Pikes Hole to Springwell Pipeline, Springwell, Tyne and Wear: archaeological watching brief

The works comprised monitoring areas of ground reduction ahead of a pipeline installation to a service reservoir. A total of 43 pits and postholes were recorded across the site, dating from the early prehistoric period through to the post-medieval period. A total of eight gullies and ditches were recorded across the site. Two ring gullies, probably roundhouse eaves drip gullies, were recorded at the north of the site. One of the gullies dated to the Iron Age/Romano-British period. A stone road was recorded at the north of the site. This was post-medieval and reflects a former road recorded on Ordnance Survey (OS) maps. At the south-west of the site were a ditch and two parallel hedgerows. All probably reflect former field boundaries present on OS maps. Furrows, the remains of medieval or post-medieval ploughing, were recorded across the site cut into the natural subsoil on various alignments, reflecting multiple ploughing regimes. Palaeoenvironmental samples produced varying amounts of fuel waste from a mix of fuel types including coal, charcoal and charred heather. There is palaeoenvironmental evidence characteristic of several phases of activity including earlier prehistoric, Iron Age/Romano-British and medieval/post-medieval.