Merrowdene, Earleydene, Sunninghill, Berkshire An Archaeological Watching Brief For Mr and Mrs Jackson by Andy Taylor Thames Valley Archaeological Services Ltd Site Code MES 05/88 January 2006
Summary Site name: Merrowdene, Earleydene, Sunninghill, Berkshire Grid reference: SU 9285 6612 Site activity: Watching Brief Date and duration of project: 3rd October 16th November 2005 Project manager: Steve Ford Site supervisor: Jennifer Lowe, Richard Oram and Andy Taylor Site code: MES 05/88 Summary of results: No archaeological deposits were observed or finds recovered. Monuments identified: None. Location and reference of archive: The archive is presently held at Thames Valley Archaeological Services, Reading and will be deposited at Reading Museum 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 12.01.06 Steve Preston xx.xx.05 i Thames Valley Archaeological Services Ltd, 47 49 De Beauvoir Road, Reading RG1 5NR Tel. (0118) 926 0552; Fax (0118) 926 0553; email tvas@tvas.co.uk; website : www.tvas.co.uk
Merrowdene, Earleydene, Sunninghill, Berkshire, 2005 An Archaeological Watching Brief by Andy Taylor Report 05/88 Introduction This report documents the results of an archaeological watching brief carried out at Merrowdene, Earleydene, Sunninghill, Berkshire (SU 9285 6612) (Fig. 1). The work was commissioned by Mr Erini Kilaiditi of Corrigan, Soundy and Kilaiditi Chartered Architects, 93A High Street, Eton, Windsor, Berkshire, SL4 6AF on behalf of Mr and Mrs Jackson of 106 Kings Road, Windsor, Berkshire, SL4 2AP. A planning consent (05/00065) has been granted by the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead to erect a new house on the south side of Earleydene. This consent is subject to condition relating to archaeology, which required a watching brief to be carried out during groundworks. This is in accordance with the Department of the Environment s Planning Policy Guidance, Archaeology and Planning (PPG16 1990), and the Royal Borough s policies on archaeology. The field investigation was carried out to a specification approved by Ms Fiona Macdonald, Principal Archaeologist with Berkshire Archaeology. The fieldwork was undertaken by Jennifer Lowe, Richard Oram and Andy Taylor between 3rd October and 16th November 2005 and the site code is MES 05/88. The archive is presently held at Thames Valley Archaeological Services, Reading and will be deposited at Reading Museum in due course. Location, topography and geology The site is located on the south side of Earleydene in Sunninghill (Fig. 2). Bracknell lies to the north-west and Sunningdale to the north-east. The site slopes away slightly to the south-west and lies at a height of c. 65m above Ordnance Datum. The underlying geology is mapped as Bagshot Beds (BGS 1978). Some sandy deposits were observed but London Clay was also noticed in the areas of groundworks. Archaeological background The site lies within an area of east Berkshire which has recorded only a modest range of archaeological finds and deposits. Nevertheless there is a persistent presence of prehistoric, Roman and medieval find spots in the Berkshire Sites and Monuments Record and many upstanding Bronze Age burial mounds (round barrows) are 1
located on the heathland areas of east Berkshire (Ford 1987). Of more interest is that the site lies c. 150m to the north of the Roman road from Silchester to London (the Devil s Highway, Margary s route 4a: Margary 1973). Several large Roman sites are already known to be preferentially located close to the road but others may be located 200m or more distant, as at Wickham Bushes (Corney and Gaffney 1983; Ford 1987, 83). Objectives and methodology The purpose of the watching brief was to excavate and record any archaeological deposits affected by the new construction work. This involved examination of all intrusive groundworks, in particular ground reduction, landscaping, and the digging of foundation trenches and service runs. Spoilheaps were to be monitored for finds. Results Foundation trenches The footings observed (Fig. 3) measured 0.60m in width and between 0.90m and 1.00m deep. The stratigraphy comprised topsoil which in some areas contained demolition debris, and which was removed across the whole site. The topsoil overlay a light grey silty sand (probably the natural geology) overlying an orange-brown clay natural geology (London Clay) (Fig. 4). No archaeological deposits were observed. Cellar The central part of the new building included excavation for a cellar (Fig. 3). The cellar measured 4m x 9m and was excavated to c. 3m depth. The striatgraphy revealed was similar to elsewhere on the site and again no archaeological deposits were observed. Service trenches The service runs were to be located in areas stripped of overburden where the archaeologically relevant levels were already clearly visible and sterile, and hence excavation of these trenches was not observed. Finds No finds of any archaeological interest were observed. 2
Conclusion No deposits archaeological interest were observed on the site nor any artefacts recovered. Despite the relative proximity of the site to a known major Roman road it does not appear that this area was used for Roman occupation. References BGS, 1978, British Geological Survey, 1:50000, Sheet 269, Solid and Drift Edition, Keyworth Corney, M, and Gaffney, V, 1983, Wickham Bushes, in A Taylor and R Taylor (eds), Recent Archaeology in Berkshire, Berkshire Archaeol Soc Fld Res Grp, Reading, 17 Ford, S, 1987, East Berkshire Archaeological Survey, Berkshire County Counc Dept Highways and Planning Occas Pap 1, Reading Margary, I D, 1973, Roman Roads in Britain (3rd Edition), London PPG 16, 1990, Archaeology and Planning, Dept of the Environment Planning Policy Guidance 16, HMSO 3