New Media Building, Goldsmiths College, New Cross, London Borough of Lewisham

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1 New Media Building, Goldsmiths College, New Cross, London Borough of Lewisham An Archaeological Evaluation for Willmott Dixon Construction by Andy Taylor Thames Valley Archaeological Services Ltd Site Code GDM 09 February 2009

2 Summary Site name: New Media Building, Goldsmiths College, New Cross, London Borough of Lewisham Grid reference: TQ Site activity: Evaluation Date and duration of project: 4th 12th February 2009 Project manager: Steve Ford Site supervisor: Andy Taylor Site code: GDM 09 Area of site: c.0.2 hectares Summary of results: The ground level on the site had been artificially raised, and although the previous ground surface was preserved, no deposits or finds of archaeological relevance were observed beneath it. Location and reference of archive: The archive is presently held at Thames Valley Archaeological Services, Reading and will be deposited at the Museum of London in due course. This report may be copied for bona fide research or planning purposes without the explicit permission of the copyright holder Report edited/checked by: Steve Ford Steve Preston i Thames Valley Archaeological Services Ltd, De Beauvoir Road, Reading RG1 5NR Tel. (0118) ; Fax (0118) ; tvas@tvas.co.uk; website :

3 New Media Building, Goldsmiths College, New Cross, London Borough of Lewisham An Archaeological Evaluation by Andy Taylor Report 09/03 Introduction This report documents the results of an archaeological field evaluation carried out at Goldsmiths College, New Cross, London Borough of Lewisham (TQ ) (Fig. 1). The work was commissioned by Mr Ian Hills, of Willmott Dixon Construction Limited, Riverbridge House, Anchor Boulevard, Crossways Business Park, Dartford, Kent, DA2 6SL. Planning permission has been sought from London Borough of Lewisham for the construction of a new Media and Communications Building on the site. The proposals include a basement, access road and landscaping. A desktop assessment (WA 2007) noted that the site lies within an area of archaeological importance within the Borough. Therefore, in order to provide sufficient information on the archaeological potential of the site so as to mitigate the effects of development, a field evaluation has been requested. This is in accordance with the Department of the Environment s Planning Policy Guidance, Archaeology and Planning (PPG ), and the Borough Council s policies on archaeology. The field investigation was carried out to a specification approved by Mr Mark Stevenson, Archaeology Adviser with the Greater London Archaeology Advisory Service, advisers to the Borough on matters relating to archaeology. The fieldwork was undertaken by Andy Taylor and Arkadiusz Gnas between the 4th and 12th February 2009 and the site code is GDM09. The archive is presently held at Thames Valley Archaeological Services, Reading and will be deposited at the Museum of London in due course. Location, topography and geology The site is located on a parcel of land at Goldsmiths College, on the west side of St Donatts Road (Fig. 2). Prior to the evaluation it was occupied by temporary structures associated with the College, which were removed, along with associated services, prior to the works starting. The site itself is a relatively flat raised terrace of land overlooking the College Green. Its slightly higher nature is presumably due to the levelled upcast from when the nearby Surrey Canal was cut through the area. The presence of a considerable thickness of made ground was indicated from the results of geotechnical investigations (Card 2008). The underlying geology consists of 1

4 London Clay (BGS 1981), which was observed in both trenches and the site lies at a height of c.26m above Ordnance Datum. Archaeological background A desktop assessment has been carried out to consider the archaeological potential of the site (WA 2007). In summary this noted that the site lies within an area of archaeological importance within the Borough but that few archaeological sites or finds are recorded nearby. Only a few residual sherds of Roman pottery and postmedieval pottery have been noted. A post-medieval brick kiln is recorded on New Cross Road and the infilled Surrey Canal lies just to the west of the site. Several listed buildings are located nearby but not especially close to the site. Cartographic information suggests that the site was open farmland for much of its later history with the current temporary structures being the first buildings recorded for the site. Objectives and methodology The purpose of the evaluation was to determine the presence/absence, extent, condition, character, quality and date of any archaeological deposits within the area of development. Specific aims of the project were; To determine if archaeologically relevant levels have survived on this site given that parts of this site have possibly been quarried previously. To determine if archaeological deposits of any period are present. Two trenches were to be dug, 10m long at their base and 1.8m wide. These were to be dug using a 360 type machine fitted with a toothless grading bucket under constant archaeological supervision. All spoilheaps were to be monitored for finds. Results The two trenches were dug as near as possible to their intended locations (Fig. 3). To facilitate safe access the trenches were significantly wider at the top. For each trench, the initial excavations comprised a zone c.14m x 8m across which was stripped down to a depth of c. 2.50m with the sides battered back. At this depth the whole excavation lay within modern made ground. A narrower trench was then dug down from the base of these access areas to expose the natural geology. Both perched water within the made ground and surface run off caused 2

