Ch irk Sewage Treatment Works Phase 11

Transcription

1 THE CLWYD-POWYS ARCHAEOLOGICAL TRUST Ch irk Sewage Treatment Wrks Phase 11 ARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS AT DARLAND WOOD CPAT Reprt N 41

2 CPAT Reprt N 41 Ch irk Sewage Treatment Wrks Phase 11 ARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS AT DARLAND WOOD byw G Owen Nvember 1992 The Clwyd-Pwys Archelgical Trust 7a Church Street Welshpl Pwys SY21 7DL tel (938) lax

3 J. '. -:'...!). ' D' ~. C < ~ Cl.' Pipel1ne \\ Crridr I \ \. - -' - ' I 1 - ' - i.: ;. I BarrOW B : :.1. ' -. \:.: QC) a QqQ.~ a ~t l DO Cl D ~.;. Cl *'t.t C) i! '. l.. :\. ~~ A :t ~ V' C- Q - '.. J I -'. ' I '. I'. _ Excavatin Area :: I I () Q - :.. ;.'.. :; (} '. Oarland Wd Cl.' O '. I I 1 I) V \) \1 \ \ \ \ - Q \) \ ~ {) j A483 I.. :: 1 I ' ~.' --. -' -: i :-- - ; ;- -! -I : - I.- ; ~ I - N Fig 1 Scale 1 ;25. CH1RK S.T.W. \ PHASE 11 (OARLANO WOOD)

4 1. Intrductin 1.1 The Clwyd-Pwys Archaelgical Trust was cmmissined in July 1992 by Dwr Cymru/Welsh Water thrugh their cnsulting engineers Wallace Evans t undertake a prgramme f archaelgical excavatin and a watching brief in advance f pipe-laying in the vicinity f tw Brnze Age rund barrws near Darland Wd (Fig 1). This was in respnse t recmmendatins by the Cunty Sites and Mnuments Recrd a sectin f the Clwyd-Pwys Archaelgical Trust wh act as archaelgical curatrs fr Clwyd. 1.2 Darland Wd lies apprximately 4. kilmetres nrth-east f Chirk and verlks the valley f the Dee immediately t the west. The barrws lcated at SJ and SJ are bth within 2m f the upper edge f grund that falls steeply fr 55m t the valley bttm frm an altitude f 15m OD. Bth barrws but mre particularly Barrw A (Fig 1) have been reduced and spread by cultivatin and cnsequently it is difficult t define their precise psitin and their size althugh a survey f each was prepared during the prject. 1.3 Bth barrws are scheduled ancient mnuments (SAM De223) and it was cnsidered that althugh the pipeline crridr respected the scheduled areas any archaelgical features adjacent t these barrws and lcated within the crridr culd mst satisfactrily be evaluated by trial excavatin. Tw areas lom x lom were therefre selected fr excavatin at the places clsest t where the pipeline crridr passed each barrw (Fig 2) and subsequently a watching brief was maintained at the time f tpsil-stripping alng this stretch f the wayleave and in places during the digging f the pipe-trench. 2. Tpgraphy. land Use and Sils 2.1 In the vicinity f Darland Wd the prpsed pipeline crridr passes thrugh an area f intensively cultivated agricultural land situated in an undulating landscape. The reddish sils are f the Salp Assciatin (Rudefrth et al ) frmed frm glacially depsited tills derived frm Carbniferus shales sandstnes and cal measures. lcally they are mderately permeable sandy lams and are generally stny. 3. The Excavatins 3.1 The excavatins were cnducted between 18th and 26th f August 1992 by a small team f five excavatrs. In bth areas the surface plughsil was excavated mechanically by a JCB 3CX stckpiled within the wayleave area and examined fr finds. The underlying subsil was then manually cleaned and this surface examined fr features and finds f archaelgical significance. 3.2 ~ The excavatin area was at its clsest pint lcated 16m t the east f Barrw A (Fig 2) n mderately slping grund. The surface plughsil a 1

