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Warren
Muncaster
Director
AD Archaeology Limited
TEDCO Business Works
Henry Robson Way
South Shields
South Tyneside
NE33 1RF
England
AD Archaeology was commissioned by Banks Mining to undertake an archaeological trenching evaluation in advance of a proposed extension of Shotton Surface Mine, to the south and west of Shotton Village.
The evaluation consisted of 15 trenches representing a relatively low level of trial trenching sample which was designed simply to test the results of the geophysical survey and establish if significant archaeology occurs in areas of the site. The sample size was not sufficiently robust to confirm the presence/absence of archaeological features across the site as a whole. As such it is understood by all parties that a further stage of mitigation in the form of a strip and record (monitoring) exercise will be required irrespective of the results of the limited evaluation trenching. In addition after the initial evaluation trenches were excavated, and following discussions with Banks Mining and Northumberland Conservation Team, three additional trenches (tr14b, 16, 17) were excavated in the north western portion of the site to investigate features identified there.
In total, archaeological features were present in 9 of the 18 trenches excavated (total includes tr14b). With the exception of trench 8 at the southern end of the site, the trenches with features of archaeological interest were all located in areas where geophysical anomalies gave a strong suggestion that such features would be present.
Three principal areas of archaeological sensitivity have been identified by the archaeological trenching evaluation: