THE OLD RECTORY, BEVERSTON, GLOUCESTERSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVALUATION C.A.T JOB: 1192 C.A.T REPORT: 01068 DATE: JULY 2001 This report has been researched and compiled with all reasonable skill, care, and attention to detail within the terms of the project as specified by the Client and within the general terms and conditions of Cotswold Archaeological Trust Ltd. The Trust shall not be liable for any inaccuracy, error or omission in the report or other documents produced as part of the Consultancy and no liability is accepted for any claim, loss or damage howsoever arising from any opinion stated or conclusion or other material contained in this report or other documents supplied as part of the Consultancy. This report is confidential to the Client. Cotswold Archaeological Trust Ltd accept no responsibility whatsoever to third parties to whom this report, or any part of it is made known. Any such party relies upon this report entirely at their own risk. © Cotswold Archaeological Trust Headquarters Building, Kemble Business Park, Cirencester, Gloucestershire, GL7 6BQ Tel. 01285 771022 Fax. 01285 771033 E-mail: [email protected] The Old Rectory, Beverston, Gloucestershire: Archaeological Evaluation CONTENTS LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ........................................................................................... 2 SUMMARY ..................................................................................................................... 3 1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................. 4 1.1 Introduction ................................................................................................... 4 1.2 The study area ............................................................................................... 4 1.3 Geology and Topography .............................................................................. 4 1.4 Archaeological and historical background ................................................... 5 1.5 Methodology .................................................................................................. 6 2. EVALUATION RESULTS .................................................................................... 7 2.1 General .......................................................................................................... 7 Trench 1 ........................................................................................................ 7 Trench 2 ........................................................................................................ 7 Trench 3 ........................................................................................................ 8 Trench 4 ........................................................................................................ 8 Trench 5 ........................................................................................................ 8 3. DISCUSSION ......................................................................................................... 9 3.2 General .......................................................................................................... 9 3.2 Conclusions ................................................................................................... 10 4. BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................................................................................. 10 5. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................... 11 APPENDIX 1 ................................................................................................................... 15 Finds Concordance ................................................................................................ 15 1 The Old Rectory, Beverston, Gloucestershire: Archaeological Evaluation LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Fig. 1 Location plan ........................................................................................................ 12 Fig. 2 Trench locations ................................................................................................... 13 Fig. 3 Trench 2; plan and section .................................................................................... 14 2 The Old Rectory, Beverston, Gloucestershire: Archaeological Evaluation SUMMARY In June 2001 Cotswold Archaeological Trust (CAT) was commissioned by Mr P Robinson on behalf of Mr and Mrs D McMeekin to undertake an archaeological evaluation at The Old Rectory, Beverston, Gloucestershire. It was undertaken prior to the determination of planning applications for the construction of a tennis court and swimming pool (planning ref. CD7968/H), the construction of new access (planning ref. CD7968/G) and the conversion of existing garage and stables (planning ref. CD7968/J). A single quarry pit, of undetermined origin, was identified during the course of the evaluation. In addition, extant earthworks representing a ridge and furrow cultivation system were also noted. 3 The Old Rectory, Beverston, Gloucestershire: Archaeological Evaluation 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 Introduction 1.1.1 This report presents the results of an archaeological evaluation conducted between the 2nd and 3rd July 2001 at The Old Rectory, Beverston, near Tetbury, Gloucestershire. The site is centred on NGR ST 8609 9390 (Fig.1). 1.1.2 The evaluation was undertaken prior to the determination of planning applications for the construction of a tennis court and swimming pool (planning ref. CD7968/H), the construction of new access (planning ref. CD7968/G) and the conversion of existing garage and stables (planning ref. CD7968/J). 1.2 The study area 1.2.1 The application area is situated on the western edge of the village, adjacent to Beverston Castle (Fig.1). The site currently comprises the garden of The Old Rectory, including a ménage area, and an adjacent paddock. 1.3 Geology and Topography 1.3.1 The underlying geology of the study area is mapped by the Institute of Geological Sciences (1979) as Great Oolite of the Middle Jurassic period. 1.3.2 The site is situated on gently sloping ground, ranging from 162m OD in the north-west to 155m OD in the south-east. Within the grounds of the Old Rectory, landscaped garden terraces were evident. 4 The Old Rectory, Beverston, Gloucestershire: Archaeological Evaluation 1.4 Archaeological and historical background 1.4.1 Aerial photographic evidence shows traces of Bronze Age, Iron Age, Roman, and medieval activity in the general locality, including cropmark features approximately 300m to the north and south-west of the proposed development area 1.4.2 Beverston appears in the Domesday Survey of 1086 as ‘Burestane’ or ‘Stone Tower’, and a castle is known to have existed as early as 1051 when it was used as a rallying point for the forces of Earl Godwin during tension with Edward the Confessor (Blunt 1877, 99). The possible remains of a stone tower were identified within the garden of the Old Rectory in the 19th century and were subsequently depicted on the Ordnance Survey County Series maps. 1.4.3 A partially ruinous castle dating from the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries survives in the village, portions of which were rebuilt as a house in the late seventeenth century (Verey and Brooks 1999, 165). This house now has grade I Listed Building status. The adjacent church of St Mary is broadly contemporary in construction with a possible eleventh century origin, although much altered in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. The Old Rectory itself is dated to 1729, with possible nineteenth century additions. 1.4.4 The earliest map available for the Study Area is the Beverstone Inclosure Award map of 1805, which depicts the above buildings and shows an arrangement of fields very similar to the current layout. The field immediately north of the proposed development area is then depicted as “Coneygree”, perhaps indicative of a former rabbit warren associated with the Castle. The principal difference which can be identified is in the alignment of the former Stroud to Tetbury turnpike, which forms the modern A4135 main road past the southern end of the development area. In 1805 this road is depicted taking two sharp right angled turns on the entrance to Beverstone. Ordnance Survey map coverage from 1886 indicates that the bends had been straightened by this time, although field boundaries still reflect their former alignment. 5 The Old Rectory, Beverston, Gloucestershire: Archaeological Evaluation 1.5 Methodology 1.5.1 A detailed project design was prepared by the Cotswold Archaeological Trust and approved by Mr C Parry, Senior Archaeological Officer, Gloucestershire County Council. 1.5.2 A total of five trenches, totalling 87m of linear trenching, were mechanically excavated under archaeological supervision in the locations indicated by Mr Parry in the accompanying archaeological brief (Fig.2). 1.5.3 The work was carried out in accordance with the Standard and Guidance for Field Evaluation issued by the Institute of Field Archaeologists (IFA, 1994) and the Statement of Standards and Practices Appropriate for Archaeological Fieldwork in Gloucestershire issued by the Gloucestershire County Council Archaeology Section (1996). 1.5.4 All identified deposits were recorded in accordance with the Cotswold Archaeological Trust ‘Field Recording Manual’ (1996). A full written, drawn and photographic record of the evaluation was compiled in accordance with the archaeological project design. 1.5.5 The completed site archive and the finds, with the legal landowners’