Evesham Street, Alcester, Warwickshire: archaeological evaluation

An archaeological evaluation was undertaken at Evesham Street, on land to the rear of 30 Hadrians Walk, Alcester, Warwickshire to support a planning application for the erection of four new dwellings. An archaeological assessment of the proposal site had determined there was a high potential for significant Roman deposits to exist in the site based on the results of archaeological investigations in the surrounding area and recommended that an archaeological field evaluation be carried out to determine if any would be impacted by the proposed development. The site had previously been impacted by the construction of a railway cutting in the 19th century. Three 15m long trial trenches were excavated under archaeological supervision. A trench outside the former railway cutting was devoid of archaeological evidence. The trench positioned within the cutting nearest the road bridge revealed modern backfill which contained abraded Roman pottery. There was no suggestion that the Roman pottery was originally deposited within the bounds of the site. The third trench revealed backfilled redeposited natural and was fully investigated.