Library

Areas B-E of Baston (No. 2) Quarry, Langtoft, Lincolnshire, were excavated in stages between 2001 and 2003 by the Cambridge Archaeological Unit (CAU). These areas together form a contiguous, L-shaped swathe of 7.3ha (fig. 2), immediately to the south of the previously investigated Area A. The fieldwork was carried out on behalf of Hanson Aggregates Plc in advance of gravel extraction. The excavation results presented in this report will be incorporated into the forthcoming publication of all CAU investigations in the Langtoft area. This publication will more fully discuss the wider context and significance of the later prehistoric settlement and salt-making in Areas B-E.

An archaeological watching brief was carried out on behalf of Hanson Aggregates Pic on land off Cross Road, Langtoft, Lincolnshire (centred TF 147/137) between 27th April and 26th May 2001. A total area of c. 250m east�west by 50m north�south was stripped under archaeological supervision in advance of gravel quarrying. The results of the watching brief are fully presented in this report, and will be set into their wider context by the forthcoming publication of all CAU investigations at Langtoft.

This report outlines the results of a seven week-long excavation in the winter of 2003/04 on the main eastern entranceway of Arbury Camp - a great Iron Age ringwork located on heavy, third terrace sub-soils along the north side of Cambridge (at c. 12.5m OD; TL 44366142). Commencing in December of 2003, after some four weeks, the work had to be interrupted due to the height and sheer volume of the groundwater (it was also a cold winter and often the ditches froze overnight). Eventually a return was made to the site in April, when the conditions were such that the excavations could be successfully completed. Whilst the excavations occurred anticipating development within the immediate area (with the work funded throughout by Gallagher Estates Ltd.), the development plans do not entail any further destruction of the enclosure's circuit and, particularly, its entranceway. Rather, the work arose due to the fact that previous investigations had demonstrated that the main ditch fills were waterlogged at this point and, therefore, any substantive building in the area would threaten the survival of these deposits.

Archaeological evaluation by trial trenching was undertaken by a team from Cambridge Archaeological Unit on c.200ha of land south of Broom village, Bedfordshire (centred NGR 172 419) between September 16th and November 10th 2004. The work was commissioned by Andrew Josephs on behalf of Tarmac Southern Ltd to form part of an Environmental Impact Assessment in advance of a planning application for gravel extraction. It followed an initial assessment of the site by aerial photographic survey and aimed to determine the presence, absence, date, extent, state of preservation and significance of archaeological remains. Twelve concentrations of archaeology were defined (Sites 1-12) spanning the later Bronze Age to Saxon periods. In addition, a dispersed Neolithic and Bronze Age presence and Romano-British droveways and fields and later quarrying were identified.

On 12 January 2005 one trench of c. 24 m2 was opened in the back garden of the Medical Research Council offices on 15 Chaucer Road, Cambridge. No archaeological features were recorded as a result of extensive 18th/19th-century quarrying activity.

On 10 and 19-20 January 2005, the Cambridge Archaeological Unit carried out an archaeological watching brief during the construction of new service trenches in the Cloister Court at Jesus College, Cambridge. During the work the remains of two clunch walls and a plastered wall with an associated clunch floor surface were revealed.

In January 2005 an archaeological evaluation was carried out at St. Edmund�s College, Cambridge. The site was situated just outside the main Roman settlement on Castle Hill, and in the immediate vicinity of the Roman road that was excavated at New Hall College and, more recently, on Trinity Hall Playing Fields, off Storey�s Way. It was therefore hoped that the results would shed more light on the dynamics of Roman Cambridge�s urban hinterland. A number of ditches and other cut features were revealed, but unfortunately most of them contained no datable evidence.

A watching brief was carried out in January 2005 on behalf of W. S. Atkins on the proposed route of the Addenbrookes link road, south of Cambridge. The work forms part of a series of ongoing landscape assessment projects carried out by the Cambridge Archaeological Unit (CAU) on the southern edge of Cambridge. This has so far consisted of desk top assessments for the Addenbrookes Environs and Clay Farm, fieldwalking, trial trenching and open area excavation, in particular the excavation of the Late Iron Age and Early Roman settlement and cemetery on the Addenbrookes Hospital Hutchinson site. As part of the wider Addenbrookes/Clay Farm investigation, Glebe Farm has already been the subject of a CAU desk top assessment and a CAU-commissioned geophysical survey, a brief summary of which only is given here. There are no recorded archaeological remains or artefacts within the fields subjected to test pitting, although they are surrounded by known sites and find spots on all sides except the south-west. Nearby prehistoric activity consists of flint scatters as well as later Bronze Age and Iron Age settlement. The Trumpington Park and Ride site immediately to the north-west of Glebe Farm revealed a concentration of Iron Age activity. Extensive Roman activity exists in the area, consisting of roads, settlement, cemetery, and at least one probable villa. Saxon and Medieval activity is also much attested to, although this largely clusters around the area of the parish church in Trumpington, and a little south of it on the Waitrose site. Aerial photography has revealed potential features within the Glebe Farm fields, although these have so far been interpreted as agricultural headlands and small-scale gravel/coprolite quarrying. The results of a magnetic susceptibility survey were ambiguous, although the conclusion was that some archaeological potential may be anticipated.

An appraisal of the archaeological evidence was commissioned by SLR Consulting on behalf of Hanson Building Products Ltd for land at King�s Dyke, Whittlesey in February 2005. The appraisal is intended to form part of an Environmental Impact Assessment in advance of a planning application for a sand and gravel processing plant and concrete block plant. This appraisal summarises known archaeology from within the proposed development area (PDA), and assesses the potential impact of over 50 years of industry on the site. This work supplements the results of earlier desk based assessments.

This document draws together information on a possible post alignment observed on the southern side of the old Must farm Quarry Pit, Whittlesey, Cambridgeshire. This assessment has been commissioned by Martin Redding, who found the timber work in 1999, and has inspected it several times since. This report also contains notes and photographs taken by Ben Robinson 1999, who saw the timbers when the water levels were lower than present and the timbers were still exposed. Following the review of evidence, the CAU retrieved timbers from the foreshore for radiocarbon dating, and excavated two trenches south to confirm the presence of any further wooden structures.

Archaeological excavation was undertaken by a team from Cambridge Archaeological Unit at Broom Quarry, Bedfordshire (centred TL 175 440) in August and September 2004. The work was commissioned by Tarmac Southern Ltd in advance of gravel extraction (Phase 9A) and followed an initial assessment by trial trenching (Cooper 2004a). It comprised four separate areas of open excavation, investigating a total of 0.61ha. These identified a broad scatter of Neolithic pits and tree throws, a concentration of Bronze Age pits and postholes, and Romano-British and later ditches.

The proposed development area (PDA) discussed in this report is the Must Farm portion of the 2005 HBP Must Farm and King�s Dyke Application Site. The PDA covers 132 hectares and is located immediately to the west of Whittlesey, Cambridgeshire (TL 230 970). It is bounded by the Peterborough/March railway to the north, the A605 to the southeast and agricultural land to the southwest. the programme of work involved a test pit survey, environmental trenching and evaluation trial trenching.