37-47 london end beaconsfield buckinghamshire · 37-47 london end beaconsfield buckinghamshire...

37-47 London End Beaconsfield

Buckinghamshire

Archaeological Evaluation

June 2012

for

CgMs Consulting

CA Project: 660060 CA Report: 12142

37-47 London End Beaconsfield

Buckinghamshire

Archaeological Evaluation

CA Project: 660060 CA Report: 12142

prepared by Simon Carlyle, Project Manager

date 18 June 2012

checked by Simon Carlyle, Project Manager

date 19 April 2012

approved by Roland Smith, Regional Manager

signed

date 20 June 2012

issue 01

This report is confidential to the client. Cotswold Archaeology accepts no responsibility or liability to any third party to whom this report, or any part of it, is made known. Any such party relies upon this report entirely

at their own risk. No part of this report may be reproduced by any means without permission.

© Cotswold Archaeology Unit 4, Cromwell Business Centre, Howard Way, Newport Pagnell, Milton Keynes MK16 9QS

t. 01908 218320 e. [email protected]

© Cotswold Archaeology 37-47 London End, Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire: Archaeological Evaluation

3

CONTENTS

SUMMARY .....................................................................................................................4

1. INTRODUCTION................................................................................................5

2. FIELDWORK RESULTS.....................................................................................7

3. DISCUSSION.....................................................................................................8

4. CA PROJECT TEAM..........................................................................................9

5. REFERENCES...................................................................................................9

APPENDIX A: CONTEXT DESCRIPTIONS ...................................................................10

APPENDIX B: OASIS REPORT FORM..........................................................................11

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Fig. 1 Site location plan, 1:25,000

Fig. 2 Trench location plan, 1:2000

Fig. 3 Trench 1, east-facing section, looking west

Fig. 4 Trench 2, north-facing section, looking south


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SUMMARY

Project name: 37-47 London End, Beaconsfield

Location: Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire

NGR: SU 9470 9019

Type: Evaluation

Date: June 2012

Site code: LDE 12

In June 2012, an archaeological evaluation, comprising the excavation of two trial trenches,

was undertaken by Cotswold Archaeology in a car park to the rear of 37-47 London End,

Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire. The work, which was commissioned by CgMs Consulting,

was carried out in advance of the proposed commercial and residential development of the

site.

Overlying the natural gravels, which occurred at c. 0.9m below current ground level, was

gravelly subsoil. This was truncated by probable ground reduction in the area to the south of

the trenches, with the excavated hollow subsequently backfilled with redeposited gravel, soil,

broken roof tiles, mortar and fragments of brick; clay pipe stem, late post-medieval or

modern bottle glass and three sherds of late 18th/early 19th-century pottery were recovered

from these deposits. The northern edge of this area of probable ground reduction and made-

up ground, which was aligned north-west to south-east, was encountered in Trench 1 and

possibly at the extreme southern end of Trench 2. It was sealed by topsoil and a layer of

modern made-ground that had been laid as a base for the concrete and tarmac surface of

the car park.


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1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 In June 2012, an archaeological evaluation, comprising the excavation of two trial

trenches, was undertaken by Cotswold Archaeology (CA) in a car park to the rear of

37-47 London End, Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire (site centred on NGR: SU 9470

9019; Fig. 1). The work, which was commissioned by CgMs Consulting (CgMs),

was carried out in advance of the proposed commercial and residential

development of the site (planning application ref. 12/00220/FUL).

1.2 The archaeological evaluation, which was requested by Buckinghamshire County

Council’s Archaeological Officer (BCCAO), was undertaken in order to fulfil the

requirements of Condition 12 of the planning permission, in accordance with Policy

CP8 of South Buckinghamshire District Council’s Core Strategy. Previously, a desk-

based assessment (DBA) of the site had been prepared by CgMs (2011).

1.3 The project was undertaken in accordance with the approved Written Scheme of

Investigation (WSI) prepared by CgMs (2012), which followed best practice as set

out in the Institute for Archaeologists’ Standard and Guidance for Archaeological

Field Evaluation (IfA 2008), and the English Heritage procedural documents

Management of Archaeological Projects 2 (EH 1991) and the Management of

Research Projects in the Historic Environment (MoRPHE): Project Manager’s Guide

(EH 2006).

The site

1.4 The site, which covers an area of c. 350m2, is situated in Baker’s Court, on the

north side of London End and close to the junction with Park Lane, at the western

edge of the historic core Beaconsfield (Fig. 1). The development encompasses

Baker’s Court, which is divided into two parts by a brick wall and has separate

access roads, and an adjacent plot of land to the north-east. The current evaluation

was undertaken in the eastern part of the site that lies to the rear of properties

fronting on to the street and is currently used as a car park. The ground, which is

generally level, lies close to the 114m Ordnance Survey contour.

