land at appleridge, northfields, twyford, hampshire

8/20/2019 Land at Appleridge, Northfields, Twyford, Hampshire

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/land-at-appleridge-northfields-twyford-hampshire 1/11



LAND AT APPLERIDGE, NORTHFIELDS, TWYFORD,HAMPSHIRE, SO21 1NE

REPORT ON ARCHAEOLOGICAL WATCHING BRIEF

WINCM SITE CODE: AY 373

Prepared on behalf of:Planning Control

City OfficesColebrook Street

Winchester Hants SO23 9LJ

byWessex Archaeology Ltd

Portway HouseOld Sarum Park

SalisburyWilts

SP4 6EB

Reference 70260.01September 2008

© Wessex Archaeology Limited 2008 all rights reserved

Wessex Archaeology Limited is a Registered Charity No. 287786



Appleridge, Northfields, Twyford, Hants Archaeological Watching Brief

Contents

Summary ........................................................................................................ ii Acknowledgements ...................................................................................... ii i

1 INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................11.1 Project background.............................................................................11.2 Site location, topography and geology .............................................12 ARCHAEOLOGICAL BACKGROUND ....................................................23 AIMS.........................................................................................................23.1 General .................................................................................................24 METHODOLOGY .....................................................................................24.1 Groundwork monitoring .....................................................................25 RESULTS.................................................................................................35.1 Observed Deposit Sequence..............................................................3

5.2 Conclusion...........................................................................................36 ARCHIVE..................................................................................................37 REFERENCE............................................................................................3

Figure 1 Site and Watching Brief Area location plan

Plate 1 General view of the SitePlate 2 Typical section through footings

Report Reference 70260.01i




Summary

Wessex Archaeology was commissioned by Winchester City Council(Planning Control) to conduct an archaeological watching brief duringdevelopment of land east of the house ‘Appleridge’, located in Northfields,

Twyford, Hampshire, NGR 448454 125179, in keeping with Condition 10 ofplanning permission for the development.

The Site’s principal archaeological potential derived from its proximity to therecent discovery of part of a 5th to 8th Century Anglo-Saxon cemetery in thegrounds of Twyford School, and the apparent discovery of human remains,possibly derived from the same cemetery, found in the course of building worknorth of Bourne Lane; both sites lie within 200m of Appleridge.

The watching brief was carried out between the 10 th and 16th of September2008 and monitored ground work for two of the proposed houses. Natural

chalk was observed in all the foundation trenches. This lay beneath a layer ofsubsoil 0.3m deep, comprising greyish-brown loam containing small chalkfragments, which in turn lay beneath modern overburden or, sparsely, topsoil.The observed deposits contained no discernible archaeological components,features, deposits or finds.

Following monitoring of the two house plots and consultation with WinchesterCity Council’s Historic Environment Officer, it was concluded that the Siteretained no archaeological potential and the watching brief was consequentlyhalted.

Report Reference 70260.01ii




Acknowledgements

Wessex Archaeology is grateful to Winchester City Council for commissioningthe watching brief. The advice of the Council’s Historic Environment Officer

Tracy Matthews was gratefully received.

The project was managed on behalf of Wessex Archaeology by PaulMcCulloch. The watching brief was undertaken by Julia Sulikowska. Thisreport was prepared by Paul McCulloch. The report illustrations wereprepared by Linda Coleman.

Report Reference 70260.01iii




LAND AT APPLERIDGE, NORTHFIELDS, TWYFORD,HAMPSHIRE

REPORT ON ARCHAEOLOGICAL WATCHING BRIEF

1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Project background

1.1.1 Wessex Archaeology was commissioned by Winchester City Council(Planning Control) to conduct an archaeological watching brief duringdevelopment of land east of the house ‘Appleridge’, located inNorthfields, Twyford, Hampshire, NGR 448454 125179 hereafter ‘theSite’ (Figure 1).

1.1.2 Planning permission for the development, comprising four houses, wasobtained from Winchester City Council, (Planning Ref: 08/01207/FUL),subject to the following archaeological condition (10):

“The developer shall afford access at all reasonable times to anyarchaeologist nominated by the Local Planning Authority, and shallallow him to observe the excavations and record items of interestand finds. If, in the opinion of the Local Planning Authority (takingaccount the views of the nominated archaeologist ), the natureand/or extent of any items of interest and finds revealed during the

excavations are sufficiently important to warrant detailedarchaeological works, and the Local Planning Authority certify assuch, no further work shall take place unless and until the developerhas secured the implementation of a programme of archaeologicalwork in accordance with a written scheme of investigation which hasbeen submitted by the developer and approved in writing by theLocal Planning Authority”.

