Data copyright © High Speed Two Ltd. unless otherwise stated
This work is licensed under a The Open Government Licence (OGL).
High Speed Two Ltd.
2 Snowhill
Queensway
Birmingham
B4 6GA
United Kingdom
Tel: 08081 434 434
This collection comprises reports, site photographs, a vector site plan, spreadsheets, scanned site records and harris matrices from an excavation and post-excavation assessment at Dews Farm. The excavation was undertaken by MOLA Headland Infrastructure on behalf of High Speed Two Ltd. between November and December 2020 on behalf of High Speed Two Ltd. and forms part of Phase One of the High Speed 2 (HS2) rail project.
The Archaeological Recording consisted of targeted mitigation excavation, and was required to determine, as far as reasonably possible, the nature of the archaeological resource within the Site. Prior to excavation of the mitigation areas, a visual scan of the area was undertaken to retrieve any artefacts that may have been present in the topsoil as a result of agricultural ploughing, no artefacts were recovered as a result of this visual inspection. The archaeological mitigation recording consisted of one open area excavation (C10060) with a total area of 0.25 hectares (C10060) and a linear trench measuring 4m by 25m (trench 118) to the east. The investigation revealed limited evidence of probable transient Prehistoric activity in the form of scattered flint finds. Three linear features were assigned into the medieval period. Whilst most of the dating evidence obtained from the remaining investigated features points to a post-medieval use of the field for cultivation and grazing. These features comprised pits, some showing root disturbances; cultivation pits; one possible linear or spread; cultivation strips; and a possible row of postholes.
This archive can be used independently and/or in in conjunction with the rest of HS2 datasets in order to further investigate the archaeological features, assemblages, and periods recorded on this. This can also function as a guide to digital archiving for future infrastructure projects benefiting both the commercial sector and the research community.