Desk Based Assessment at Gloucester Security of Supply, Tewkesbury and the Vale of Avon

In April 2008, ARCUS were commissioned by Severn Trent Water to undertake an archaeological desk-based assessment for a proposed pipeline in the vicinity of Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire. The assessment was required in association with a planning application for the proposed Gloucester Security of Supply scheme, which would consist of laying a water pipeline from Strensham Water Works in Worcestershire to two alternative sites south of the town of Tewkesbury. Three potential routes have been proposed, two of which follow elements of an existing route, the shorter two being 12km, and the longest 17km. This report forms the first phase of a two-stage assessment. Stage 1 comprised the use of SMR and HER data in conjunction with cartographic research. Stage 2 will involve the analysis of aerial photographic data and a walk-over survey of the preferred route(s). The findings from Stage 1 indicate that the proposed scheme will likely impact on a broad range of archaeological remains, dating from the Palaeolithic to the post- medieval periods. A number of sites have been found to be regionally or nationally significant and relate to late prehistoric/Romano-British and medieval activity. However, there is significant variation between the proposed routes. Red Route has the lowest overall potential to disturb significant archaeological remains. Blue Route represents a middle option with a moderate level of buried archaeology. Green Route, by comparison, cuts through a higher number of areas of archaeological sensitivity, particularly east of the river Avon. Restricting the choice of routes in order of preference to Red Route or Blue Route would be an effective mitigation strategy, reducing the amount of archaeological fieldwork required. Further mitigation options would include slight alterations of the routes to contour the more significant archaeological sites.