Standard DBA methodology as outlined in the relevant CIfA Standards and Guidance document. The site lies to the north-east of the centre of Royal Wootton Bassett, within The Rosary, and just outside the boundary of the Wootton Bassett Conservation Area. There are no Scheduled Monuments within the site boundary, and no listed buildings. A trawl of the local authority Historic Environment Record showed no previous archaeological investigation of the study site. Not far to its north-east, a desk-based assessment undertaken in 2007 at Rylands Way, found little or no evidence of significant archaeological assets, although this was in large measure due to a lack or previous work. The site remained as undeveloped agricultural land until well into the 20th century, but was developed with the present houses between 1946 and 1950. The present housing was constructed pre-PPG16 (issued in 1990) and so the site was not investigated prior to its construction. In terms of below ground heritage assets, it is probable that, as already noted, considerable damage has been done within the footprint of the buildings, although the gardens, having been subject to a far lower level of disturbance, may offer a rather higher potential for in situ archaeology. The nature, extent, and state of preservation of the archaeological resource on and within the study site, is entirely untested and unknown. However, on the basis of the review which we have carried out for the purposes of this report, it is our opinion that the likely archaeological potential of the site should be classed as low.
Jocelyn Davis (Mon,) studied this question.