Holyport Manor Special School, Highfield Lane, Cox Green, Maidenhead, Berkshire An Archaeological recording action For CgMs Consulting by Jennifer Lowe Thames Valley Archaeological Services Ltd Site Code HMS08/87 November 2008
Summary Site name: Holyport Manor Special School, Highfield Lane, Cox Green, Maidenhead, Berkshire Grid reference: SU8615 7940 Site activity: Archaeological recording action and watching brief Date and duration of project: 20th August 27th October 2008 Project manager: Steve Ford Site supervisor: Simon Cass Site code: HMS 08/87 Area of site: 230 sq m Summary of results: No archaeological finds or features were recorded during the monitoring strip for the access road or during the course of the watching brief on the proposed football pitches. 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: Jo Pine 05.11.08 Steve Preston 05.11.08 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
Holyport Manor Special School, Highfield Lane, Cox Green, Maidenhead, Berkshire An Archaeological Recording Action and Watching Brief Introduction by Jennifer Lowe Report 08/87 This report documents the results of an archaeological watching brief carried out at Holyport Manor Special School, Highfield Lane, Cox Green, Maidenhead, Berkshire (SU 8615 7940) (Fig. 1). The work was commissioned by Ms Lorraine Darton of CgMs, Morley House, 26 Holborn Viaduct, London, EC1A 2AT on behalf of the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead. Planning permission (08/00402) has been granted by the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead for the construction of new school buildings to house the Holyport Manor Special School in the grounds of the existing Cox Green School. The proposed development also includes the construction of a new access road from Cannon Lane, associated car parking and the construction of playing fields to the south-east of the existing school. The consent gained is subject to a condition (11) which requires a phased programme of archaeological work to be carried out during the course of the development. Three components were proposed for this project which involve a watching brief, a strip, map and sample exercise and an evaluation phase. It is proposed to carry out a review at the end of each phase, with Berkshire Archaeology, to discuss the need for, or extent of, further mitigation. This report only documents the work carried out on the access road (strip, map and sample) and the area of the playing fields (watching brief). This is in accordance with the Department of the Environment s Planning Policy Guidance, Archaeology and Planning (PPG16 1990), and the District s policies on archaeology. The field investigation was carried out to a specification produced by Ms Lorraine Darton of CgMs and approved by Fiona MacDonald of Berkshire Archaeology, the archaeological adviser to the Royal Borough. The fieldwork was undertaken by Simon Cass, James McNicoll-Norbury, Jennifer Lowe and Andy Taylor between 20th August and 27 October 2008 and the site code is HMS 08/87. The archive is presently held at Thames Valley Archaeological Services, Reading and will be deposited at Reading Museum in due course. 1
Location, topography and geology The site is located on the south western fringes of Maidenhead in the Cox Green area of town (Fig 1). The site is located within the grounds of Cox Green School and is bounded by Cannon Lane to the west and Highfield Road to the north; residential properties mark out its southern and eastern boundaries (Fig. 2). The site slopes downwards from the north-western edge, where it is approximately 38m above Ordnance Datum to the south eastern corner of the site, which lies at 34m above Ordnance Datum. The underlying geology is Upper Chalk (BGS 1981) and this was observed, along with a light orange brown clay capping, during the course of the fieldwork. Archaeological background The archaeological potential of the site has been discussed in a desk based assessment (Darton 2007) as well as in the archaeological project design supplied by CgMs Consulting (Darton 2008). In summary, the site s archaeological potential stems from its location within East Berkshire, an area which is relatively rich in archaeological finds of prehistoric and Roman dates (Ford 1987). In addition a Roman villa is recorded close to the site. The winged corridor villa was excavated in 1959 and was constructed in four phases and was probably in use from the early Antonine period (mid 2nd century) until the second half of the 4th century (Bennet 1962). A Roman corn drier and well have been recorded to the north of the site at Altwood Bailey. A watching brief also to the north recorded a ditch which contained a single sherd of Saxon pottery (Coles 2005) A geophysical survey of the site identified several linear anomalies which may relate to medieval ridge and furrow identified in a field to the south west of the site. Objectives and methodology Two components of work were proposed at this stage. A watching brief was to be carried out on the area of the playing fields, whilst the area of the access road along the southern boundary of the site was to be subject to a strip, map and record exercise. The objective of the strip, map and sample operation was to excavate and record any archaeological features revealed along the proposed access road. The results of this exercise were to be used to assess the potential for archaeological survival on the remainder of the site and to be used to inform the next stage of the phased programme of works. 2
