Archaeological Monitoring and Recording Report: SWATON NATURAL FLOOD MANAGEMENT SCHEME, LINCOLNSHIRE

Archaeological monitor and record during groundworks relating to the construction of a bund and culvert, a storage pond and an attenuation pond, at sites in the parish of Threekingham (Manor Farm North and Manor Farm South) and the parish of Swaton (Holland Road Farm), Lincolnshire, as part of a planning condition for three flood management schemes. However, a communication failure led to Holland Road Farm not being monitored, but work on a plot c.3km east-northeast of Threekingham was observed to satisfy planning requirements. The only area of archaeological interest was at the new site near Threekingham. Here a pond, brick structure, brick surface and extraction pits were exposed. The pond at the site, 012 can be seen on the 1888-9 Ordnance Surveys (Sheets CVX.SE and CXVI.SW). A squared building, marked kiln on the maps, is the location of a brick structure exposed during the attenuation pond. The structure's wall 017 and floors 016 suggest that the building was of brick construction. The presence of burnt clay surfaces, 020, 021, 022, 023 and 025, implies firing in the area. The finds indicate that tile and brick were produced at this location from the 16th to 18th century. Given that the kiln is marked upon an 1888-9 Ordnance Survey, it was likely active at this time and the building may plausibly date to the 18th century. The brick floor surface, 013, in the northeast end of the site was built from bricks of identical size to the structure suggesting the two brick constructions were contemporary. The extraction pits believed to be associated with the kiln are not marked on the 1888-9 maps, implying that they had been infilled by the date of the Ordnance Survey. The farmer who owned the land claimed he had demolished the brickworks in the 20th century.