A b
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Northamptonshire Archaeology
A Geophysical Survey
on land at Weston Favell Upper School,
Northampton,
Northamptonshire
September 2005
Adrian Butler & Ian Fisher
September 2005
Report 05/116
____________________________________________________________________________________________
Northamptonshire Archaeology 2 Bolton House
Wootton Hall Park Northampton NN4 8BE
w. www.northantsarchaeology.co.uk t. 01604 700493/4
f. 01604 702822
e. sparry@northamptonshire.gov.uk
NORTHAMPTONSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGY
NORTHAMPTONSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL
SEPTEMBER 2005
A GEOPHYSICAL SURVEY
ON LAND AT WESTON FAVELL UPPER SCHOOL,
NORTHAMPTON, NORTHAMPTONSHIRE
AUGUST 2005
Report 05/116
STAFF
Project Manager Adrian Butler BSc MA AIFA
Fieldwork Adrian Butler & Ian Fisher BSc
Text and illustrations Adrian Butler & Ian Fisher
QUALITY CONTROL
Print name Date
Checked by Adrian Butler September 2005
Approved by Andy Chapman September 2005
CONTENTS
1 INTRODUCTION 1
2 TOPOGRAPHY AND GEOLOGY 1
3 ARCHAEOLOGICAL BACKGROUND 2
4 METHODOLOGY 2
5 SURVEY RESULTS 2
6 CONCLUSION 3
BIBLIOGRAPHY 3
Figures
Fig 1 Site Location 1:5000
Fig 2 Detailed Gradiometer Survey Results 1:1000
Fig 3 Detailed Gradiometer Survey Results with Interpretation 1:1000
A GEOPHYSICAL SURVEY ON LAND AT WESTON FAVELL UPPER SCHOOL
NORTHAMPTON, NORTHAMPTONSHIRE
AUGUST 2005
ABSTRACT
Northamptonshire Archaeology conducted a geophysical survey, on behalf of GallifordTry Construction, on land with an area of approximately 0.5ha at Weston Favell Upper School, Booth Lane South, Northampton, Northamptonshire. The survey revealed the location of a buried linear pipe.
1 INTRODUCTION
Northamptonshire Archaeology conducted geophysical survey in August 2005 on land with an area
of approximately 0.5ha at Weston Favell Upper School, Booth Lane South, Northampton, Northamptonshire (NGR SP 7884 6300, Fig 1), designated for the demolition of the existing school buildings and erection of new 1, 2, & 3-storey school buildings, associated works and facilities. The work was undertaken on behalf of GallifordTry Construction, at the request of Myk Flitcroft, Archaeological Planning Officer NCC, for a programme of works to investigate the archaeological resource of the site prior to development. The survey forms part of an ongoing programme of archaeological assessment and will be followed by trial excavation.
2 TOPOGRAPHY AND GEOLOGY
The proposed site is located on a small parcel of land in the south-east corner of the school playing field. The survey area is bounded by a metal fence to the north-east, tennis courts and hardstanding to the south-east and carparking to the south-west. Visual inspection of the site suggests that it has been graded flat in the past.
A conversation with a geotechnician monitoring ground methane levels revealed the likely existence of infilled ponds and buried sewer pipelines on site.
The solid geology of the site comprises Northampton Sand & Ironstone (Geological Survey of Great Britain (England & Wales) Solid & Drift Sheet 185, 1990).
WESTON FAVELL SCHOOL, NORTHAMPTONSHIRE
3 ARCHAEOLOGICAL BACKGROUND
The proposed development is in an area of archaeological interest. Archaeological remains of Roman date have been identified on the site in the 1970s with further evidence for Roman period activity exisiting on other sites in the immediate vicinity. A possible ring ditch or circular enclosure (SMR ref 5164/0/1) was identified within the eastern part of the school.
4 METHODOLOGY
Gradiometer Survey
All magnetometer survey was undertaken using Bartington Grad601-2 fluxgate gradiometers. The Grad601-2 is constructed as a dual-sensor instrument with two vertical gradiometers separated on a yoke to enable two lines of survey to be recorded in tandem.
