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Report Title

Land at Grey's Farm, Kempston - Achaeological Field Evaluation

Publisher and Publication Year

Albion Archaeology - 2002

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Summary

Summary All figures are bound at the back of the report. Albion Archaeology Land at Grey's House, Kempston, Bedford Archaeological Field Evaluation 4 PrefaceNon-Technical Summary Albion Archaeology was commissioned by Mouchel Property Services, to undertake an archaeological evaluation of the site of a proposed car park extension on the area immediately to the west of Grey's House residential school, Manor Drive, Kempston. The site is situated at the western edge of the suburb of Kempston, Bedford, centred on National Grid Reference TL (5/2) 0272 4761. Situated at the edge of the built-up area, on higher ground overlooking a meander in the River Great Ouse, the site is located on gently sloping ground at c.30m above Ordnance Datum. The adjacent area contains evidence of human activity extending from the Mesolithic to the post-medieval period. The site is close to Kempston Manor, which during archaeological investigations in the mid 1990s, revealed evidence of Saxon-Norman structures and boundaries. Archaeological investigations in this area have also revealed evidence of substantial dumps of modern material, which have been used to raise the level of the ground. However, both the extent and thickness of such material is very variable. In response to the pre-application planning enquiry the Assistant County Archaeological Officer advised that the site was in an archeologically sensitive location, and that insufficient information was available to determine the impact of the proposal. In order to address this, a Brief was issued for an archaeological evaluation to determine the location, extent, nature and preservation of any remains, utilising a programme of trial excavation. In response Albion formulated a Project Design, which defined the scope and nature of the project. This was approved by the Assistant County Archaeological Officer, prior to the commencement of work. At the time of the evaluation the area of approximately 440 square metres was under grass. This grass was sub-divided into two areas by a pathway leading to Grey's House. The larger southern area was defined by a hedge to the west and car park with associated brick garages to the south. The grassed area was undulating, being approximately 0.5m lower than Manor Drive immediately beyond the hedge. The second area of grass was defined by the drive to the west and a car park to the north. Trial excavation of the site was undertaken on 22nd October 2002. In accordance with the approved trenching proposal, a single trench 11.5m long was opened across the southern grassed area. Immediately below the turf and topsoil horizon a cable duct was exposed, which truncated compact dumps of modern building debris. The debris included brick fragments, glass shards and plastic. At the ends of the trench, test pits were excavated through this material in order to investigate the thickness. This revealed between 0.4 and 0.55m of modern deposits, directly above undisturbed natural strata. This would indicate that as part of a construction programme, probably associated with building the school, the ground level was reduced to the undisturbed natural strata. Then dumps of building debris were used to raise the ground level. The area was then landscaped, with topsoil and turf being laid directly onto the undulating upper boundary of the building debris. The site archive, which contains all records of the project (Project number GHK 861), is currently held at St Mary's Church. It w eventually be transferred to Bedford Museum, under Accession Number BEDFM 2002/118. It is essential that the above summary is read in conjunction with the main body of the report. Albion Archaeology Land at Grey's House, Kempston, Bedford Archaeological Field Evaluation 6 1. INTRODUCTION3.1 Overview The adjacent area contains evidence of human activity extending from the Mesolithic to the post-medieval period, with evidence of Saxon-Norman structures and boundaries in the area to the north of the current site. However, the evaluation only identified material associated with modern disturbance, probably associated with construction of the adjacent school. This had removed the former soil horizons to the level of the natural strata, which was then buried under between 0.4 and 0.55m of compacted modern building. Topsoil and turf were then laid over this material, probably as part of a scheme of landscaping of the area. This indicates that modern material with a combined thickness of at least 0.6m had been deposited in this area. The evaluation has confirmed other observations made during archaeological observation in the area, where modern levelling deposits up to 1.2m thick have been recorded. Whilst it is possible that archaeological features can be preserved under this material, the test pits excavated at either end of the evaluation trench only revealed undisturbed natural strata. The sharp boundary with the overlying dumps indicates that an unknown thickness of this stratum had also been removed. Archaeological Field Evaluation 9 Albion Archaeology Land at Grey's House, Kempston, Bedford 4. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Table of Contents

1. INTRODUCTION 6 1.1 Background 6 1.2 Site Location and Description 6 2. RESULTS OF THE TRIAL EXCAVATION 7 2.1 Introduction 7 2.2 Methodology 7 2.3 Results of the Trial Excavation 7 3. CONCLUSION 9 3.1 Overview 9 4. BIBLIOGRAPHY 10

Headings

The Merton Centre
45 St Peter's Street
Summary
Preface
Structure of the Report
Key Terms
Non-Technical Summary
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background
1.2 Site Location and Description
2. RESULTS OF THE TRIAL EXCAVATION
2.1 Introduction
2.3 Results of the Trial Excavation
2.3.1 Topsoil
2.3.2 Modern Dumps
2.3.3 Modern Services
2.3.4 Natural Strata
3. CONCLUSION
3.1 Overview
4. BIBLIOGRAPHY
3 Natural strata Firm mid red orange clay
4 Dump material Loose light yellow white silty sand
7 Dump material Friable mid grey silty clay
8 Dump material Loose dark grey black sandy sand
9 Dump material Firm dark brown silty clay
Albion Archaeology