Lingen Bridge, Bucknell, Shropshire: A Desk-Based Archaeological Assessment of Bridge Strengthening Works by H R Hannaford Archaeology Service Archaeology Service Report Number 204 © Shropshire County Council November 2001 LINGEN BRIDGE, BUCKNELL, SHROPSHIRE: A DESK-BASED ARCHAEOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT OF BRIDGE STRENGTHENING WORKS by H R HANNAFORD MIFA A Report for the COMMUNITY AND ENVIRONMENT DIRECTORATE SHROPSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL Archaeology Service Unit 4, Owen House, Radbrook Centre, Radbrook Road,Shrewsbury, SY3 9BJ Tel: (01743) 254018 Fax: (01743) 254047 TELFORD & WREKIN COUNCIL Lingen Bridge, Bucknell, Shropshire: A Desk-Based Archaeological Assessment of Bridge Strengthening Works CONTENTS Page No SUMMARY 1 1 INTRODUCTION 2 2 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES 3 2.1 Aims and Objectives of the Assessment 3 2.2 Methodology of the Assessment 3 3 THE DESK-BASED ASSESSMENT 4 3.1 The Archaeological and Historical Background 4 3.2 The Site Visit 8 4 THE IMPACT ON THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESOURCE 9 5 FURTHER FIELD EVALUATION 9 6 RECOMMENDED ARCHAEOLOGICAL PROVISION 9 7 REFERENCES AND SOURCES CONSULTED 10 7.1 Sources 10 7.2 Othersourcesandbibliography 11 ILLUSTRATIONS Figure 1: Location of the study area; 1:20,000 scale Figure 2: The study area; 1:2500 scale Figure 3: Extract from John Rocque's 1752 Map of Shropshire, showing the study area Figure 4: Extract from the Ordnance Survey 25" 1st edition (Shropshire Sheet LXXVII.13); 1:2500 scale Figure 5: The study area; 1:500 scale SUMMARY There is currently a proposal to strengthen the Lingen Bridge across the River Teme near Bucknell in south Shropshire. The repair programme will include the demolition of parts of the existing bridge, and the construction of a temporary roadway and bridge to the east of the present structure. Because of the historical importance of the bridge, and the potentially destructive nature of some aspects of the repair works, it was considered necessary to carry out a desk-top archaeological assessment of the bridge and the adjacent area of land required for these works. This assessment has recommended that a full photographic record be made of the bridge prior to the start of the repair works, and that an archaeological watching brief be maintained on all destructive groundworks associated with the repairs. Archaeology Service, Shropshire County Council 1 Report No. 204 November 2001 Lingen Bridge, Bucknell, Shropshire: A Desk-Based Archaeological Assessment of Bridge Strengthening Works 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 There is currently a proposal to strengthen the Lingen Bridge across the river Teme near Bucknell, Shropshire. 1.2 Lingen Bridge is situated across the river Teme 0.75km south of the village of Bucknell in south Shropshire (Fig. 1). Bucknell itself lies 15km west of Ludlow. The bridge lies just on the Shropshire side of the county boundary with Herefordshire, and carries a secondary road, the B 4367, from the Ludlow to Knighton road (the A 4113) to Craven Arms. The present bridge dates to the 19th century and comprises an iron deck on stone piers. There has been a crossing point of the river Teme at the site of the present Lingen Bridge since the 18th century at least, and probably from considerably earlier. 1.3 The proposed bridge strengthening will involve placing a new deck on the existing stone piers, and the demolition and in-filling of a stone flood arch. Additionally, a temporary roadway and bailey bridge will be constructed to the east of the present bridge to carry road traffic while the strengthening works are carried out. This will involve excavation for the temporary roadway and for the mass concrete piers of the bailey bridge. 1.4 In view of the historical and potential archaeological significance of Lingen Bridge, it was deemed necessary to undertake an archaeological assessment of the bridge and adjoining area of land to be affected by the proposed works. Archaeology Service, Shropshire County Council 2 Report No. 204 November 2001 Lingen Bridge, Bucknell, Shropshire: A Desk-Based Archaeological Assessment of Bridge Strengthening Works 2 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES 2.1 Aims and Objectives of the Assessment A project design for the archaeological assessment of the bridge strengthening works was prepared by the Head of Archaeology, Shropshire County Council. The aim of this desk-based assessment is to provide information enabling an informed decision to be taken regarding the archaeological provision for the bridge strengthening works. The objectives were: (a) To assess the known or potential archaeological resource within the study area. (b) To identify the likely character, extent, quality, and significance of the known or potential archaeological resource in a local, regional, and national context as appropriate. (c) To identify and recommend options for the management of the archaeological resource, including any mitigation strategies. (d) To recommend a strategy for further Field Evaluation, where the character and value of the resource is not sufficiently defined to permit a mitigation strategy or other response to be devised. 