Permitted Development Areas, Cotswold Visual Impact Provision Project, Gloucestershire

The evaluation fieldwork comprised the excavation of a total of 212 trenches, including: " 131no. 50m x 1.8m trenches; " 76no. 30m x 1.8 trenches " 4no. 20m x 1.8m trenches; and " 1no. 10m x 1.8m trench. The trenches were located to test geophysical anomalies and to provide a representative sample of the remainder of the site. With the approval of GCCAS, the locations of the following trenches varied from that agreed in the WSI, due to on-site constraints: " Trench 26 (Field N2) was moved to the west to avoid a steep slope; " Trench 73 (Field N18) was shortened to 10m length due to health and safety considerations during machine excavation; " Trench 82 (Field N21) was altered to a north-east/south-west alignment to avoid an area of potential asbestos contamination identified during a preceding borehole survey. Two trenches within Field N20 were not excavated during the current evaluation due to access constraints. Trenches were set out and overburden was stripped from the trenches by a mechanical excavator fitted with a toothless grading bucket. All machining was conducted under archaeological supervision to the top of the natural substrate, which was the level at which archaeological features were first encountered. Archaeological features/deposits were investigated, planned and recorded. Deposits were assessed for their palaeoenvironmental potential and samples were taken and a total of 20 environmental bulk samples were recovered and processed. Between September 2024 and February 2025, Cotswold Archaeology carried out an archaeological evaluation of areas proposed for permitted development as part of the Cotswolds Visual Impact Provision Project (the 'Cotswolds VIP Project'), Gloucestershire. A total of 212 trenches were excavated. Archaeological features were identified within distinct parts of the site, generally correlating closely to the results of preceding geophysical surveys. The evaluation identified two main areas of activity, in the northern and south-eastern parts of the scheme, respectively, with the recovered artefactual assemblage suggesting dating of between the Late Iron Age and Early Roman periods. Within the northern part of the site, an area of rectilinear enclosures and extensive pitting was recorded. Three enclosures, a linear boundary, and a total of 48 pits were identified. Late Iron Age pottery was recovered from throughout these features, and the environmental assemblage suggests nearby settlement activity. In the south-eastern part of the site, adjacent to the known site of Waltham Roman Villa, at least four large enclosures (including one of possible 'banjo' form) and trackways were identified, along with localised areas of pitting and postholes. The recovered artefactual assemblage suggests Late Iron Age to Early Roman dating for these features, with later Roman material potentially indicating that the area was utilised as part of the villa estate into the 4th century AD. The environmental assemblage suggests nearby settlement, crop processing and possible light industrial activity. The remaining areas of the scheme were largely devoid of archaeology, with only a few, mostly undated and isolated features, and some evidence of modern stone quarrying recorded.