A total of six separate 30m x 30m grid-squares, totalling c 0.5ha, were surveyed in detail. Each grid square was traversed at rapid walking pace in zigzag traverses spaced at 1m intervals. To increase the information retrieval from this possibly compromised site, eight readings were automatically recorded every metre (every 0.125m) along the traverse. All fieldwork was carried out in accordance with English Heritage and the Institute of Field Archaeologists Guidelines (EH 1995 & Gaffney, Gater and Ovendon 2002).
The data was analysed using Geoplot 3.00p software. Low (negative) magnetism is shown as white
and high (positive) magnetism as black in the resultant greyscale plots. To avoid the introduction of biase, minimal processing was carried out on the data. The �Zero Mean Traverse� function was applied in order to bring the average level of each line of data into a balanced zero.
The processed data is presented here in the form of greyscale highlighting the weaker magnetic anomalies (-10nT / +10nT scale, Fig 2) and interpretive plots (Fig 3) and are referred to directly in the following Survey Results section.
5 SURVEY RESULTS
A number of magnetic anomalies were detected on the site (Fig 2 & 3). The most apparent is the highly magnetic, north-east to south-west linear anomaly which represents a buried pipeline. Intensely positive and negative magnetic regions on the north-eastern and south-eastern margins of the area were magnetic interference from modern iron fencelines.
Sporadic high intensity anomalies detected throughout the remainder of the area are likely to reflect
WESTON FAVELL SCHOOL, NORTHAMPTONSHIRE
buried ferrous and brick debris.
6 CONCLUSION
Magnetic survey of land at Weston Favell Upper School revealed the location of a pipeline. The survey did not reveal any significant archaeological remains. The absence of archaeological features may be due to the survey area being landscaped to provide a flat playing field.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bartington, G, and Chapman, C E, 2004 A High-stability Fluxgate Magnetic Gradiometer for Shallow Geophysical Survey Applications, Archaeol Prospect 11, 1, 19-34
English Heritage 1995 Geophysical Survey in Archaeological Field Evaluation, Research and Professional Services Guideline, 1
Gaffney, C, Gater, J, and Ovendon, S, 2002 The Use of Geophysical Techniques in Archaeological Evaluations, Institute of Field Archaeologists Technical Paper, 6
Northamptonshire Archaeology
A service of Northamptonshire County Council 1st September 2005
Northamptonshire
NORTHAMPTON
785 787 789 791 6
30
St Gregory's 24
10
RC Lower School 15
22 24
17
19
11
18
13
34
7
24
1
1 9
2
29 19
14
El Sub Sta 13
110
Northampton College 7
14
13
10
11
26
15
The Arbours 20
Lower School 16
60
97
633 4 8 2 The Cottage 59 66 1 3 7 8 95 21
93
Russell House
The Lodge
Weston Favell Lodge 92
21
22
26
Community Centre
24
67
89
17
17
30 St Mary's RC Middle School
88 32
52 13
28 70 1
6
10
11
72
13
85
75
74
76
16 81 84
46
1
3
9
10 43
42
1
1 3 8
1 5
4
5
5
4
4
631 2
Baptist Chapel
Weston Favell
33 38 Upper School
40
27
38 32
39
37 36
1
23 28
34
32
PO
13
20 Weston Favell Upper School
80
27
13
193
22
23
76
27 12
629 99 53
3
95
13
39 12
The Clicker 2
93
(PH)
140
Key 152
74
60
85
1 93
53
2
109 54
57Area of Survey
75
72
77
63 19
17
13 15
7 9
Headlands
Lower School 48
75 79
� Crown copyright. All rights reserved.
Northamptonshire County Council Licence No. 100019331 Published 2005 32 65 75 63 63 51 40 46 44
66
65
58
83
36
51
2
Scale 1:5000 Fig 1
788 789
110
633
The Cottage 112
Russell
House
The Lodge
Weston Favell Lodge
Community Centre
46
631
Magnetic Anomalies +10nT (black)
/ -10nT (white) N
� Crown copyright. All rights reserved.
Northamptonshire County Council Licence No. 100019331 Published 2005
Fig 2 Detailed Gradiometer Survey Results
788 789
110
633
The Cottage 112
Russell
House
The Lodge
Weston Favell Lodge
Community Centre
46
631
Key
Buried Pipeline
Interference from fenceline Buried ferrous and brick debris N
� Crown copyright. All rights reserved.
Northamptonshire County Council Licence No. 100019331 Published 2005
Fig 3 Detailed Gradiometer Survey Results with Interpretation