Desk Based Assessment at St Michaels Close, Lyneham, Chippenham, WIltshire

Standard DBA methodology as outlined in the relevant CIfA Standards and Guidance document. The site lies on the northern side of the Chippenham Road, to the south-east of the historic core of Lyneham village. It is currently occupied by modern housing, and associated gardens, of post-war construction. 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 site, and few items of any significance for present purposes. The evidence of historic maps, and other sources, indicate that the site was undeveloped, open agricultural land until well into the post-war period. The present houses within the site boundary are probably of 1950s construction. Both LiDAR and aerial photographic evidence indicates the intermittent survival of ridge and furrow in the vicinity of the site, together with other positive linear features, now almost entirely ploughed out, close by to the north. The present housing was constructed pre-PPG16 and so the site was not investigated prior to its construction. In terms of below ground heritage assets, it is probable that considerable damage has been done within the footprint of the buildings. The garden areas are, however, by definition, likely to represent ground that has been subject to a far lower degree of disturbance, and it is possible that archaeological preservation in those areas will be rather better. Notwithstanding this, 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 potential for archaeological preservation is, on balance, likely to be low to moderate.