An Archaeological Watching Brief at Bolsover Assembly Rooms, Bolsover, Derbyshire

Old Bolsover Town Council undertook Phase II development works which comprised an extension to the Assembly Hall, Hill Top, Bolsover. These works required that an archaeological watching brief was undertaken. ARCUS was appointed by Groundworks Architects to undertake the watching brief. During the course of the groundworks a layer of pink clay was observed. This was interpreted as the same layer into which previously identified archaeological features had been cut (Davies 2000). Where the footings had been extended to a depth of 1.8m, this pink clay layer was removed entirely. No archaeological deposits were identified within this layer or the overlying deposits during the watching brief. The only evidence for disturbance was in the southeast corner and this was interpreted as being the backfill of Trench 1 of the field evaluation undertaken in 2000. In the northern east-west footing, the excavated depth of 1.0m revealed the upper surface of the pink clay layer. No archaeological features were identified in this surface. This indicates therefore that the ditch identified during the field evaluation (Davies 2000) has remained in situ.