69 Bath Road, Thatcham, West Berkshire

An Archaeological Evaluation

for Renaissance Habitat

by Sian Anthony 

Thames Valley Archaeological Services Ltd

Site Code 69BRT04/112

November 2004

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Summary

Site name: 69 Bath Road, Thatcham, West Berkshire Grid reference: SU 50820 67650 Site activity: Evaluation Date and duration of project: 9th November 2004 Project manager: Steve Ford Site supervisor: Sian Anthony Site code: 69BRT04/112 Area of site: 510 sq m of total site area of 2300 sq m Summary of results: An undated gully and a possibly prehistoric posthole were located. A previous evaluation on an adjacent site revealed a gully of Roman date. Monuments identified: Gully and posthole Location and reference of archive: The archive is presently held at Thames Valley Archaeological Services, Reading and will be deposited at West Berkshire Museum in due course. This report may be copied for bona fide research or planning purposes without the explicit permission of the copyright holder Report edited/checked by: Steve Ford 12.11.04 Steve Preston 12.11.04

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69 Bath Road, Thatcham, West Berkshire An Archaeological Evaluation

by Sian Anthony

Report 04/112

Introduction

This report documents the results of an archaeological field evaluation carried out in the rear garden of 69 Bath

Road, Thatcham, West Berkshire (SU50820 67650) (Fig. 1). The work was commissioned by Mr Sean Bates,

Renaissance Habitat, Old Henwick Cottage, Ashmore Green Road, Henwick, West Berkshire, RG18 9EP.

A planning application (app no 04/02284/OUT/Maj) has been submitted to West Berkshire Council for the

construction of new apartments with basement carparking on a plot of land at 69–71A Bath Road. The fieldwork

described below assesses only part of the site, the rear garden of 69 Bath Road. An earlier evaluation took place

in the rear garden of 71A Bath Road and those results have been integrated with this report (Taylor 2002).

This is in accordance with the Department of the Environment’s Planning Policy Guidance, Archaeology

and Planning (PPG16 1990), and the West Berkshire County ’s policies on archaeology. The field investigation

was carried out to a specification approved by Mr Duncan Coe, Archaeological Officer, West Berkshire Council.

The fieldwork was undertaken by Sian Anthony and Sarah Coles on the 9th November 2004 and the site code is

69BRT04/112. The archive is presently held at Thames Valley Archaeological Services, Reading and will be

deposited at West Berkshire Museum in due course.

Location, topography and geology

The site is located on the western side of Thatcham, on the northern side of the Bath Road and south of

Whitakers Close (Fig. 2). The underlying geology of the site is river and valley gravels (BGS 1971), which was

observed in both trenches. The site lies at a height of 78.6m above Ordnance Datum.,Tthe site has been levelled

to form the garden but overall the site remains higher than the Bath Road to the south.

Archaeological background

The site lies within an area of Roman Thatcham. Various observations were made during development of the

area in the 1930s (Harris 1930; 1937) and revealed deposits spread over c. 600m along the Bath Road with some

stretching up to 150m away from the road to the north. Finds included footings for stone buildings, stone-lined

wells, and a flue. Dating evidence spans the 1st–4th centuries AD with an emphasis on a later Roman date.

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Harris concluded that this was the Roman town of Spinae sited on the Roman road from Silchester to

Cirencester: Margary route 41A (Margary 1973). However, Margary’s assessment of the distances recorded in

the Antonine Itinerary between Spinae or Spinis, Cirencester and Silchester would better fit with a location near

to the modern village of Speen, west of Newbury, which also has the attraction of the etymological similarity.

An evaluation on the western margins of Thatcham (now Henwick playing fields) carried out in 1992 located a

large number of Roman deposits including ditches, gullies, pits and postholes (Ford 1992) although a recent

evaluation north-west of the site revealed no archaeology (Pine 2004). Previous excavations on the western part

of the site located the terminal end of a north–south gully (Taylor 2002).

Objectives and methodology

The purpose of the evaluation was to determine the presence/absence, extent, condition, character, quality and

date of any archaeological deposits within the area of development.

Specific aims of the project are:

a) Determine if archaeologically relevant levels have survived on site.

b) Determine if archaeological deposits of any period are present on the site.

c) Determine if deposits forming part of the Roman settlement are present on the site.

Two trenches were proposed for excavation, sited to examine an area of the garden that could be accessed

at this time. Machining was to be supervised by an archaeologist and all spoil monitored. All archaeological

deposits to be hand cleaned and excavated.

A complete list of trenches giving lengths, breadths, depths and a description of sections and geology is

given in Appendix 1.

Results

Trench 1 (Plate 1)

This trench was located at the eastern limits of the garden, aligned south–north, it measured 9.6m long. The

stratigraphy consisted of turf and topsoil 0.58m deep lying over a mid brown-clayey silt subsoil 0.22m deep.

Undisturbed natural geology consisting of patches of gravel and sandy silt lay underneath. Two features were

located; a curvilinear gully [1] and a posthole [2]. The gully measured 0.30m wide and 0.16m deep and no finds

were recovered. The posthole measured 0.48m in diameter and 0.28m deep, however, there was considerable

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root action within the feature potentially making it larger than originally dug. A piece of prehistoric pottery was

recovered from the fill.

