The Proposed Extension of Elvaston Quarry. Archaeological Report. Annex III - Archaeological Field Evaluation at Elvaston, Derbyshire, Phase 2

This report was commissioned by Tarmac Quarry Products Limited in respect of a proposed extension of a sand and gravel extraction site at Elvaston Quarry, Derbyshire. ARCUS were commissioned to undertake this study in February 1995. The archaeological potential of the Elvaston area was reviewed in a Desk-based Assessment and an Archaeological Field Evaluation (AFE) was recommended, to establish the archaeological potential of the site, and to allow subsequent archaeological work to be implemented as necessary. The AFE was carried out in two phases: Phase I included an Air Photograph Assessment, Walkover Survey, Earthwork Survey, an Auger Survey, and an analysis of the subsurface gravel topography. In Phase II the feasibility of three methods of palaeoenvironmental analysis was assessed: Pollen Analysis, Fossil Insect Analysis, and Plant Macrofossil Analysis. In addition to this, Sedimentology and Radiocarbon Dating were employed in order to establish the chronological and depositional context of the results from these methods. Desk-top Assessment_ Villages within the Elvaston parish were found to date to Early Medieval origins, although Anglo-Saxon place names suggest earlier settlement. Elvaston Castle with its fine landscaped gardens, is the result of nineteenth century remodelling of a seventeenth century manor house. Areas not subject to landscaping have been intensively farmed since the Early Medieval period, giving rise to the most prominent characteristic of the known archaeology of the application area - the preserved ridge and furrow. Although much of the ridge and furrow has been eroded by subsequent ploughing, and is often obscured by alluvial deposits, a proportion of the Elvaston medieval farming landscape survives in the form of high quality upstanding earthworks. The most important factor to be highlighted by the desk-top study was the extent to which alluviation of the Lower Derwent plain is likely to impede our ability to determine the character and extent of archaeological deposits within the application area. An unknown number of features of archaeological significance may occur on the gravels below up to 2m cover of subsequent alluvial deposition. Phase I_ The air-photo investigation delineated the areas of medieval land use, in the form of ridge and furrow. Much of the earthworks were shown to have been eroded by subsequent land use and flooding. The majority of the features observed during the earthwork survey were ridge and furrow, in varying degrees of preservation. The pasture land south of the River Derwent in the eastern portion of the application area (extraction) contained moderately-preserved remains of ridge and furrow field systems. Both of these areas are now protected on the river side by artificial levées which prevent flooding. The exact date of the levées is not known, but from cartographic evidence they can probably be dated to between 1836 and 1879. Some of the levées overlie, and thus post-date, the ridge and furrow. Several unidentifiable features (dips, hollows etc. ) were noted in fields throughout the application area, although no identifiable traces of settlement activity were observed. The results of the auger programme suggest that either palaeochannel II does not exist, or that all significant evidence has been eroded by the later river channel. It is most likely that the deposits found during the auger survey represent a cut off meander from a Mid-late Holocene course of the river Derwent, which is only incident on the proposed extraction area at this point. A comprehensive gravel surface topography map was provided by Tarmac, based on their borehole data. This proved useful in both locating palaeochannels, and assessing the probable locations of archaeological features such as settlement remains.