Archaeological Desk-Based Assessment for Sewer Renewal, Clipstone to Edwinstowe, Mansfield, Nottinghamshire

In October 2007, ARCUS were commissioned by Severn Trent Water to undertake an archaeological desk-based assessment on land between Old Clipstone and Edwinstowe, Nottinghamshire (SK 6024 6391 to SK 6243 6620). The assessment was required in association with a planning application for proposed sewer renewal, which would consist of replacing an existing sewer pipeline. The total length of sewer proposed to be re-sized and re-laid is c.3.47km. The desk-based assessment comprised a site visit, documentary and cartographic research. Known archaeological sites within 500m of the pipeline route include some fragmentary remains of Iron Age/Romano-British field boundaries recorded as cropmarks, and a few Romano-British artefacts and features suggestive of a settlement site. Medieval remains within the search area include at King Johns Palace, a medieval hunting lodge primarily used by the Plantagenet kings, which lies a short distance to the west of the pipeline route. The hunting lodge probably originated in the 12th century, and was regularly used into the 14th century, but appears to have rarely been visited in the 15th century, and was in a state of disrepair in the 16th century. The ruins are now a Scheduled Ancient Monument (SAM NT101). There was a large fish pond to the east of the lodge, which may also have been used to power a corn mill. A medieval mill was probably also located at Edwinstowe near the eastern end of the pipeline route. Iron forges and a slitting mill were built at Clipstone in the 17th century, one of which may have been close to Forge Bridge, a short distance to the north of the pipeline route. The marshy valley bottoms were drained and a catchwork system of water meadows was established on the valley sides in the 1830s, under the direction of the Duke of Portland, one of the largest such systems in the country. The River Maun near Edwinstowe was straightened in association with the drainage. Earthwork remains associated with the water meadows survive in the Dog and Duck Meadow, to the east of King Johns Palace. In other areas through which the pipeline passes, the drainage channels are visible as cropmarks or soil marks. Along the pipeline route, the area of greatest archaeological sensitivity is the Dog and Duck Meadow, with its earthwork water meadow features and the potential for the survival of buried remains associated with medieval activity. Buried remains pre- dating the water meadows are likely to have been disturbed by their construction. Other parts of the pipeline route have the potential for disturbing buried remains associated with the water meadows, the Romano-British field systems, and with the former route of the River Maun at Edwinstowe. The main impact on the remains is likely to occur during the excavation of the pipe trench, which may affect undisturbed ground outside the area previously affected by the original installation of the pipe. Further archaeological mitigation methods should be agreed with Nottinghamshire County Councils planning archaeologists prior to the commencement of groundworks.