowstead. Land off Queenborough Road, Sheerness, Kent Point of Contact Site (Impact Statement) - Test pits revealed significant amounts of early prehistoric remains and indications of the potential location of a Bronze Age settlement associated with a buried land surface underlying alluvial deposits; - A funerary mound presumed to date to the Early Bronze Age which contained 14 cremation and inhumation burials; - Further early Bronze Age evidence in the form of a large pit and adjacent post holes as well as a circular enclosure; - A middle/late Bronze Age clay extraction quarry; - Possible quarry or salt production pits and natural water channels that suggested a continuation of land use from the prehistoric to early Romano- British period; - Burials from the late prehistoric to Romano-British period, including urned Romano-British cremations burials, possibly part of a large cemetery group; - Romano-British ditches and pits; - An early medieval field system; - Medieval features including a 12-13th century pit, a ditch and a cattle burial; and - Numerous undated features. 1.1.5 An archaeological evaluation of the Main Site comprising nine evaluation trenches has been carried out by Wessex Archaeology. No archaeological features were uncovered during the evaluation. As previous archaeological investigations directly south of the site had identified evidence of Bronze Age activity, including a funerary mound which contained fourteen cremation graves and inhumation burials (WA 2019), an archaeological watching brief was undertaken during works on this site and on the cable works to the west. This work is ongoing at the time of preparation of this document and to date no finds or features of archaeological significance have been uncovered. 1.1.6 Archaeological monitoring of the cabling route is on-going and to date and no archaeological finds have been identified during these works. 2 POINT OF CONNECTION SITE - CONSTRUCTION IMPACT 2.1.1 The PoC lies to the north west of the main site and comprises a roughly rectangular area (Appendix 2). 2.1.2 The works on the PoC site (Appendix 2) comprises the construction of electrical switchgear and a control room as well as an access road and compound for the site. 2.1.3 As a first stage the site was reduced by approximately 0.5m and covered in crush to make a level construction area (Plate 1). 2.1.4 Groundworks for the transformers comprised the excavation of foundation trenches and pilling to a depth of 7-12 meters. 2 Doc ref 225530.5 Feb 2020 Cowstead. Land off Queenborough Road, Sheerness, Kent Point of Contact Site (Impact Statement) 2.1.5 An access road has also been constructed. This was excavated to a depth of 350mm and covered with terram and then backfilled to ground level with type 1 (Appendix 3). 2.2 Archaeological Monitoring 2.2.1 An archaeologist monitored the excavation of trenches and cabling in the south west and south east of the PoC site. 2.2.2 The stratigraphy of the PoC site comprised a layer of crush and gravel with angular and sub angular fragments of stone 0.4m thick, representing the recent construction area. The second layer comprised a layer of redeposited natural, 0.2m thick and brownish black in colour. The third layer comprised a layer of made ground with a black hue 0.75m thick. Natural deposits were intermittently identified at the base of the cable trenches and foundations (Plate 2). 2.2.3 No archaeological finds or features were recorded during the watching brief, and no evidence relating to the previously identified cremation deposits nearby were identified. 2.3 Impact Assessment 2.3.1 The main area of the (PoC) site was covered in a deposit of made ground, up to 0.90m thick which to a large extent protected potential archaeological remains. 2.3.2 The construction of the compound it unlikely to have extended below made ground and therefore will not have impacted on natural deposits which may contain archaeological remains. 2.3.3 The excavation of the foundations is likely to have extended below the made ground and have had limited impact on natural deposits. It is possible that this would have had some impact on potential archaeological remains, but no such remains identified in the archaeological monitoring. 2.3.4 The pilling penetrated to between 9 and 12 meters and would have had significant vertical impact although the horizontal impact would have been minimal. 2.3.5 There is little information as to the nature of the deposits in the area of the access road. Based on our understanding of the depth of the archaeological remains in the nearby areas, the 350mm excavation for the construction was not likely to have extended deeply into the natural deposits. Also, the layering of terram will provide some measure of protection of the deposits through continued use. 2.4 Further Work and Recommendations 2.4.1 There is limited further construction work proposed for the PoC site. The temporary bridge will be replaced by a more permanent structure. It is proposed that below ground works related to this is monitored by an archaeologist. 2.4.2 Further work on the access road will comprise 100m of re-stripping of the surface and layering of a more permanent surface material. This will be within previously disturbed ground, therefore no further work is suggested. 2.4.3 The results of the monitoring undertaken on the PoC will be incorporated in a report which will detail the results of the monitoring across the whole project. 3 Doc ref 225530.5 Feb 2020 Cowstead. Land off Queenborough Road, Sheerness, Kent Point of Contact Site (Impact Statement) BIBLIOGRAPHY Wessex Archaeology 2019. Land Adjacent to 9 Neatscourt Cottages, Queenborough, Isle of Sheppey: Archaeological Evaluation Report. Unpub rep 222230.03 4 Doc ref 225530.5 Feb 2020 Cowstead. Land off Queenborough Road, Sheerness, Kent Point of Contact Site (Impact Statement) Plates Plate 1: Excavating foundations through gravel layer used to provide level construction compound. 5 Doc ref 225530.5 Feb 2020 Cowstead. Land off Queenborough Road, Sheerness, Kent Point of Contact Site (Impact Statement) Plate 2: Cable trench showing made ground (note ceramic in trench section) 6 Doc ref 225530.5 Feb 2020 A B C D E F G H J K L M N25m P Q R Drain E 1 V 1 A 35m KEY E E U V Queenborough BT - British Telecom G A R School E E G - Gas M R E U 2 D M W - Water 2 E L Barrows Hill A250 T EDW Furze Hill OHE - Overhead Electric Lines S ARD A RO AD E - Electicity C A249 N G G 25m R G OA G D G G G E E 42m 20m 132kV Cable G E OHE OHE G 4m E E E OHE OHE G W WE E BT W W BT BT G W OHE E BT WA E BTO OHE BT W BT BT BT WA BT BT BT BT BT BT BT BT BT BT WA BT 3 BT BT 3 BT BT BT W WA G BT E WA WA WA WA OHE W W WA WA WA OHE G WAW EA W W WA WA BTO E WAE EA W W W OHE E W W W W W W W W WA E WA BT WA EA E EA E OHE EA E G W W E G EA E BTO OHE G EA E BTO G E G OHE G G EA BT G BTO G G G E G EA E G WA G G G OHE G W E E G W G G G G G G G E G E E E E G E E E E E E E E E EOHE W G E E E E E E E E E E E E E E G E G OHE E E W E BT E E G W E E E OHE B2007E WA W E E E E E E EA G G E G E E G E G W G GW G G E E G BT WOHE OHE OHE G E WA E W OHE W E E E W EA BT E NOTICE.