| Abstract: |
An archaeological desk-based assessment was undertaken of a 0.3ha redevelopment site. It was possible that remains of the Roman road may have actually lain buried on the redevelopment site. Gravel Roman road 'metalling' and associated ditches had been found alongside Great Dover Street some 4km to the north-west of the site, and also half that distance to the north-west, alongside the Old Kent Road. Though the actual route of the Roman road through New Cross was unknown, a projection of its course from where it had been found, and a continuation of the straight stretch of the Old Kent Road (the line of the Roman road) would pass close by or through the redevelopment site. If the road lay on the site there was the possibility of Roman roadside features, such as buildings or burials, in addition to the opportunity to ascertain the construction, date and history of the road. The site lay in an area called Hatcham from the late Saxon period through to c.1820, then the place-name New Cross Gate, abbreviated to New Cross, came into use. The new name was a reference to a new toll-gate, erected in 1813, on the main road, now called New Cross Road, south of the redevelopment site. The site lay on brickearth subsoil that was attractive for early settlement, and lay in a medieval manor, first mentioned in Domesday Book. Though it was on or close to the line of the Roman road Watling Street, there were only six SMR record entries within 500m of the site. Only two of these (a chance find of prehistoric bronze axe 500m to the south-west of the site and a medieval manor house 200m to the north) were dated to the medieval or earlier periods. The handful of archaeological investigations that had been carried out in New Cross or its vicinity had been small scale but nevertheless had only produced 17th century or later features and finds. A series of maps reproduced in this report pictured the site from 1610 through to the present day. The site lay in open ground, in fields or under horticultural cultivation, until it was built on by the erection of four light industrial buildings between 1903 and 1910. The four buildings were brick built and still stood on the site today. The rest of the site comprised surface level car parking. The archaeological potential of the site was therefore for the Roman road, Watling Street, and though this probably passed to the south of the site, it was possible that this passed through the redevelopment site. The proposed redevelopment included the demolition of the two existing one-storey buildings, and replacing them with new three-storey buildings. The report concluded that the redevelopment was likely to be on strip footings, with no basements, and that it was therefore unlikely, depending on the extent and fragility of any ancient deposit, and on the extent of foundations and services, to have a major impact on potential buried archaeological remains on the site except at localised points. [Au(abr)] |