Trench 2 (Plate 2)

This trench was located at the eastern limits of the garden, aligned south–north, it measured 9.8m long. The

stratigraphy consisted of turf and topsoil 0.5m deep lying over a deep mid brown clayey silt subsoil 0.2m deep.

Undisturbed natural geology consisting of patches of gravel and sandy silt were again observed to lie underneath.

No archaeological features or finds were located and the only aspect of note was that the centre of the trench

showed a raised patch of natural gravel which was approximately 0.16m deep.

Finds

Pottery by Steve Ford One single sherd of pottery weighing 4g was recovered from posthole [2]. It was flint tempered, hand made with

a soft fabric, oxidised red brown on the outer surface and black on the inner. It is of prehistoric date, probably

later Bronze Age or early Iron Age in date.

Conclusion

This evaluation has located a modest amount of archaeology comprising a curvilinear gully and posthole. The

features were not closely dated (the gully was in fact undated) but they are certainly of archaeological interest.

The gully is likely to be of Roman date given its similarity to the one previously examined, but the presence of a

sherd of prehistoric pottery, even if residual in a feature of later date, may point to some Bronze Age activity in

the area also. These modest deposits also need to be considered and interpreted along with the findings of the

earlier evaluation to the rear of 71A Bath Road (Taylor 2002). For that evaluation again, only a modest amount

of archaeology was recorded comprising the terminal of a gully from which was recovered two pieces of pottery

dated to the Roman period. With the combination of the information of these two evaluations, it confirms the

identification of significant archaeological activity on this site either representing occupation (if the curvilinear

gully is the site of a roundhouse) or a series of paddocks or plot boundaries adjacent to an occupied area. Any

development on the site would need to take account of these remains. As the proposed development will include

deep basement carparking this will lead to the wholesale truncation of archaeological deposits.

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References

BGS, 1971, British Geological Survey, 1:50000, Sheet 267, Drift Edition, Keyworth Ford, S, 1992, ‘Henwick Lane, Thatcham, Berkshire, An archaeological evaluation’, Thames Valley

Archaeological Services report 92/1, Reading Harris, W E, 1930, ‘A Romano-British settlement at Thatcham Newtown, Berkshire’, Trans Newbury Dist Fld

Club, 6, 6–17 Harris, W E, 1937, ‘The Romano-British settlement at Thatcham Newtown, Berkshire’, Trans Newbury Dist Fld

Club, 7, 219–55 Margary, I D, 1973, Roman Roads in Britain (3rd Edition), London Pine, J, 2004, ‘Land to the rear of 21 Henwick Lane, Thatcham, Berkshire, An archaeological evaluation’,

Thames Valley Archaeological Services report 04/30, Reading Taylor, A, 2002, ‘Land to the rear of 71A Bath Road, Thatcham, Berkshire, An archaeological evaluation’,

Thames Valley Archaeological Services report 02/58, Reading PPG16, 1990, Archaeology and Planning, Dept of the Environment Planning Policy Guidance 16, HMSO

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APPENDIX 1: Trench details 0m at south end

Trench No. Length (m) Breadth (m) Depth (m) Comment 1 9.6 1.2 0.85 Turf and topsoil (0-0.58m), onto, mid brown clayey silt subsoil (0.58-

0.8m) onto undisturbed natural layers of gravel and silty clay. Gully 1 and posthole 2. [Plate 1]

2 9.8 1.2 0.85 Turf and topsoil (0-0.5m), onto, mid brown clayey silt subsoil (0.5-0.7m) onto undisturbed natural layers of gravel and silty clay. [Plate 2]

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APPENDIX 2: Feature details Trench Cut Fill (s) Type Date Dating evidence 1 1 52 Gully Undated - 1 2 53 Posthole Prehistoric Pottery

69 Bath Road, Thatcham, West Berkshire, 2004Archaeological Evaluation

Figure 1. Location of site within Thatcham andBerkshire.

Reproduced from Ordnance Survey Pathfinder 1187 SU46/56 at 1:12500

Ordnance Survey Licence AL100025880

67000

68000

SU50000 51000

SITE

69BRT04/112

SITE

69 Bath Road, Thatcham, West Berkshire, 2004Archaeological Evaluation

Figure 2. Location of site within Thatcham.

67600

SU50800 50900

67700

SITE

Previous evaluationin 2002

69BRT04/112

Scale 1:1250

N

Bath Road

7171A7375

Whitakers Close

69 Bath Road, Thatcham, West Berkshire, 2004

Trench 1

Trench 2

Figure 3. Detailed location of evaluation trenches including those excavated in 2002. 69BRT04/112

SU50800

67650

50850

67600

0m 50m

Trench 1

Trench 2

69

1

2

2002 evaluation

SITE

1

69 Bath Road, Thatcham, West Berkshire, 2004

69BRT04/112Figure 4. Plans and sections of features.

0 2.5m

2

1

50

51

52

53

0 5m

21

Trench 1

Trench 2

Dark grey gravelLight grey gravelSilty clay Silty clay

1m 6m

2m 7m

NN

E W

S N

(scale for plan only)

Plate 1. Trench 1 looking south, horizontal scales 1m and 0.5m.

Plate 2. Trench 2 looking south, scale 1m.

69BRT04-112