1.5 The geology comprises Tertiary rocks of the Upnor and Reading Beds, part of the

Lambeth Group, overlain by superficial Pleistocene deposits of Beaconsfield

Gravels (http://www.bgs.ac.uk/geoindex). Boreholes in the western part of the site


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demonstrated made-ground to a depth of between 0.22m and 1.1m, overlying the

geological substrate.

1.6 A full account of the historical and archaeological sites in the area surrounding the

site has been presented in the DBA prepared by CgMs (2011). The

Buckinghamshire Historic Environment Record (HER) contains no records of any

archaeological remains within the site, although due to its proximity to the historic

core of the town the site is considered to have the potential to contain medieval and

later remains.

Archaeological objectives

1.7 The general aim of the evaluation, as outlined in the WSI (CgMs 2012), was to

determine, as far as reasonably possible, the location, form, extent, date, character,

condition, significance and quality of any surviving archaeological remains,

irrespective of period, liable to be threatened by the proposed development. The

specific objectives were to:

• establish the presence or otherwise of medieval, post-medieval and modern

activity, together with any earlier activity, and to define the date and nature of

such activity;

• establish the environmental context of medieval, post-medieval and modern

deposits, together with any earlier and/or later activity;

• evaluate the likely impact of past land use and development;

• and provide sufficient information to construct an archaeological mitigation

strategy.

Methodology

1.8 The evaluation comprised the excavation and investigation of two trial trenches

(each 4m x 2m) within the site, positioned in accordance with the approved trench

plan (Fig. 2), although with the approval of CgMs, Trench 2 was moved 0.8m

northwards from its approved position due to the proximity of a standing building

and power cable. The trenches, which were positioned to investigate the footprints

of the proposed buildings, were set out by tape from a plan supplied by CgMs.

1.9 The trenches were excavated using a 5 tonne tracked mechanical excavator fitted

with a 1.5m wide toothless ditching bucket. A breaker was used to break up the

tarmac and concrete surface. All machine excavation was undertaken under


7

constant archaeological supervision to the top of the first significant archaeological

horizon or the natural substrate, whichever was encountered first. Where

archaeological deposits were encountered they were excavated by hand and

recorded, in accordance with Technical Manual 1: Fieldwork Recording Manual (CA

2007).

1.10 No suitable deposits were encountered that warranted environmental assessment.

All artefacts recovered were processed in accordance with Technical Manual 3:

Treatment of Finds Immediately after Excavation (CA 2010). The finds, all of which

are modern, have been collected for dating purposes but will not be retained in the

archive.

1.11 The archive and artefacts from the evaluation are currently held by CA at their

offices in Milton Keynes. Subject to the agreement of the legal landowner, the site

archive will eventually be deposited with the Buckinghamshire Museum Service. A

summary of information from this project will be entered onto the OASIS online

database of archaeological projects in Britain.

2. FIELDWORK RESULTS

2.1 Trench 1

The geological substrate, 104, which occurred as gravelly, light to mid yellowish-

orange silty clay with bands of sandy gravel, was encountered at a depth of 0.87m

below current ground level (bcgl). It was overlain by subsoil, 109, which consisted of

gravelly mid greyish-brown sandy silt and was up to 0.23m thick in the north-east

corner of the trench.

2.2 The subsoil was largely truncated by the northern edge of a cut feature, possibly the

edge of a reduced area, 106 (Fig. 3). The edge of this feature, which was well-

defined and aligned north-west to south-east, had a shallow slope and extended

beyond the trench to the south-west, so its full character and extent could not be

determined. It was filled with two distinct backfill deposits, 107 and 108, that largely

consisted of gravel, soil, mortar, fragments of brick and larger quantities of broken

roof tile. A fragment of clay pipe stem, fragments of late post-medieval or modern

bottle glass and a sherd of late 18th/early19th-century glazed earthenware (Ed Mc

Sloy pers. comm.) were recovered from the basal deposit, 107.


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2.3 Feature 106 was sealed by a layer of compacted dark grey clayey silt, 105, that had

the appearance of redeposited topsoil and contained small fragments of brick and

tile. Overlying this was a layer of modern building rubble, 103, which had been laid

down to form the base for the concrete and tarmac surface of the car park (102 and

101 respectively). These layers had a combined thickness of c. 0.6m.

