Grayson Road, Wingfield, Rotherham: Trial Trench Evaluation Report

Five trenches were mechanically excavated to investigate the archaeological potential of the Site. No previous geophysical survey had been conducted so the trenches were positioned across the Site to evaluate a 4% sample of the Site. In all five trenches, the area had been largely stripped to natural geology, prior to the deposition of demolition material to form made ground on which gravel and tarmac surfaces were laid. The earliest material within the trenches represented the secondary deposition of artefacts manufactured in the late 19th to 20th century. Ceramic evidence dating to the late 20th century was also recovered from the same deposits, however, which indicates that much of the demolition material likely relates to relatively recent activity on the Site. A modern crisp packet was present within Trench 1, which could have come from animal burrowing, but which suggests some of the groundworks occurred during the 21st century. Trench 2 contained a drain constructed during the first half of the 20th century, potentially related to the earlier use of the Site as a nursery. The presence of slag, recovered from the drain and also present in a cinder-rich deposit overlying the drain, indicates ironworking in the region of the Site at some point within the post-medieval period, but no archaeological remains directly associated with industrial activity were encountered during the evaluation. Trench 3 contained direct evidence for the demolition of previous remains, with toothed bucket marks visible within the underlying geology indicating the position of probable wall footings or former drains. The rubble probable derived from the former nursery structures, suggesting that this work had happened during the later 20th century, with the two north-south access roads and the yard on the southern side of the Site present on aerial photographs by the end of the 20th century (Google 2025). The demolition deposits increased in depth towards the south and east of the Site, with Trenches 4 and 5 measuring up to 1m in depth. The field to the south-east of the Site was located below the level of the Site, suggesting that the landscaping was conducted to create a level foundation for the yard.