2.2 Methodology of the Assessment 2.2.1 In order to achieve these objectives, the Desk-Based Assessment would examine and assess all appropriate sources. These were to include: Archaeological Databases Historical Documents Cartographic Sources Pictorial Documents Aerial Photographs Geotechnical Information Secondary and Statutory Sources 2.2.2 A site visit would be undertaken as part of the assessment in order to assess possible factors such as existing or previous land use and its affect on the survival or condition of known or potential archaeological sites. 2.2.3 The Archaeology Service was commissioned by the Community and Environment Directorate, Shropshire County Council, to conduct this assessment. This report details the result of the assessment. Archaeology Service, Shropshire County Council 3 Report No. 204 November 2001 Lingen Bridge, Bucknell, Shropshire: A Desk-Based Archaeological Assessment of Bridge Strengthening Works 3 THE DESK-BASED ASSESSMENT 3.1 The Archaeological and Historical Background 3.1.1 Prehistoric and Roman activity A search of the database and records held by the County Sites and Monuments Record (SMR) revealed no known prehistoric sites or find- spots within the study area. However, prehistoric activity dating back to the Neolithic period has been recorded in the immediate vicinity of the study area. In 1954-6, approximately 300 flint flakes (SMR no. SA3034) were recovered from a field to the south of the Vicarage, Bucknell (centred on NGR SO 355 732; see Fig. 1). The flints included some Neolithic and early Bronze Age implements, but mainly consisted of debris from implement manufacturing. The find-spot lies approximately 450m to the northwest of Lingen Bridge. In 1912, a plain bronze spearhead (SA2675) of probable Bronze Age date was ploughed from a field near Coxall Knoll. The precise find-spot is far from certain - the finder was a labourer from Upper House farm on the northwest side of Bucknell, who made the find while working in "a field near Caractus' Camp" (there was a local tradition in the 19th century, dismissed by later researchers, that Coxall Knoll was the site of Caradoc's last stand against the Roman army). Another Bronze Age winged spearhead (SA2997) was also been found in the Bucknell area, within 1km of the study area, although again the precise find-spot is not known. (SMR files SA2675, SA2997, & SA3034) Aerial photographs of the environs of the study area show two cropmark ring ditches (SA4175 & SA4176) 700m to the northwest of Lingen Bridge, immediately to the west of the Vicarage, Bucknell. Ring ditches usually represent the remains of ploughed down burial mounds of early Bronze Age date (c. 2300 - 1400 BC); the circular cropmarks are formed by the in-filled quarry ditch surrounding the ploughed-down burial mound, which produces marks in ripening crops that are visible from the air. Ring ditches can appear as single monuments, but tend to cluster in groups of two or more, perhaps representing cemeteries serving particular Bronze Age communities. (SMR files SA4175 & SA4176) There is likely to have been a sizeable Iron Age community in the area, centred on the Coxall Knoll hillfort (SA1159). This is a small multivallate hillfort of 3.4ha with annexes on east side, situated some 750m to the northeast of Lingen Bridge on a hill between the rivers Teme and Redlake. The hillfort represents the remains of a defended settlement of Iron Age date, though flint flakes have been found within the hillfort, suggesting occupation of the hilltop probably began in the Neolithic or Bronze Age periods. (SMR file SA1159) Other later prehistoric activity in the vicinity of the study area is attested by a cropmark enclosure (SA2072) about 800m to the northwest of the bridge, again lying close to Bucknell Vicarage. This cropmark enclosure Archaeology Service, Shropshire County Council 4 Report No. 204 November 2001 Lingen Bridge, Bucknell, Shropshire: A Desk-Based Archaeological Assessment of Bridge Strengthening Works is of a type which has been demonstrated by excavation to represent the remains of farmsteads occupied variously during the late Bronze Age, Iron Age, Romano-British, and early medieval periods. (SMR file SA2072) Six sherds of Roman pottery of 2nd century date (SA3033) have been recovered from the River Teme near Bucknell, within 1km to the west of Lingen Bridge, although the exact find-spot is not recorded. The nearest known sites of the Roman period to the study area are the Roman fort and settlement of Bravonium at Leintwardine and the Roman road between Viroconium (Wroxeter) and Glevum (Gloucester), Watling Street South. Both the fort and the road lie some 4.5km to the east of the study area. (SMR file SA3033) 3.1.2 The Medieval Manors The study area occupies land that in the medieval period probably lay within two separate manors, Bucknell to the north and Brampton Bryan to the south, with the river Teme probably marking the boundary between the two.