Land at Saltersford Lane, Chippenham, Wiltshire, Archaeological Evaluation (Phase 1)

The current, Phase 2, evaluation comprised the excavation of 12 trenches, each measuring 30m in length and 1.8m in width in the locations shown on the attached plan. The trenches were located to test geophysical anomalies identified during the preceding geophysical survey (SUMO 2022) and to provide a representative sample of the remainder of the site. The trenches were set out on OS National Grid co-ordinates using a Leica GPS unit. 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. Phase 1: In May 2023, Cotswold Archaeology carried out an archaeological evaluation of land at Saltersford Lane, Chippenham, Wiltshire. A total of seven trenches, representing the first phase of archaeological evaluation, were excavated within the southern field of the proposed development area. No features or deposits of archaeological significance were identified, rather evidence was encountered indicating that the southern-most field had been extensively truncated, most probably in association with the construction of the adjacent railway line in the mid-19th century. Outwith this truncation, a small number of worked flints, of prehistoric date, were recovered from the in-situ subsoil identified within a trench excavated in the north-western part of the field. The targeted geophysical anomalies typically correlated with dumped deposits of crushed rock, brick and substantial quantities of coal and cinders within the area of 19th-century truncation and also with stone-filled land drains. Phase 2: In August 2023, Cotswold Archaeology carried out an archaeological evaluation of land at Saltersford Lane, Chippenham, Wiltshire. A total of 12 trenches, representing the second phase of an archaeological evaluation, were excavated within the northern field of the proposed development area. Dating evidence, in the form of prehistoric lithic artefacts, was recovered from two ditches identified in Trenches 11 and 12. Whilst the precise nature of these ditches remains unclear, they are currently interpreted as being representative of small-scale agricultural activity of a prehistoric date. A further ditch identified in Trench 12 was observed cutting the subsoil and is therefore likely to be of post-medieval (or later) date. A small number of other ditches were identified in Trenches 6 and 12, although these remain undated.