Series: Pre-Construct Archaeology Ltd unpublished report series

An archaeological evaluation was undertaken by Pre-Construct Archaeology Ltd on land at Two Rivers Retail Park, Staines-On-Thames, Surrey. The archaeological investigation was conducted in advance of the proposed redevelopment of the site and was undertaken on 4th and 5th March 2013. The evaluation found no palaeotopograhic evidence during this study and no archaeological evidence relating to the prehistoric, Roman, medieval or early post-medieval periods. A single trench (TR1) was excavated within the footprint of the proposed development. A sequence of modern and late post-medieval made ground layers were encountered. The natural horizon was not reached. In the centre section of TR1 a modern concrete capping was encountered that was believed to be sealing the culvert section of 'Sweep's Ditch', an historic watercourse that connects with the confluence of the Rivers Colne and Wraysbury, just to the west of the site.

Pre-Construct Archaeology Ltd was appointed by Roger Davey, to carry out an archaeological Watching Brief at 1 Rosemary Close, Blue Ball Hill, Winchester. The Site is the subject of a proposed rear extension, comprising of the demolition of a rear conservatory and the erection of a new rear extension, on a similar footprint. The watching brief revealed two human inhumations and a small pit cut into the natural chalk, the pit and burial to the south were under the modern patio, likely to have been previously levelled where as to the north the burial was found during the cutting back of the bank and covered with hillwash. It is thought that the burials date to the late Roman period and form part of the wider later Roman cemetery in the area to the east the Roman city of Venta Belgurm. The small irregular pit which could represent a disturbed roman burial had been heavily disturbed during the building of the 16th century house and modern patio.

Pre-Construct Archaeology Ltd (PCA) was appointed to carry out an archaeological watching brief at 13 Goldfinch Way, South Wonston, Hampshire. The Site is the subject of a proposed two storey side extension built on to the north of the existing house.The watching brief was carried out in accordance with the Written Scheme of Investigation between the 12th – 18th January 2021. Visits coincided with the excavation of foundation trenches and the excavation of a drainage trench. The watching brief revealed no significant archaeological features or artefacts and the site appears highly disturbed, probably during the construction of the original buildings of Goldfinch Way.

An archaeological trial trench evaluation was carried out by Pre-Construct Archaeology at 14-16 and 18 Norwich Street, Dereham, Norfolk, NR19 1DB (NGR TF 9903 1325) on the 19th January 2015. The archaeological work was commissioned by CLA Architecture on behalf of Mr B Todd in response to a planning condition attached to the construction of new retail and residential units. The aim of the work was to characterise the archaeological potential of the proposed development area. The archaeological evaluation identified one undated pit and a rectilinear boundary ditch, aligned perpendicular and parallel to Norwich Street. The north-south aligned section of the ditch was truncated by the demolition rubble and foundations of the previous buildings on the site and therefore must pre-date the 17th/18th century, but no dating evidence was recovered.

Archaeological evaluation comprising a 1.5m X 1.5m by 0.7m deep test pit against the east elevation of the property revealed its foundation at 0.5m and otherwise modern deposits abutting dating from the construction of the house in the 1990's. The test pit demonstrated the absence of archaeology at the depth required for the foundations of a proposed small extension to the house, which lies within the Scheduled Monument Winchester Castle. The evaluation comprised the excavation of a 1.5m X 1.5m and 0.7m deep test pit was carried out on the 9th and 10th of December 2020. The test pit was formed as proposed and revealed modern deposits throughout. The modern deposits and the depth at which they were recorded is consistent with the location of the site, and the proposed extension, south of the line of the Castle Wall and above the sloped face of the Castle mound earthwork.

A watching brief was carried out on the excavation of footings for extensions and new build at 17 Castle Street Hertford. The lowest deposits encountered were natural sands and gravels at an elevation of c. 40.30m OD. These were overlain by in excess of 2m of made ground, exhibiting little or no stratification. A very small amount of residual medieval pottery was found but the earliest deposits probably dated to the late 17th to 18th centuries. Most of the deposits encountered were 19th century or later, and were associated with earlier building work on the site. One 19th century pit was also identified, but had been heavily disturbed by modern tree rooting

An archaeological observation was conducted in the gardens at 18 Main Street, Newton, Rugby, Warwickshire, in association with the proposed development for a new dormer bungalow. This observation was based upon the Written Scheme of Investigation (WSI) which followed an archaeological evaluation of the site that took placed in May 2015. The site lies at central National Grid Reference SP 53123 78126, within an area of significant archaeological potential. The work was commissioned by David Burgess and undertaken in the summer of 2015 by a team from Pre-Construct Archaeology Ltd. During the observation a limited archaeological sequence was identified including a late 17th-18th century subsoil, possible medieval occupation layers and two features containing pottery and bone dating from the 13th century. Additionally a number of modern features were also identified.

Pre-Construct Archaeology Ltd was appointed by CFW Architects, to carry out an archaeological evaluation at 19 Southgate Street, Winchester, Hampshire, SO23 9EB. The Site is the subject of a development proposal including a single storey rear extension. The evaluation was designed in discussion with the Local Planning Authority’s Historic Environment Team Archaeologist and reflected the potential of the Site to contain archaeological resources that may be affected by the proposed development. The evaluation comprised the excavation of one 1.5 by 1.5m test pit to a total depth of no more than 1.2m. This was extended South-West to 2.5m by 1.5m in order to avoid disturbing uncovered below-ground services No archaeological features were identified during the evaluation and the mixed dating in all contexts suggests that the site has been heavily disturbed in the past, resulting in the re-deposition of Roman, Saxon and Medieval pottery in post medieval layers. Thispottery is likely to have been re-deposited from an archaeological deposit or feature, forwhich no evidence was visible. It maybe suggested that the site does retain archaeological potential, however as the post-medieval layers extend to a greater depth than the test pit it is unlikely any significant archaeological resources will be present at the level at which the proposed rear extension foundations will be formed.

The evaluation was carried out on 26th September 2022. The evaluation followed the methodology set out in the WSI with the exception that the foundation trenches were evaluated rather than the single 10m x 1.8m evaluation trench proposed in the WSI. This change to the methodology was agreed with the SCC Planning Archaeologist in advance of the evaluation fieldwork. In addition, the foundation trenches were excavated to formation level, a deeper depth than was necessary for an archaeological evaluation trench. The foundation trenches formed a grid around three spaces. The trenches were each 0.6m wide and 0.7m deep, with a total area of approximately 27.97m2 The evaluation was carried out on 26th September 2022. No archaeological features, deposits or finds earlier than the 20th century were found. Modern topsoil directly overlay natural geological layers with a clear horizon between them, which may suggest that the Site had been levelled during the recent past. One feature was recorded during the evaluation. This large feature, some 2.42m wide and over 0.54m deep, was partially exposed. It had steeply sloping sides and its fill contained a 1932 farthing, fragments of modern glass and ceramic building material. The exact purpose of this mid-20th century feature is unclear. There were no structural remains associated with it and it seems unlikely that it was a planting pit due to its large size and depth, extending far below the ground level.

An archaeological mitigation of land at 2 South Coast Road, Peacehaven, East Sussex. The archaeological investigation revealed important archaeological evidence of early prehistoric activity from the Mesolithic period to the Bronze Age as well as significant Roman archaeological deposits, features and artefacts relating to a farmstead settlement.