The objectives of the watching brief were to monitor any ground disturbance works in the area of the sports pitches, in particular areas of ground reduction, drainage and utility runs and access routes. Results Sports Pitches The initial works on site took the form of a watching brief on the area of the sports pitch. This comprised the removal of approximately 0.20m topsoil only across the majority of the proposed playing fields exposing only patches mid orange brown clay subsoil. No natural geology was exposed in this area and no archaeological finds or features were recorded. Access Road A strip, map and sample exercise was carried out on the area of the access road, which was located along the southern boundary of the site and extended from Cannon Lane to the west, towards the area of the proposed new school buildings at the eastern end of the site. The end closest to Cannon Lane was to be landscaped to create a gradual slope upwards into the site. As a result a strip approximately 15m in length was monitored from Cannon Lane under constant archaeological supervision. In this area approximately 0.40m of topsoil and 0.50m of a mid orange brown clay subsoil were removed to reveal the chalk natural. From this point, and continuing along the remainder of the access road, only topsoil was removed from the access road to reveal the mid orange brown clay subsoil. Several sections of drainage trench were excavated along the route of the access road, located from roughly a mid point on the road and continuing towards the eastern limit of the strip (Fig. 3). In addition to the drainage trenches, two soakaways were also observed in this area. The drainage trenches were approximately 1.20m wide and 0.90m deep and the general stratigraphy encountered comprised between 0.20 0.50m of mid orange brown subsoil overlying the chalk natural. Towards the eastern end of the drainage trench the chalk natural changed to a light orange brown clay with flints. No archaeology was observed in the drainage trenches. Two soakaways (A and B) were recorded during the course of the groundworks. Both were similar in size measuring 3m by 2.70m but varied in depth from 1.90m (A) to 2.90m (B). The stratigraphy observed was largely the same for both soakaways with 0.40m of topsoil (soakaway A only) overlying 0.50m of mid orange brown clay, which in turn sealed the natural chalk. No archaeology finds or features were recorded. 3
Finds No finds were retrieved during the course of the groundworks.. Conclusion The archaeological strip, map and sample and watching brief at the proposed Holyport Manor School did not identify any archeological finds or features. However the stripping for the proposed school pitches did not extend beyond the removal of topsoil and therefore did not expose the archaeologically relevant level. No archaeology was encountered during the strip for the access road, however like the strip for the football pitches, only a relatively small area was stripped of subsoil to the top of the natural. The extensive drainage excavated through the access road did provide an opportunity to observe the stratigraphy in this area and no archaeology was identified here. Due to the nature of the drainage trenches, however, the chances of identifying anything other than fairly substantial linear features is quite slim and it is possible that smaller discrete features could exist on the site below the subsoil. Nonetheless, based on the findings of these phases of work, the site appears to be of low archaeological potential. References Bennett, C, 1962, Cox Green Villa Berkshire Archaeol J 60, 62 91 BGS, 1981, British Geological Survey, 1:50000, Sheet 269, Solid and Drift Edition, Keyworth Coles, S, 2005, Glengariff, Altwood Bailey, Maidenhead, Berkshire, an archaeological watching brief Thames Valley Archaeologicl Services report 05/32, Reading Darton, L, 2007, Holyport Manor Special School, Maidenhead, Berkshire, Archaeological Desk based Assessment, CgMs, London Darton, L 2008, Holyport Manor Special School, Maidenhead, Berkshire, Archaeological project Design, CgMs, London Ford, 1987, East Berkshire Archaeological Survey, Dept Highways and Planning, Berkshire County Council Occas Pap 1, Reading PPG 16, 1990, Archaeology and Planning, Dept of the Environment Planning Policy Guidance 16, HMSO 4
SITE 81000 80000 SITE 79000 Holyport Manor Special School, Highfield Lane, Cox Green, Maidenhead, Berkshire, 2008 Archaeological recording action and watching brief Figure 1. Location of site within Maidenhead and Berkshire. Reproduced from Ordnance Survey Explorer 160 and 172 at 1:12500. Ordnance Survey Licence 100025880 SU86000 87000 HMS 08/87
N 79500 SITE SU86000 86500 Holyport Manor Special School, Highfield Lane, Cox Green, Maidenhead, Berkshire, 2008 Archaeological recording action and watching Brief HMS 08/87 Figure 2. Detailed location of site on Highfield Lane. Reproduced from Ordnance Survey digital mapping under licence. Crown copyright reserved. Scale: 1:5000
Holyport Special School, Highfield Lane, Maidenhead, Berkshire, 2008 N Highfield Lane 79500 Area stripped of toposil Area stripped to top of natural geology (Chalk) subsoil only exposed Compound SITE drainage trenches Cox Green Secondary School Cannon Lane soakaway TP SU86000 86500 0 50m Figure 3. Location of areas observed during watching brief. HMS 08/87
N Holyport Special School, Highfield Lane, Cox Green, Maidenhead, Berkshire, 2008 Topsoil Mid orange brown clay subsoil Chalk natural 0 1m Figure 4. Representative section. HMS 08/87
Plate 1. General shot of stripped area. Looking N Plate 2. General shot of stripped area. Looking northwest (towards Cannon Lane). HSH07/26