5 flooding of the trenches shortly after they had been opened. A complete list of trenches giving lengths, breadths, depths and a description of sections and geology is given in Appendix 1. Trench 1 (Plate 1) This trench measured 10.80m in length and 2.1m wide at the base. It was 4.30m deep. The stratigraphy consisted of topsoil overlying reworked, orange/brown clay. This overlay a dark grey sandy clay, possibly a buried old topsoil, overlying a light grey clay, which is possibly a buried subsoil. The latter overlay an orange brown clay which was the natural geology (London clay). Trench 2 (Plate 2; Figure 4) This trench measured 7.00m in length and 2.1m wide at the base. It was 3.50m deep. A baulk was retained which split the trench into two parts so as to manage the inflow of water. The stratigraphy again consisted of topsoil overlying reworked orange/brown clay. This overlay possible buried topsoil and light grey clay subsoil above the natural geology, London clay. Again no archaeological finds nor deposits were observed. Finds Only small fragments of post-medieval brick and tile were observed in the possible buried soil layer in Trench 1 (not retained). No other finds of any archaeological interest were observed during the evaluation. Conclusion No finds or deposits of archaeological interest were identified during the evaluation. As had been presumed, the construction of the former nearby canal had resulted in the ground surface on the site being raised to a considerable height but with the original topsoil and subsoil appearing to be intact. The original ground level, as evident in both trenches, corresponded approximately with the level seen on the College Green, just to the north of the site and it is suggested that no quarrying of this area had taken place. On the results of this trenching exercise, the development proposal is most unlikely to affect any archaeological deposits. References BGS, 1981, British Geological Survey, 1:50000, Sheet 270, Solid and Drift Edition, Keyworth Card 2008, Goldsmiths College, London, Site Investigation Report, Card Geotechnics, Aldershot PPG16, 1990, Archaeology and Planning, Dept of the Environment Planning Policy Guidance 16, HMSO WA, 2007, Goldsmiths College, London, SE14 5NW, an archaeological rapid appraisal, Wessex Archaeology report , Salisbury 3

6 APPENDIX 1: Trench details 0m at S or W end Trench Length (m) Breadth (m) Depth (m) Comment m topsoil; m reworked clay; m dark grey sandy clay (buried soil); m light grey clay; 4.30m+ London Clay natural geology m AOD [Pl. 1] m topsoil; m reworked clay; m buried soil; m light grey clay; 3.30m+ London Clay natural geology m AOD [Pl. 2] 4

7 78000 SITE SITE TQ New Media Building, Goldsmiths College, New Cross, London Borough of Lewisham, 2009 an archaeological evaluation GDM 09 Figure 1. Location of site within New Cross and Greater London. Reproduced from Ordnance Survey Explorer 161 at 1: Ordnance Survey Licence

8 N College Green SITE TQ GDM 09 New Media Building, Goldsmiths College, New Cross, London Borough of Lewisham, 2009 an archaeological evaluation Figure 2. Location of site at Goldsmiths College. Reproduced from Ordnance Survey digital mapping under licence. Crown copyright reserved. Scale: 1:2500

9 New Media Building, Goldsmiths College, New Cross, London Borough of Lewisham, 2009 N College Green Footprint of proposed basement TQ m Figure 3: Trench Locations GDM 09

10 New Media Building, Goldsmiths College, New Cross, London Borough of Lewisham, m AOD Topsoil Redeposited orange brown clay Buried former topsoil Light grey clay (subsoil) Orange/brown clay (Natural geology) 0 5m Figure 4. Representative Section of trench 2. GDM 09

11 Plate 1. Trench 1 looking ESE; Scales 2m, 1m. Plate 2. Trench 2 looking north; Scales 2m, 1m GDM 09

12 OASIS FORM - Print view OASIS DATA COLLECTION FORM: England List of Projects Search Projects New project Change your details HER coverage Change country Log out Printable version OASIS ID: thamesva Project details Project name Short description of the project Goldsmiths College Two trench evaluation prior to construction of a new media building. No deposits or finds were identfied Project dates Start: End: Previous/future work Any associated project reference codes Type of project Site status Current Land use Monument type Monument type Significant Finds Significant Finds Methods & techniques Development type Prompt No / No GDM 09 - Sitecode Field evaluation None Vacant Land 1 - Vacant land previously developed NONE None NONE None NONE None NONE None 'Sample Trenches' Public building (e.g. school, church, hospital, medical centre, law courts etc.) Direction from Local Planning Authority - PPG16 1 of 3 16/02/09 13:01

13 OASIS FORM - Print view Position in the planning process Between deposition of an application and determination Project location Country Site location Study area England GREATER LONDON LEWISHAM DEPTFORD AND NEWCROSS New Media Building, Goldsmiths College, New Cross, London Borough of Lewisham 0.20 Hectares Site coordinates TQ N W Point Project creators Name of Organisation Project brief originator Project design originator Project director/manager Project supervisor Type of sponsor/funding body Name of sponsor/funding body Thames Valley Archaeological Services English Heritage/Department of Environment Steve Ford Steve Ford Andy Taylor Developer Willmott Dixon Project archives Physical Archive Exists? Digital Archive Exists? No No Paper Archive recipient Museum of London Paper Archive ID GDM 09 Paper Contents Paper Media available 'Stratigraphic' 'Correspondence','Diary','Map','Report','Unpublished Text' 2 of 3 16/02/09 13:01

14 OASIS FORM - Print view Entered by Andy Taylor (tvas@tvas.co.uk) Entered on 13 February 2009 OASIS: Please English Heritage for OASIS help and advice ADS Created by Jo Gilham and Jen Mitcham, Last modified Friday 3 February 2006 Cite only: /d1/export/home/web/oasis/form/print.cfm for this page 3 of 3 16/02/09 13:01