NHER 62693 (Monument record) - Post-medieval features and deposits

December 2014. Trial Trenching.
Evaluation of proposed development site.
The two trenches excavated both encountered the top of what were presumably naturally accumulated silts and clays at a depth of approximately 0.7m below the modern ground level. The earliest identifiable activity was the dumping of material during the post-medieval period, presumably to consolidate what would have been marshy ground. Early cartographic sources suggest that prior to the 18th century the site probably lay close to an open fleet (watercourse) that was subsequently either infilled or culverted.
In one of the trenches the dumped material contained pottery of 18th- to 19th-century date. A number of medieval roof tiles were recovered towards the base of the second trench, although fragments of late post-medieval roof slate and bottle glass were recovered from the same deposit, suggesting that this was also material dumped during the 18th or 19th century. A number of pits had subsequently been excavated on the site (some of considerable size) and there was also evidence that additional soil had been imported in order to further raise the ground level.
Information from draft report, final version awaited.
P. Watkins (HES), 20 April 2018.