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Report Title

St Paul's Churchyard, Bedford, Bedfordshire: Archaeological Field Evaluation

Publisher and Publication Year

Albion Archaeology - 2004

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Summary

Non-Technical Summary A pre-application enquiry was made by Bedford Borough Council regarding construction of a new access route into St Paul's Churchyard, St Paul's Square, Bedford. This w involve works in and adjacent to the churchyard including the removal of a large mound of unknown origin. A brief was issued by Bedfordshire County Council's County Archaeological Officer (BCC's CAO), recognising that further information on the mound and the stratigraphy of the churchyard was required. Albion Archaeology was subsequently commissioned by Bedford Design Group to undertake the evaluation of the site, and to prepare a report on the results. St Paul's Churchyard is located in the middle of St Paul's Square in the centre of the historic core of Bedford c.100m north of the river Great Ouse. The development area is centred at National Grid Reference (NGR) TL 0498 4970. Numerous excavations and discoveries of archaeological material have been made within the immediate vicinity spanning the prehistoric to post-medieval periods. Two trenches were excavated: one across the mound and one within the footprint of the proposed new access route into the churchyard. Trench 1 revealed several deposits which collectively made up the mound. Artefactual material recovered from these indicated that the mound was formed during the 19th century. A large limestone slab was also observed beneath the mound. Five graves thought to date to the 18th and 19th centuries were observed in Trench 2. These were sealed by a topsoil layer and truncated a relatively thick layer of overburden. The evaluation demonstrated the nature, depth and condition of these features. It also indicated the potential for multiple burials at various depths within the development area. Most archaeological investigations within the vicinity of the churchyard have revealed partially truncated archaeological remains. This investigation has revealed graves that have not been subject to the same level of modern truncation, due to the depth at which they occur. This indicates that the development area retains a high archaeological potential. Albion Archaeology St Paul's Churchyard, Bedford, Bedfordshire Archaeological Field Evaluation 5 1. INTRODUCTION

Table of Contents

List of Figures.....................................................................................................................................2 Preface.................................................................................................................................................3 Structure of this Report.....................................................................................................................3 Key Terms...........................................................................................................................................3 Non-Technical Summary...................................................................................................................4 1. INTRODUCTION...................................................................................... 5 1.1 Planning Background ..........................................................................................................5 1.2 Site Location and Description.............................................................................................5 2. ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL BACKGROUND .................... 6 2.1 Method Statement................................................................................................................6 2.2 Previous Archaeological Investigations..............................................................................6 2.3 Sites and Monuments Records (SMR) ...............................................................................6 3. TRIAL TRENCH EXCAVATION .............................................................. 9 3.1 Introduction..........................................................................................................................9 3.2 Aims and Method Statement...............................................................................................9 3.3 Results...................................................................................................................................9 4. SYNTHESIS........................................................................................... 12 4.1 Significance of Results .......................................................................................................12 4.2 Summary.............................................................................................................................13 5. BIBLIOGRAPHY.................................................................................... 14 6. APPENDIX............................................................................................. 16 6.1 Trench And Context Summaries......................................................................................16 6.2 Artefact Assemblage ..........................................................................................................19 Table 1: Artefact Summary.............................................................................................................19 Table 2: Pottery fabric types and contexts.....................................................................................20 6.3 HER and Cartographic sources........................................................................................22

Headings

Preface
Key Terms
Non-Technical Summary
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 Planning Background
1.2 Site Location and Description
2. ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
2.1 Method Statement
2.2 Previous Archaeological Investigations
2.3 Sites and Monuments Records (SMR)
2.3.1 Prehistoric (before AD43)
2.3.2 Roman (AD43 ­ c.AD450)
2.3.3 Anglo Saxon (AD 410 ­ 1066)
2.3.4 Medieval (AD1066 ­ AD1550)
2.3.5 Post Medieval (AD1550 ­ AD1900)
3. TRIAL TRENCH EXCAVATION
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Aims and Method Statement
3.3 Results
3.3.1 Trench 1 (Figure 2)
3.3.2 Trench 2 (Figure 3)
Graves
Modern Pit
4. SYNTHESIS
4.1 Significance of Results
4.2 Summary
5. BIBLIOGRAPHY
6. APPENDIX
6.1 Trench And Context Summaries
6.2 Artefact Assemblage
6.2.1 Introduction
6.2.2 Pottery
6.2.3 Ceramic Building Material
6.2.4 Other Artefacts
6.2.5 Ecofactual Evidence
6.3 HER and Cartographic sources
6.3.1 Historic Environment Record (HER) data
Roman
BLARS
Clapham
5 Km