Project Bluestone, Pembrokeshire

The survey was undertaken in accordance with the Specification as well as the Codes of Conduct and Practice and relevant Standards and Guidance of the Institute of Field Archaeologists. The surface collection survey was undertaken by four experienced staff, walking lanes at 25m intervals, aligned with Ordnance Survey grid north. Finds were recovered and bagged in 25m stints. Each lane was lettered (A to L) and each stint within the lane given a numeric suffix (1 to 12). The grid was laid out on both axes with canes at 25m intervals with backmarkers to ensure that the walkers remained on line. Each lane was recorded on a pro-forma Fieldwalking Record Sheet, with details of weather, field conditions and retention, sampling or disposal as appropriate. These sheets are held in the archive. With the exception of manifestly modern land drain fragments and other modern artefacts (plastic, shotgun cartridges etc), all artefacts observed were recovered for each stint. Digital colour photographs were also taken to record walking conditions. The weather conditions were generally overcast but dry during the surface collection, although low glancing sunlight affected visibility to a certain degree during the detailed gridded collection. This did not, however, appear to be detrimental to the level of finds recovery. The project included the contingency for detailed gridded survey, should significant concentrations of artefacts be identified. At the location of each concentration, a square 40m wide was set out, divided into a grid of 10m squares. The whole surface of each square was searched for artefacts. A total of 5 detailed grids, out of a possible 10, were utilised during the course of the project. These were located immediately to the west (2 grids) and east (3 grids) of Newton North church in Fields 2 and 8 respectively. No prehistoric material was recovered during the course of the survey. Two Roman sherds were recovered representing two vessels, but the absence of further sherds dating to a period generally rich in artefactual remains suggests that there is no occupation within the immediate area. The medieval, post-medieval and modern ceramic distribution densities were remarkably similar and clearly reflect continuing usage of the church between the 12th and 19th centuries. The concentrations appear to be entirely associated with the church, rather than other factors such as the migration of artefacts downslope through the combined effects of colluviation and ploughing. No significant concentrations were present in Fields 1, 2 or 3 and Field 14 could not be surveyed due to dense crop cover. With the exception of the area immediately to the east of Newton North church in Field 8, no clearly defined areas of potential archaeological significance have been identified as a result of the surface collection survey. Despite the poor to moderate collection conditions the evidence of the fieldwalking suggests that, outside of the western part of Field 8, there is little potential for the presence of archaeologically significant deposits within the study area.