Trench 2 2.4 The sequence of deposits in Trench 2 was almost identical to that recorded in

Trench 1. The geological substrate, 201, was encountered at a depth of 0.74m bcgl

and the overlying subsoil, 202, which was slightly thicker than that recorded in

Trench 1, probably because it had not been so extensively truncated, was 0.30m

thick (Fig. 4).

2.5 There was some evidence that the cut feature noted in Trench 1 (106) continued to

the south-east, as the subsoil in Trench 2 was truncated at the extreme southern

end of the trench and the deposits in the north-facing section (Fig. 4) at this depth

were almost identical to those known to fill the cut feature in Trench 1. Three sherds

of late 18th/early 19th-century pottery were recovered from these deposits.

2.6 The sequence of deposits sealing the cut feature, 203, comprised a layer of topsoil,

206, consisting of dark greyish-brown slightly sandy clayey silt with charcoal and

small fragments of brick and tile, succeeded by a layer of sand and building rubble,

207, that was c. 0.25m thick at the northern end of the trench and petered away to

0.05m at the southern end. This layer formed the base for the concrete and tarmac

surface of the car park (208 and 209 respectively).

3. DISCUSSION

3.1 The evaluation demonstrated that the original land surface within the footprint of the

proposed buildings had largely been truncated in the late 18th/early 19th century by

probable ground reduction to the south of the trenches. The northern edge of this

truncation was clearly visible in Trench 1, where it cut into the gravel, and there was

tentative evidence to suggest that this edge continued to the south-east as the

subsoil at the extreme end of Trench 2 was similarly truncated and then made up

with a similar sequence of deposits. Finds from these deposits largely comprised


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fragments of roof tile and brick, fragments of bottle glass, clay pipe stem and four

sherds of late 18th/early 19th-century pottery.

3.2 The nature and extent of this truncation remains unclear, but the deposits within the

feature had been deliberately backfilled or dumped and there was little evidence for

natural silting. It is possible that the material derives from the demolition of buildings

that once occupied the yards to the rear of London End.

3.3 Subsequent layers of topsoil, concrete and tarmac, and associated activity, are

consistent with the use of the area as a garden, yard and car park between the late

19th century and the present time, as shown on historic maps of the site (CgMs

2011).

4. CA PROJECT TEAM

The fieldwork was undertaken by Simon Carlyle, assisted by Peter James. The

report was written by Simon Carlyle and the illustrations were prepared by Peter

Moore. The archive will be compiled and prepared for deposition by Jeremy Mordue.

The project was managed for CA by Roland Smith.

5. REFERENCES

BGS (British Geological Survey) 2012 Online resource at

http://www.bgs.ac.uk/geoindex.html accessed 13 June 2012

CgMs 2011 Archaeological desk-based assessment, 37-47 London End,

Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire,

CgMs 2012 Written Scheme of Investigation for an archaeological evaluation, 37-47

London End, Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, RM/12580


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APPENDIX A: CONTEXT DESCRIPTIONS

Trench 1

No. Type Description Length (m)

Width (m)

Depth (m)

Spot-date

101 Tarmac Thin layer of tarmac - - 0.05 Modern

102 Concrete Layer of concrete forming base for tarmac surface

- - 0.24 Modern

103 Made-ground

Layer of sand and modern building rubble. - - 0.20 Modern

104 Geological substrate

Firm light to mid yellowish –orange silty clay with very freq. fine to coarse flint pebbles and bands of sandy gravel.

- - - -

105 Layer Layer of dark grey clayey silt with freq. pebbles, charcoal and small fragments of brick and tile. Probably redeposited.

- - 0.25 Modern

106 Ground reduction?

N edge of a substantial, shallow cut, aligned WNW-ESE, edge well defined, very shallow slope.

4.1+ 1.5+ 0.35+ LC18th-EC19th

107 Fill of 106 Loose, mid greyish-brown sandy clay with freq. pebbles, mostly flint, some chalk, 0.35m thick. Contains fragments of roof tile, brick, clay pipe and sherds of C19th pottery.

- - 0.35 LC18th-EC19th

108 Fill of 106 Loose, mid brown sandy clay with freq. pebbles, mostly chalk, at least 0.20m thick.

- - 0.20+ LC18th-EC19th

109 Subsoil Soft, rather loose, mid greyish-brown sandy silt with very freq. fine-coarse flint pebbles.

- - 0.30 Post-med

Trench 2

No. Type Description Length (m)

Width (m)

Depth (m)

Spot-date

201 Geological substrate

Firm light to mid yellowish-orange silty clay with very freq. fine to coarse flint pebbles and bands of sandy gravel.

