Data from a Trial Trenching at the West Ruislip Golf Course, Thames Water Sewer Diversion, Hillingdon, 2020 (HS2 Phase One)
High Speed Two Ltd., Wardell Armstrong Archaeology and Cultural Heritage, Archaeology Wales, 2023. https://doi.org/10.5284/1106771. How to cite using this DOI
Data copyright © High Speed Two Ltd. unless otherwise stated
This work is licensed under a The Open Government Licence (OGL).
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Resource identifiers
- ADS Collection: 4167
- DOI:https://doi.org/10.5284/1106771
- How to cite using this DOI
Introduction
This collection comprises site data (digital photographs, spreadsheets, specialist reports, scanned trench and context sheets, registers and drawings) from an archaeological evaluation carried out by Archaeology Wales and Wardell Armstrong on land at West Ruislip Golf Course, Ickenham Road, Ruislip, in the London borough of Hillingdon, between 11th May and 15th July 2020.
Project Summary
The evaluation forms part of Phase One of the High Speed 2 (HS2) rail project, which was granted Royal Assent in 2017 as the High Speed Rail (London - West Midlands) Act. Phase One runs 230 km from Euston Station in London to Curzon Street in Birmingham.
The evaluation was designed to address the following Knowledge Creation objectives:
- Identify settlement location and developing models for settlement patterns for the Mesolithic, Neolithic and early Bronze Age.
- Understanding the evidence for change in the environment and management of the landscape for the Mesolithic and early Neolithic Periods.
- Exploring the degree of continuity that existed between Late Mesolithic and Neolithic communities in terms of population mobility and subsistence strategies.
- Does the high density of prehistoric settlement evidence in the Colne Valley reflect a genuine focus of activity or does it reflect a bias in the archaeological record?
- Identify sequences of environmental change for the Late Upper Palaeolithic-Early Mesolithic transition through investigation of sites in the Colne Valley and other locations along the route.
- Undertake research and investigation into medieval manorial complexes. What was their origin, development and impact on the landscape?
- Investigate the impacts on rural communities of social and economic shocks in the mid 14th and thereafter and their contribution to settlement desertion.
- Identify patterns of change within medieval rural settlement from 11th to mid-14th century.
The specific aims and objectives were to:
- determine the presence or absence of buried archaeological remains within the proposed development site
- determine the character, date, extent and distribution of any archaeological deposits and their potential significance
- determine levels of disturbance to any archaeological deposits from plough damage or from any other agricultural/industrial practices or later building activities
- investigate and record all deposits and features of archaeological interest within the areas to be disturbed by the current development
- determine the likely impact on archaeological deposits from the proposed development
- disseminate the results of the fieldwork through an appropriate level of reporting.
Re-Use Value Statement
Further work is needed to tighten the stratigraphic sequence of Trench 2. This would potentially allow the currently wide date ranges for features to be narrowed providing a clearer picture of the activity within this area.
Further work is recommended by the specialists for the CBM and Archaeobotanical assemblages. Due to the potential early date for the tile kiln in Trench 2, it is recommended that the CBM assemblage be analysed in detail to identify the fabrics and compare them with the established Museum of London fabric samples. This will help to tighten date ranges and may indicate the date at which the kiln went out of use.
The archaeobotanical assemblage has been identified as being of potential high importance due to its apparent prehistoric charred plant remains and the paucity of such remains in Britain as a whole. It has been recommended, therefore that secure dates are obtained from the hazelnut shells from (14007), which would also help to tighten up the date of the flint assemblage recovered from the same context; and also from the wheat grain recovered from context (5005), which is believed to be Bronze Age.
It is also recommended that charcoal analysis be conducted on the charcoal rich deposits related to the tile kiln in Trench 2. This may allow the identification of the fuel used within the kiln. It is possible though that these charcoal rich deposits relate to the domestic refuse dumped in the kiln after it had gone out of use. Any work on the charcoal should be tied into the tightening of the stratigraphic sequence of the kiln to determine if it relates to the kiln or later domestic refuse.
