Data from a Trial Trench Evaluation at Upper Wendover Dean Farm, Buckinghamshire, 2019-2021 (HS2 Phase One)
High Speed Two Ltd., INFRA Archaeology, 2024. https://doi.org/10.5284/1119076. 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: 4428
- DOI:https://doi.org/10.5284/1119076
- How to cite using this DOI
Introduction
This collection comprises a digital archive of digital photographs, bulk finds spreadsheet, GIS files, reports, scanned trench and context sheets, registers and drawings from a trial trench evaluation by INFRA Archaeology on land at Upper Wendover Dean Farm, Buckinghamshire. The evaluation was carried out in two phases during February 2019 and January 2021.
Project Summary
The evaluation forms part of Phase One of the High Speed 2 (HS2) rail project, which will involve the construction of a new railway approximately 230km (143 miles) in length between London and the West Midlands. Powers for the construction, operation and maintenance of Phase One are conferred by the High-Speed Rail (London - West Midlands) Act 2017.
The Site was located on the east side of the A413 trunk road immediately north of Wendover Dean, a small hamlet located between Great Missenden and Wendover, Buckinghamshire. The evaluation was targeted on one of three land parcels (C21011) that form the Upper Wendover Dean – Rocky Lane site. These are required to enable the construction of the Small Dean South Embankment and excavation of the Rocky Lane Cutting.
The general aims of the evaluation were to:
- confirm the presence/absence, extent and depth of any surviving archaeological remains within the Site
- determine the nature, date, condition, state of preservation including any preservation bias, complexity and significance of any archaeological remains
- determine the likely range, quality and quantity of artefactual and environmental evidence present
- suggest measures, if appropriate and feasible, for further archaeological investigation, and to mitigate identified significant impacts.
The trial trenching also contributed to the delivery of the following GWSI: HERDS Specific Objectives:
- KC5: Identifying settlement location and developing models for settlement patterns for the Mesolithic, Neolithic and Early Bronze Age.
- KC15: Can we identify regional patterns in the in the form and location of Late Bronze Age and Iron Age settlements across the route, and are there associated differences in landscape organisation and enclosure?
- KC21: Assess the evidence for regional and cultural distinctiveness along the length of the route in the Romano-British period, with particular regard to the different settlement types encountered along the route.
- KC23: Identify evidence for late Roman occupation and attempt to identify any continuity in settlement patterns between the end of the Romano-British period and the Early Medieval period.
- KC31: Identify the location of Middle to Late Saxon settlement, explore processes of settlement nucleation and understand the development of associated field types and agricultural regimes
- KC40: Identify patterns of change within medieval rural settlement from the 11th to mid-14th century.
Re-Use Value Statement
A total of 51 trenches were excavated, which exposed a small scatter of Iron Age features, including four pits and a ditch in three trenches. A further four trenches exposed another pit, gully, ditch and three post holes which were undated. A single fragment of human vertebra was recovered from an environmental soil sample.
The Trial Trench Evaluation has demonstrated that there was very limited archaeological activity across the Site and this information can be used to inform an appropriate mitigation strategy.
The archive presented here would prove valuable to any further archaeological interventions or academic research in the area. Further work is recommended to help answer the HERDS objectives presented in the aims, in particular examination of the artefactual remains found would help answer objective KC15.
