Archaeological Desk-Based Assessment for Land to the Rear of 24-34 Church Street, Swinton, South Yorkshire

In September 2007, ARCUS were commissioned by Dunstans Estate Agents Ltd, on behalf of Mr Jim Bower, to undertake an archaeological desk-based assessment on land to the rear of 24-34 Church Street, Swinton, Rotherham, South Yorkshire (SK 4550 9925). The assessment was required in association with a planning application for the construction of five detached houses and an access road at the site (planning application no. RB2007/0633). The desk-based assessment comprised a site visit, documentary and cartographic research. Several isolated finds of flint artefacts of Mesolithic to Bronze Age date have been recovered within 1km of the application area. Iron Age to Romano-British enclosures have been recorded as cropmarks c.850m to the northwest of the site, and similar enclosures are visible within the wider area. These form part of a landscape of rectilinear fields and dispersed farmsteads that appears to represent the majority of Romano-British settlement in the district. Church Street and Station Street may be on the route of a Roman road, and Roman coins have been found within the 1km search area. The application area was close to the core of the medieval settlement at Swinton, with the sites of a 12th-century chapel-of-ease and a 16th-century hall within 50m to the west and south respectively. Human remains recovered from the chapel yard appear to relate to a single incident, possibly the 1646 plague outbreak that claimed around 59 lives in the village. Other associated burials may have been located in plots scattered around the village. The application area was shown as a field in 1775 and remained undeveloped until the early 20th century, when it was converted into garden plots, possibly associated with the houses built along the Church Street frontage at the same date. No further development has taken place within the site, and the only visible features relate to the disused gardens. The lack of 19th- and 20th-century development within the site indicates that there is a high potential for the survival of buried archaeological remains. No previous sub- surface investigations have been undertaken on the site, so the nature of the archaeological resource cannot be assessed, but the greatest potential is for remains associated with medieval settlement and Romano-British activity. The proposed development will involve the excavation of foundations and service trenches, as well as the provision of an access route and landscaping of the surrounding area, which all have the potential to disturb sub-surface remains. Further archaeological investigations would be required to assess the nature, extent and condition of any archaeological deposits.