Evaluation at Land at the former Great Western Yard (Southern Phase), Gloucester, Gloucestershire: Archaeological Evaluation

The evaluation fieldwork comprised the excavation of six trenches in the locations shown on the attached plan. Due to the presence of live services, extant buildings, culverts and subterranean fuel tanks, all of the excavated trenches were re-located, shortened or split from their originally proposed positions (as outlined in the WSI), with the approval of Mr Armstrong. In July 2025, Cotswold Archaeology carried out an archaeological evaluation of land at the former Great Western Yard (Southern Phase), Great Western Road, Gloucester, Gloucestershire. A total of six trenches were excavated. The evaluation identified evidence of significant modern truncation in the south-western and south-eastern parts of the site, seemingly associated with the 19th and 20th-century development of the Great Western Road/Horton Road railway depot. However, in situ soils were identified in three trenches excavated in the north-western part of the site, suggesting that the extent and depth of this truncation is variable. A number of structures relating to the Great Western Road/Horton Road railway depot were also identified in trenches excavated in the south-western and south-eastern parts of the site. One of these structures, identified in a trench excavated in the south-western part of the site, correlated closely to part of a building shown at the confluence of a number of railway sidings on the 1883 First Edition Ordnance Survey (OS) map and it may therefore represent a signal box or similar. Four seemingly similar brick-built structures were identified in trenches excavated in the far south-western and south-eastern parts of the site. These structures comprised broadly north-west/south-east aligned brick walls with an associated internal gap, which in the cases of two of the identified structures contained a surviving floor/surface. The form of these structures, along with their similar orientation to the railway sidings shown on historic mapping within the site, suggests that they most likely represent inspection pits for rolling stock. An undated ditch terminal was identified beneath the surviving subsoil in a trench excavated in the north-western part of the site. Whilst the exact function of this features remains unclear, it would seem likely that it pre-dates the 19th and 20th-century development of the railway depot.