DBA/HIA: The primary objective of this desk-based assessment is to assess the impact of the development proposals on the historic environment. This will help inform future decision making, design solutions and potential mitigation strategies. The aim is to make full and effective use of existing information in establishing the archaeological significance of the site, to elucidate the presence or absence of archaeological material, its character, distribution, extent, condition and relative significance. The work includes a comprehensive assessment of regional context within which the archaeological evidence rests and aims to highlight any relevant research issues within national and regional research frameworks. This report provides information of sufficient detail to allow informed planning decisions to be made which can safeguard the archaeological resource. Preservation in situ has been advocated where at all possible, but where engineering or other factors could result in the loss of archaeological deposits, preservation by record has been recommended. Unfortunately, due to social distancing and other mitigation measures arising from the Covid-19 pandemic, Regional and National archive offices are currently closed. This means that it has not been possible to undertake archive visits within the timeframe of this deskbased assessment. Section 14 below provides a representative list of documentary sources available in such archives, which are not accessible currently. Nevertheless, the most relevant archive materials to this desk-based assessment, such as antiquarian maps, have been sourced and viewed online and the information contained within them, incorporated into this assessment. Other archival materials, not available online, do not relate directly to the proposed development site itself, but more generally to Longtown and Longtown Castle and their relevance to the current report is limited. It is therefore considered that the impact of the temporary closure of local and national archive offices has been minimal on this report. EV: From the 16th to 19th November 2020 Archaeology Wales carried out an archaeological trenching evaluation, comprising 5 1.8m x 20m long trenches, on land southeast of Greyhound Close within the village of Longtown, Herefordshire. The agreed evaluation trenches were positioned to maximise the retrieval of archaeological information, and to ensure that the archaeological resource was fully understood. It was proposed that five trenches, measuring 20 metres in length and 1.8 metres in width, were machine-excavated within the planned development area. The locations and dimensions of the trenches were agreed with HA prior to the commencement of works. The presence of high voltage cables and other underground services meant that limited on site adjustments needed to be made. The archaeological trenching evaluation comprised 5 trenches (TR1-5). A further GI Test Pit (TP6) was excavated in the centre of the site and monitored by AW archaeologists. All trenches were intended to be 20m in length and 1.8m in width. The proposed locations of the trenches were as follows: Trench 1 was parallel and adjacent to the western boundary of the site, located over the extant earthwork bank (PRN 31927) in a NW-SE orientation; Trench 2 was located east of Trench 1, on a N-S orientation; Trench 3 was located in the centre of the site, towards the eastern boundary on an NW-SE orientation and located over the projected line of the field boundary earthwork; Trench 4 was located in the northern part of the site, on an W-E orientation; Trench 5 was located near the NW end of the site on a N-S orientation.
John Davey (Wed,) studied this question.