1118164. Cite this using datacite

Title:

AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXCAVATION AT LAND ADJACENT TO LAKES 103, 103A AND 104, COTSWOLD WATERPARK, LONDON ROAD FAIRFORD, GLOUCESTERSHIRE

Series:

John Moore Heritage Services unpublished report series

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Biblio Note

This report was uploaded to the OASIS system by the named Publisher. The report has not been reviewed by the relevant HER. The report has been transferred into the ADS Library for public access and to facilitate future research.

Licence Type:

ADS Terms of Use and Access

DOI

https://doi.org/10.5284/1118164

Publication Type:

Report (in Series)

Abstract:

The site area was laid out using GPS. An area to the south of the site which was the route of a public right-of-way was excluded from the excavations with a decision to be made on the necessity for further work in this area to be decided following the results of the excavation of the rest of the site. The archaeological investigation involved the stripping of topsoil and subsoil across the site using a 13t mechanical excavator fitted with a toothless bucket under the direct supervision of the Archaeological Project Officer. The stripping was organised so that there would be no vehicle movement over stripped areas until that had been signed-off by SAOGCC. Stripping ceased at the level of archaeological deposits or natural geology. Where archaeological horizons were encountered they were cleaned by hand and excavated appropriately. The location of the previous evaluation trenches within the site were also located and a selection of features were re-examined to determine the nature of those features and to recover dating material. Standard John Moore Heritage Services techniques were employed throughout, involving the completion of a written record for each deposit encountered, with scale plans and section drawings compiled where appropriate. A photographic record was also produced. A GPS plan of the site was produced which also included the location of section drawings and detailed plans. Paleo-environmental bulk samples were taken from a selection of suitable deposits. The resultant spoil from the works was visually scanned, especially for finds relating to Iron Age and Roman periods. Significant archaeological features were located in the south-east of the excavation site and consisted of curvilinear ditches, which may have formed enclosures, and boundary ditches and a ring-gully to the east of these features. The majority of Archaeological features had been identified during the evaluation (GCCAS 2004) but these had been undated due to a lack of finds. The evaluation excavations, however, had truncated these features by 0.2m to 0.3m and it is possible that finds located in the upper fills had already been removed by the machine when hand excavation took place. This may in part may explain the lack of dating material recovered during the evaluation, although finds were recovered from Ditch 211 during the excavation from ditch fills that were below the lower limit of the evaluation truncation. The truncation by the previous evaluation also created difficulty with establishing an accurate stratigraphic chronology for the site. Ditches 205 and 206 appeared to form boundaries across the northern edge of the area of concentrated archaeology and may have demarcated enclosures. Ditch 205 had cut an earlier gully 129, which was roughly on the same east-west alignment. The gully 129, however, was absent from the evaluation results and had likely been removed entirely in plan, given the shallow nature of the gully. Ditch 211 had also been greatly truncated by the evaluation. This had reduced the depth of the feature, but had also greatly reduced the width of the feature resulting in a much narrower feature being recorded in plan during the evaluation than what had actually survived beyond the limits of the evaluation trench. Ditch 211 had been recorded as context 1410 during the evaluation and this had been interpreted as cutting Pit 1406. Pit 1406 had cut an earlier Pit 1408 which was the same as undated Pit 131 identified during the excavation. The continuation of Ditch 211 towards the west is uncertain. It is possible that it continued as Ditch 206, however, difficulty in aligning the evaluation plan accurately with the more recent excavation plan locations, made this interpretation difficult. This was exacerbated by the distortion in plan created by the truncation of these features during the evaluation.

Author:

G Davis

Publisher:

John Moore Heritage Services

Year of Publication:

2021

Locations:

County:	Gloucestershire
Parish:	Fairford
Country:	England
District:	Cotswold

Grid Reference: 416920, 200722 (Easting, Northing)

Subjects / Periods:

DITCH (Monument Type England)

PIT (Monument Type England)

IRON AGE DITCH (Tag)

ROMAN RIM SHERD (Tag)

EXCAVATION (Event)

POST MEDIEVAL SHERD (Tag)

UNCERTAIN GULLY (Tag)

POST MEDIEVAL PIT (Tag)

POST HOLE (Monument Type England)

ANIMAL REMAINS (Object England)

IRON AGE BOUNDARY DITCH (Tag)

GULLY (Monument Type England)

RIM SHERD (Object England)

UNCERTAIN PIT (Tag)

QUARRY (Monument Type England)

BOUNDARY DITCH (Monument Type England)

IRON AGE SHERD (Tag)

SHERD (Object England)

20TH CENTURY QUARRY (Tag)

IRON AGE ANIMAL REMAINS (Tag)

IRON AGE POST HOLE (Tag)

IRON AGE (Historic England Periods)

ROMAN (Historic England Periods)

20TH CENTURY (Historic England Periods)

POST MEDIEVAL (Historic England Periods)

UNCERTAIN (Historic England Periods)

Identifiers:

OASIS Id:	johnmoor1-502788
Report id:	4427

Source:

OASIS (OASIS)

Relations:

Created Date:

23 Feb 2024