Desk Based Assessment at Newent Station and Herefordshire and Gloucestershire Canal

Avon Archaeology Limited has been commissioned by the Herefordshire and Gloucestershire Canal Trust to undertake an Archaeological Desk-Based Assessment relating to land at Newent in Gloucestershire. The primary objective was to assess the potential impact of the proposed development on the historic environment by means of a detailed analysis of previous sources and a site visit. The aim was to make full and effective use of existing information in establishing the archaeological significance of the site, to elucidate the presence of historic landscapes, archaeological sites, structures and deposits, its character, distribution, extent, condition and relative significance. Avon Archaeology Limited were commissioned by the Herefordshire and Gloucestershire Canal Trust to produce an archaeological desk-based assessment relating to land at Newent Station and the Herefordshire and Gloucestershire Canal. The proposal was for the restoration of a 1.4km stretch of canal on the north side of the B4221 and B4215 between Newent and Oxenhall. The 'Study Area' is therefore in effect linear and not areal. There was some evidence for remnant ridge and furrow to the south-east of the site, outside of the red-line boundary, and the former grounds of Newent Court fall inside the site boundary in the area of the proposed basin. A trawl of the Gloucestershire HER did not identify any further assets other than the original canal and disused railway that might present potential implications for the project as currently framed. This assessment found that the archaeological potential of the route of the canal is likely to be low to moderate.