1.1.3 In keeping with the condition, as the nominated archaeologicalcontractor, Wessex Archaeology carried out the watching brief duringthe excavation of foundation trenches for the first two of the proposed

four houses between the 10th

and 16th

of September 2008.

1.2 Site location, topography and geology

1.2.1 The Site of Appleridge is in Northfields, an area of housing some 0.5kmnorth of Twyford and to the east of the B3335. The developmentoccupies land to the east of Appleridge that was formerly occupied bygarages.

1.2.2 The Site lies 0.5km east of the River Itchen in a locally elevated positionat approximately 55m above Ordnance Datum. Land to the south slopes

down toward the site of Twyford School, some 200m distant. Theunderlying geology is Upper Chalk.

Report Reference 70260.011




2 ARCHAEOLOGICAL BACKGROUND

Prehistoric (12,000BC – AD 43)2.1.1 Sites and find spots of prehistoric date have been recorded in the areaof the Site. Neolithic and Bronze Age settlement and funerarymonuments occur in the surrounding Downland landscape e.g. onTwyford Down, which lies some 2 km north of the Site, close to the Iron Age hill fort at St Catherine’s Hill.

Roman AD (43 – 410)2.1.2 The Site lies south of the Roman town of Venta Belgarum, later historic

Winchester, and west of the Roman road linking Venta to the south,now followed by the Morestead Road. Lying some 500m to the south is

the site of a Roman courtyard villa and bath house.

Saxon and medieval2.1.3 The Site’s principal archaeological potential derived from its proximity to

the recent discovery of part of a 5th to 8th Century Anglo-Saxoncemetery in the grounds of Twyford School (Wessex Archaeology2008), and the apparent discovery of human remains, possibly derivedfrom the same cemetery, found in the course of building work north ofBourne Lane; both sites lie within 200m of Appleridge.

2.1.4 Twyford (‘two-fords’) was one of the Hundred Hides of the Chilcomb

estate granted to the church at Winchester in the 7

th

century. It isrecorded in Domesday as in the possession of the King but held by theBishop of Winchester. The church of St Mary, Twyford, is thought tohave been a Norman, or conceivably earlier, foundation and four millsare recorded in Twyford in the 11th century Domesday survey.

3 AIMS

3.1 General

3.1.1 The aim of the watching brief was to monitor construction groundwork inorder to establish the presence or absence of archaeological remainson the Site and if present, establish their date, nature, extent andsignificance in order to advise Winchester City Council of anysubsequent archaeological works deemed necessary in respect of thedevelopment of the Site.

4 METHODOLOGY

4.1 Groundwork monitor ing

4.1.1 Monitored ground work comprised mechanical stripping of modernsurfacing and debris to subsoil level at approximately 0.3m depth below





existing ground level and the excavation of foundation trenches (c. 1mdeep) for two of the proposed house plots immediately east of Appleridge. The area monitored measured approximately 30m east-west and 8m north-south

4.1.2 Spoil generated by ground work was scanned for artefacts by Wessex Archaeology.

5 RESULTS

5.1 Observed Deposit Sequence

5.1.1 Natural chalk was observed in all the foundation trenches. This laybeneath a layer of subsoil 0.3m deep comprising greyish-brown loamcontaining small chalk fragments, which in turn lay beneath modern

overburden or, sparsely, topsoil.

5.1.2 The observed deposits contained no discernible archaeologicalcomponents, features, deposits or finds.

5.2 Conclusion

5.2.1 Following monitoring of the two house plots, and consultation withWinchester City Council’s Historic Environment Officer, it wasconcluded that the Site retained no archaeological potential and thewatching brief was consequently halted.

6 ARCHIVE

6.1.1 The Site archive will be prepared to the relevant standards set out in Appendix 3 of English Heritage (1991) Management of ArchaeologicalProjects and by and for the Winchester Museums Service. It isanticipated that the archive, comprising a day book and digital images,will be deposited with the latter. Geo-referenced Site information will besupplied digitally to the Historic Environment Officer in a suitable format(e.g. currently ESRI shapefile or .dxf formats).

7 REFERENCE

Wessex Archaeology, 2008, ‘Twyford School, Twyford, Winchester: Post-excavation and Report and Updated Project Design’, Ref. 67470


land at appleridge, northfields, twyford, hampshire

Documents