5 CH IRK S. T.W tland WOOD) Scale 1: Fig 2 < - f I... -~... Psitin f Barrw A... ~ ! / ' Lcatin f chert fi nds! Land Drain Pst Hle N-- --)

6 fairly stny dark brwn silty lam was (at the upper nrthern end f the site) clearly delineated frm the underlying sandier and stnier subsil. Bth layers cntained substantial quantities f pst-medieval pttery sherds unifrmly spread thrughut the area. It is likely that this material was intrduced ver a number f years thrugh manuring during cultivatin rather than it being assciated with a settlement site in the immediate vicinity Twards the suthern lwer edge f the site the subsi 1 was 1 ess clearly separated frm the humic plughsil a feature attributable t the accumulatin f hillwash dwnslpe f the ridge n which Barrw A stands. Within this accumulatin there was n evidence f erded barrw material w~ich might have appeared as discntinuus layers r lenses f gleyed and panned material r a stny layer atypical f the lcal sil prfile The excavatin area was extended 5rn t the nrth and suth by tw narrw trenches 1.5m wide. The suthern extensin revealed n archaelgical features. The nrthern extensi n trench hwever expsed a fi e ld-drai n cnstructed f brick and stne at the base f the plughsi 1 running apprximately 4.rn in a nrth-west/suth-east line. At the extreme nrthern end f this trench a layer f limestne fragments apprximately.5m thick separated the plughsil frm a lse sandy silt layer cntaining lenses f fine cal fragments. The limestne layer faded ut in the vicinity f a psth 1 e whi ch cntai ned pst-medi eva 1 pttery fragments. Bth features were interpreted as being f late pst-medieval date A single wrked chert fragment recvered frm the plughsil/subsil interface at the extreme nrthern end f this trench is prbably f prehistric rigin. A smaller fragment f chert frm the same lcatin and cntext may be artefactual but equally culd be f natural rigin Subsequently a physical examinatin f a sample f the lse cal layer by dry-sieving t a minimum size f.5 mm failed t islate any fragments f artefactual rigin. 3.3 ~ Z This excavatin area was lcated n level grund 38.m t the west f Barrw B. The sil prfile was in general terms similar t that in the nrthern half f Area 1 cnsisting f apprximately.2dm f dark brwn humic plughsil abve a reddish-brwn stny subsil. Excavatin revealed n identifiable erded barrw material and finds were limited t a small number f mdern pttery and glass fragments. N features f archaelgical significance were revealed. 4 The Watching Brief 4.1 A watching brief was carried ut by the writer n September 2nd 1992 at the time f mechanical tpsil stripping alng the wayleave in the vicinity f the barrws. The expsed subsil the excavated sectins and the excavated tpsi 1 were examined as clsely as was pssible fr any archaelgical features that might be assciated with the barrws. The results f this examinatin were negative apart frm the bservatin that there was a 2

7 ntic~able and perhaps significantly higher incidence f chert fragments alng apprximately a loom length f the wayleave t the east f Barrw A. Nne f these fragments hwever shwed any signs f having been wrked manually and althugh they culd be interpreted as naturally-depsited till material it is als pssible that they represent flint-wrking debris. 4.2 The secnd stage f the watching brief was cnducted by a member f CPAT's staff n Octber 23rd 1992 alng part f the same sectin f the wayleave at the time f mechanical excavatin f the pipeline trench. Again n features f archaelgical significance were nted the trench passing thrugh undisturbed sands and gravels. Acknw ledgrnts The Clwyd-Pwys Archaelgical Trust wuld like t acknwledge the assistance prvided by bth Hr Peter Jnes and Hr Leslie Frankland f Wa11ace Evans during the curse f the these investigatins. Reference Rudefrth C.C. Hartnup R. Lea J.W. Thmpsn T.R.E. and Wright P.S SjJs.and Thejr l!..s..e..s. in. Wales (Si 1 Survey f England and Wales Harpenden) 3