Coles Baxter Associates LLP Heritage Management, Heritage Led Regeneration & Cultural Tourism Report Historic Environment Assessment for the Civil Parish of Croxton Kerrial, Leicestershire. For Croxton Kerrial & Branston Parish Council April 2016 Project Reference: 16-010 Coles Baxter Associates LLP 14 Roselea, Impington, Incorporated at Companies House Cambridge Reference OC403958 CB24 9LB www.colesbaxterassociates.com T: 01476 870 406 Historic Environment Assessment for the Civil Parish of Croxton Kerrial, Leicestershire (Project Ref: 16-010) Final Report Contents: Summary of Findings ……………. ................................................................................................................... iii 1 Purpose ………………………………………………………… ................................................................................. 1 2 Aims ………………………… ...................................................................................................................... 1 3 Methodology …………….. ..................................................................................................................... 3 3.1 Standards ...................................................................................................................................... 3 3.2 Programme ................................................................................................................................... 3 3.3 Assessment Criteria ...................................................................................................................... 5 3.4 Caveats and Limitations ............................................................................................................... 9 4 Planning Background ........................................................................................................................ 12 4.1 National Planning Policy Framework (March 2012) ................................................................... 12 4.2 Melton Borough Council Local Plan Review ............................................................................... 13 4.3 Melton Borough Draft Local Plan Historic Environment Policies ............................................... 14 5 Environment …………… ..................................................................................................................... 17 5.1 Location ...................................................................................................................................... 17 5.2 Geology ....................................................................................................................................... 17 5.3 Geomorphology & Recent Geological History ............................................................................ 18 5.4 Soils….. ........................................................................................................................................ 19 5.5 Waters - Rivers and Lakes .......................................................................................................... 19 5.6 Vegetation and Ecology .............................................................................................................. 20 5.7 Designated and Protected Sites, Habitats and Species .............................................................. 20 6 Landscape Character, Change and Development Pressures ........................................................... 22 6.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 22 6.2 Landscape Character .................................................................................................................. 22 6.3 Landscape Character Areas ........................................................................................................ 23 6.4 Landscape Change: Impact of Change in Agricultural Practice .................................................. 25 6.5 Landscape Change: Impact of Quarrying and Mining ................................................................ 26 6.6 Landscape Change: Development Pressures ............................................................................. 29 7 The Historic Environment of Croxton Kerrial & Branston Parish .................................................. 31 7.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 31 7.2 Designated Heritage Assets ........................................................................................................ 31 7.3 Conservation Areas .................................................................................................................... 31 7.4 Historic Environment Record Data ............................................................................................. 33 7.5 Aerial Photographs and LIDAR ................................................................................................... 34 7.6 Results of Walk-Over Survey ...................................................................................................... 35 7.7 Results of Geophysical Prospection of Key Sites ........................................................................ 35 8 Summary and Contextualisation of the Historic Environment Record of Croxton Kerrial Parish . 37 8.1 Palaeolithic ................................................................................................................................. 37 8.2 Mesolithic: 10,000 BC to 4000 BC ............................................................................................ 39 8.3 Earlier Neolithic: 4000 BC to 3000 BC (Early & Middle Neolithic) ............................................. 40 Coles Baxter Associates LLP i Historic Environment Assessment for the Civil Parish of Croxton Kerrial, Leicestershire (Project Ref: 16-010) Final Report 8.4 Later Neolithic and Early Bronze Age: 3000 BC to 1500 BC....................................................... 41 8.5 Middle and Late Bronze Age: 1500 BC to 800 BC ...................................................................... 43 8.6 Iron Age: 800 BC to 60 BC .......................................................................................................... 44 8.7 Roman: 60 BC to AD 410............................................................................................................ 45 8.8 Anglo Saxon: AD 410 to AD 1000 ............................................................................................... 47 8.9 Medieval: AD 1050 to AD 1500 ................................................................................................. 49 8.10 Post-Medieval: AD 1500 – AD 1750 ........................................................................................... 53 8.11 Early Modern: AD1750 to AD1900 ............................................................................................ 55 8.12 Modern: 1900 to Present .......................................................................................................... 57 9 Assessment of the Potential, Importance and Sensitivity of the Historic Environment Record ... 60 9.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 60 9.2 The Parish ................................................................................................................................... 60 9.3 Croxton Kerrial ............................................................................................................................ 64 9.4 Branston ..................................................................................................................................... 77 10 Conclusions and Recommendations ................................................................................................ 84 10.1 Historic Environment Record and Heritage Resources .............................................................. 84 10.2 A Sense of Place: The Character of the Parish & Its Villages ...................................................... 85 10.3 Sensitivity to Development (“Constraints”) ............................................................................... 87 10.4 Opportunities Presented by the Historic Environment .............................................................. 88 10.5 Recommendations: Appropriate Responses to Proposed Development ................................... 90 10.5 Recommendations for Specific Locations & Site Types .............................................................. 93 10.6 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................. 95 References …………………….. .............................................................................................................. 96 Annex (Volume 2) Drawings and Illustrations ……………………………………………….………………………………………………………………..101 Appendices (Volume 3) Appendix A: Gazetteer of Historic Sites in Croxton Kerrial & Branston Civil Parish as Listed in the Leicestershire Historic Environment Record (LHER) January 2016. Appendix B: Previously Unrecorded Archaeological Sites & Monuments Located during Fieldwork. To be submitted for inclusion in the Leicestershire Historic Environment Record (LHER) Appendix C: Results of Geophysical Survey Employing Magnetometry Techniques on Three Sites in the Village