Land south of the A46, Pamington, Ashchurch, Gloucestershire
1 - Pre-determination assessment/evaluation identified significant new heritage assets
Pre-determination assessment/evaluation identified significant archaeology on the development site (i.e. the results created significant new knowledge), especially where none was previously known in the HER.
4 - Pre-determination assessment/evaluation led to a modified development proposal
Pre-determination assessment/evaluation results led to a change in the extent or design of development.
7 - Pre-commencement archaeological conditions were attached to a planning permission
Pre-commencement archaeological conditions were attached to a planning permission and were necessary in order to enable the development to be permitted.
Non-designated heritage assets with archaeological interest
Outline planning application for the proposed development of up to 150 dwellings including access, landscaping, open space and associated infrastructure.
No archaeological information had been recorded on the HER before the current development was proposed.
Environmental screening of a large proposed development site resulted in desk-based assessment, which suggested that a Roman road might be present (or located nearby) and that the site was of moderate archaeological potential.
Geophysical survey in late 2014, however, produced spectacular results that suggested extremely dense archaeological features indicative of an Iron Age and/or Roman settlement present in the north-western part of the site.
The density of archaeology was such that the developer decided, on the basis of the geophysical survey results, that the area of greatest archaeological interest was to be left undisturbed as public open space in the planning application for the development. Trial trenching was only undertaken on its edges, to determine its outer extent, and also over the rest of the area that was proposed for housing development. The peripheral features of the settlement that were sampled, including field boundaries, a well, and a corn- drier, produced early Roman pottery of first to second century date.
A pre-commencement planning condition was attached to the planning permission for development. Archaeological investigation in advance of construction confirmed that the correct area had been excluded from development.
The main area of archaeological interest was preserved in situ.
- Avon Archaeology, 2014, Land off the A46, Ashchurch, Gloucestershire. Archaeological Desk-Based Assessment. Unpublished report.
- Archaeological Surveys, 2014, Land off the A46, Ashchurch, Gloucestershire. Magnetometer Survey Report. Unpublished report.
- Cotswold Archaeology 2014, Land South of A46, Ashchurch, Gloucestershire. Archaeological Evaluation. Unpublished report, CA report 14536.
