Land adjacent to Dingle Dock, Front Street, East Garston An Archaeological Watching Brief for Dr J Davies by Jo Pine Thames Valley Archaeological Services Site Code DEG99/82 January 2000
Summary Site name: Land adjacent to Dingle Dock, Front Street, East Garston, Berkshire Grid reference: SU 36467690 Site activity: Watching brief Date and duration of project: 17 19th January 2000 Site code: DEG99/82 Area of site: c. 0.5 hectares Summary of results: A single undated pit was identified, containing a single worked flint of prehistoric date Monuments identified: Pit. Location and reference of archive: The site archive is currently held by Thames Valley Archaeological Services, 47 49 De Beauvoir Road, Reading, Berkshire, RG1 5NR. It is intended that the archive be deposited with Newbury Museum. i
Land Adjacent to Dingle Dock, Front Street, East Garston An Archaeological Watching Brief by Jo Pine Report 99/82 Introduction This report documents the results of an archaeological watching brief carried out at land adjacent to Dingle Dock, Front Street, East Garston, Berkshire (SU 36467690) (Fig 1). The work was commissioned by Dr J Davies of Dingle Dock, East Garston, Newbury, West Berkshire, RG14 7HW. Planning permission (154812) has been granted by West Berkshire District Council for the construction of a single dwelling. The watching brief was required as a condition (19) of the planning permission and was undertaken during groundworks. This is in accordance with the Department of the Environment s Policy and Planning Guidance Note Archaeology and Planning (PPG 16 1990) and the Council policies on archaeology. The field investigation was carried out to a specification approved by Mr R Bourn of Babtie, archaeological advisors to West Berkshire Council. The fieldwork was undertaken by Jo Pine between the 17th and 19th of January and the site code is DEG99/82. Location, Topography and Geology The site is located on the northern site of Front Street, East Garston. It lies on a sloping plot of land to the north of the river Lambourn, east of Chantry Cottage, west of Ivy Cottage and south of the former railway embankment (Fig 2). At the time of the evaluation the plot was rough grassland and was formerly the garden of Ivy Cottage. The underlying geology is Upper Chalk, river and valley gravels, with the possibility of colluvium being present (BGS 1971). Archaeological Background The site is located within the historic core of the village and the manor of East Garston is mentioned in Domesday Book. A Late Bronze Age linear earthwork and undated enclosure has been recorded approximately 3km north of the village (Ford 1982; Richards 1978, 40). A single Saxon inhumation burial with a cup of clay, of probable 7th century date, was also discovered in the village (ibid., 53). The date of the origins of the settlement 1
are still unclear. However, the village was probably in existence by the 13th century as it is known to have had a market by 1238 (ibid, 57). Objectives and Methodology The purpose of the watching brief was to observe, excavate and record all archaeological deposits within the areas affected by groundwork associated with the construction of the new dwelling. This involved examination of the rectangular area of the house plot stripped of top- and sub-soil to the bedrock, examination of the foundations of the new building and the area stripped of topsoil for the landscaped driveway. All spoilheaps were to be monitored for finds. Results The rectangular area of the house plot was examined but no archaeological features were observed in plan. Examination of the foundation sections revealed a pit (1) 1.00m wide and 0.60m deep, which was only observed in the east facing section of the western foundation trench (Fig 3, section 1). Its fill (52) contained charcoal and a struck flint (a spall) and the pit was sealed by subsoil layer 51 (Fig 3). The stratigraphy in the remaining trench sections of the houseplot and driveway varied from north to south. At the northern part of the site a humic dark brown silty topsoil (50), which was up to 0.30m deep, overlay a light grey brown silty clay layer (51) up to 0.30m in depth. Layer 51 overlay a orange-brown sandy clay with flint gravel inclusions (natural), which in turn overlay loose chalk with flints (Fig 3). For the southern half of the site, in the driveway area, the dark brown silty topsoil (50) was 0.40m deep and lay directly over chalk. Finds Flint by Steve Ford A single struck flint was found in pit 1 (52). It is a spall (a piece less than 20mm x 20mm) and is undiagnostic other than it is prehistoric (Neolithic late Bronze Age) in date. Conclusion Pit 1 is certainly of man-made origin but it is difficult to date due to the lack of finds. The single flint spall of prehistoric date may provide an indication of date but durable flint artefacts can often be residual finds in 2
deposits of later periods. Observation of the adjacent houseplots and the topography of the landscape revealed the site was at a greater height than the surrounding areas. It is probable that the plot has been built up and landscaped with additional soil and that layer 51 is in fact a buried topsoil. Soil from the old railway embankment was allegedly transported and used to build up the land surface of this plot (Dr Davies pers. Comm.) and may in fact be the origin of layer 50. References BGS, 1971, British Geological Survey, 1:63360, Sheet 267, Drift Edition, Keyworth Ford, S, 1982, Linear earthworks on the Berkshire Downs, Berkshire Archaeol J 71, 1 20 PPG 16, 1990, Archaeology and Planning, Department of the Environment Planning Policy Guidance Note 16, HMSO Richards, J C, 1978, The Archaeology of the Berkshire Downs, Berkshire Archaeological Committee publication 3, Reading 3
SITE 79000 78000 SITE 77000 76000 75000 SU35000 36000 37000 38000 Dingle Dock, East Garston, Berkshire, 2000 DEG99/82 Figure 1. Location of site within East Garston and Berkshire. Reproduced from Ordnance Survey Pathfinder 1170 SU27/37 1:25000 Ordnance Survey Licence AL52324A0001
Dingle Dock, East Garston, Berkshire, 1999 N 76910 Foundation trenches Section1 topsoil removed 76900 Front Street SU36480 0 10m Figure 2. Site Location map showing foundation trenches and groundworks monitored during watching brief. DEG99/82
Dingle Dock, East Garston, Berkshire, 1999 Section 1 S N topsoil 51 orange/brown silty clay with gravel 52 orange/brown silty clay with gravel 1 loose chalk gravels sand solid chalk 0 1m Figure 3. Section of pit 1. DEG99/82