- - - -

202 Subsoil Soft, rather loose, mid greyish-brown sandy silt with very freq. fine-coarse flint pebbles.

- - 0.30 Post-med

203 Ground reduction?

Possible cut, on projected line of cut (106) investigated in Trench 1. Cut only seen in section at S end of trench.

- - - LC18th-EC19th

204 Fill of 203 Loose, mid greyish-brown sandy clay with freq. pebbles, mostly flint, some chalk, 0.35m thick. Contains fragments of roof tile, brick, clay pipe and sherds of C18th pottery.

- - 0.08 LC18th-EC19th

205 Fill of 203 Loose, mid brown sandy clay with freq. pebbles, mostly chalk, at least 0.20m thick.

- - 0.19 LC18th-EC19th

206 Layer Layer of soft, dark grey ish-brown slightly sandy clayey silt with occ. pebbles, charcoal and small fragments of brick and tile.

- - 0.20 Modern

207 Layer Layer of sand and modern building rubble, thicker in N half of trench, peters away to S

- - 0.14 Modern

208 Concrete Layer of concrete forming base for tarmac surface

- - 0.16 Modern

209 Tarmac Two thin layers of tarmac. - - 0.08 Modern


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APPENDIX B: OASIS REPORT FORM

PROJECT DETAILS

Project name 37-47 London End, Beaconsfield

Short description

Overlying the natural gravels, which occurred at c. 0.9m below current ground level, was gravelly subsoil. This was truncated by probable ground reduction in the area to the south of the trenches, with the excavated hollow subsequently backfilled with redeposited gravel, soil, broken roof tiles, mortar and fragments of brick; clay pipe stem, late post-medieval or modern bottle glass and three sherds of late 18th/early 19th-century pottery were recovered from these deposits. The northern edge of this area of probable ground reduction and made-up ground, which was aligned north-west to south-east, was encountered in Trench 1 and possibly at the extreme southern end of Trench 2. It was sealed by topsoil and a layer of modern made-ground that had been laid as a base for the concrete and tarmac surface of the car park.

Project dates 13-14 June 2012

Project type Field evaluation Previous work None

Future work Unknown Monument type None

Significant finds Late 18th/early 19th-century pottery, clay pipe, roof tile PROJECT LOCATION

Site location Baker’s Court, 37-47 London End, Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire

Study area c. 350m2

Site co-ordinates SU 9470 9019 PROJECT CREATORS

Name of organisation Cotswold Archaeology (CA)

Project Brief originator - Project Design (WSI) originator CgMs

Project Manager Simon Carlyle (CA), Richard Meager (CgMs) Project Supervisor Simon Carlyle (CA) PROJECT ARCHIVE

Accession no: n/a Content

Physical None

Paper

Site records

Digital Buckinghamshire HER Report, digital photos

BIBLIOGRAPHY

CA (Cotswold Archaeology) 2012 37-47 London End, Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire: Archaeological Evaluation. CA typescript report 12142

Buckinghamshire

CotswoldArchaeology

Cirencester 01285 771022

Milton Keynes 01908 218320

Andover 01264 326549

w www.cotswoldarchaeology.co.uk

e [email protected]

PROJECT TITLE

FIGURE TITLE

FIGURE NO.DATEREVISIONSCALE@A4

PROJECT NO.DRAWN BYAPPROVED BY

N

0 1km

Site location plan

37-47 London End, BeaconsfieldBuckinghamshire

18-06-2012001:25,000

660060PJMPJM 1

Reproduced from the 1998 Ordnance Survey Explorer map with the permission of Ordnance Survey on behalf of The Controller of Her Majesty's Stationery Office Crown copyright Cotswold Archaeology Ltd 100002109

c

site

CotswoldArchaeology

Cirencester 01285 771022

Milton Keynes 01908 218320

Andover 01264 326549

w www.cotswoldarchaeology.co.uk

e [email protected]

PROJECT TITLE

FIGURE TITLE

FIGURE NO.DATEREVISIONSCALE@A4

PROJECT NO.DRAWN BYAPPROVED BY

4

3

3 Trench 1, east facing section, looking west (scale 1m)

4 Trench 2, north facing section, looking south (scale 1m)

Photographs

37-47 London End, BeaconsfieldBuckinghamshire

18-06-201200N/A

660060PJMPJM 3 & 4

37-47 london end beaconsfield buckinghamshire · 37-47 london end beaconsfield buckinghamshire...

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