Student number; 0863205
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Archaeological Desk Based Assessment.
Module Code; AG215996S
Student Number 0863205
Word Count; 2, 981.
Phil Hill.
Plate 1. The view from TL173 843 looking North West towards Sawtry Industrial
Estate (Authors own photograph).
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Abstract.
An archaeological desktop survey of land North of Tort Hill Sawtry centred on grid
reference TL 170 845, Ordnance Survey Explorer Series Map number 227. North of
Tort Hill a total of almost 21 hectares has been identified as having potential for
development in Huntingdonshire District Council’s Local Development Framework
Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment in June 2008 (available at
Environment and Community Services – Planning, http://www.huntsdc.gov.uk
accessed 20/02/2012). This assessment identified a total of 14 sites in Sawtry the
land north of Tort Hill being identified as number 5 (photograph on front cover) and
number 10 (photograph on page 4). Construction of 180 homes has already begun
at the site identified as number 3 in the assessment (see map 1, below).
Map 1. Taken from the Local Development Framework document this map shows all
the land around Sawtry identified as available for development. The site is at the
North of the village adjacent to the A1M, numbers 5 & 10. Sawtry scheduled ancient
monument (SAM 172) is number 6.
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This desktop survey has established the archaeological potential of the land North of
Tort Hill (hereafter called “the site”) by examining documentary sources, previous
archaeological investigations/excavations and aerial photographs as well as site
inspections. Within 500 metres of the centre of the site Cambridgeshire Heritage
Environment Record (CHER) lists 12 records
(http://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/ accessed 30th April 2012).
Immediately South of Tort Hill is Scheduled Ancient Monument 172 Sawtry moat and
deserted medieval village. Adjacent to the A1motorway in grid square TL17 84
CHER 01332 lists two Roman roadside burials as well as CHER 01329a/b/c &d a
Romano/British settlement discovered in 1939 ahead of the A1 trunk road
construction scheme. CHER 11666 TL172 846 Tort Hill West is an Iron
Age/Romano-British roadside settlement excavated in 1996 ahead of the A1M
widening scheme. The fields surrounding the site have a number of visible
archaeological features including Iron Age and Romano-British field systems as well
as substantial medieval ridge and furrow and a moated medieval house platform and
shrunken (or shifted) medieval village and a possible civil war gun platform. The
potential for further Iron Age/Romano-British remains is high however other pre-
historic tools and implements as well as medieval remains are also listed in the
vicinity.
The new National Planning policy Framework (NPPF) published by the Department
for Communities and Local Government in March 2012 recommends that “in
determining applications local authorities should require an applicant to describe the
significance of any heritage assets affected” (section 12.8 NPPF 2012), it then spells
out that as a minimum the Heritage Environment Record (HER) should be consulted
and that developers should submit an appropriate desk based assessment (DBA)
and where necessary a field evaluation. This DBA has been carried out in
accordance with the Standard and Guidance for historic environment desk based
assessments set out by the Institute for Archaeologists available as a free download
from their website at http://wwwarchaeologists.net/codes/ifa (accessed 20/02/2012).
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Plate 2. The view from TL173 843 looking North East towards the A1Motorway,
Connington Church tower is visible in the distance (Authors own photograph).
The NPPF spells out exactly what constitutes the historic environment and what
should be included in a desk based assessment as follows;
Historic environment; “all aspects of the environment resulting from the interaction
between people and places through time, including all surviving physical remains of
past human activity, whether visible – buried or submerged, and landscaped and
planted or managed flora” (National Planning Policy Framework March 2012).
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Contents.
Page 2. Abstract.
Page 6. Location.
Page 7. Geology and topography.
Page 8. Aerial photography and map regression.
Page 13. Archaeology.
Page 15, History and development.
Page 17. Conclusions and recommendations.
Page 18. References and bibliography.
Page 19. Appendix 1, CHER fieldwork references.
List of illustrations.
Page 1. Plate 1. The view from TL173 843 looking North West.
Page 2. Map 1. Local Development Framework.
Page 4. Plate 2. The view from TL173 843 looking North East.
Page 6.Map 2. Location of Sawtry village.
Page 7. Map 3. Site location.
Page 8. Plate 3. Google Earth image
Page 9. Map 4. The 1809 enclosure award map.
Page 10. Map 5. The 1612 Cavendish Estate map.
Page 11. Plate 4. The RAF 1945 aerial photograph.
Page 12. Plate 5. RAF aerial photograph taken during January 1968.
Page 14. Plate 6. The closest 12 CHER entries.
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Location.
The parish of Sawtry lies in the administrative district of Huntingdonshire within the
county of Cambridgeshire. It is a large village with a population of almost 7,000. The
Ordnance Survey grid reference for the village green at the centre of the village is TL
167 837. The village sits, for the most part, on the western side of the A1 Motorway
roughly half way between Huntingdon and Peterborough (see map 1).
Map 2. Location of Sawtry village roughly halfway between Huntingdon and
Peterborough (http://www.my.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/?tab=maps) accessed
30/04/2012).
The site itself is located at the extreme Northeast of the village adjacent to the A1M.
Access to the site is either off of the Brookside Industrial estate or from Tort Hill /
Tinkers lane.
The site is bounded to the East by the A1 motorway, North is Sawtry Brook and open
fields looking towards Glatton Village. West is the light industrial estate and late 20th
Century housing and South is a mix of historic 17-19th Century housing, 20th Century
infill housing and the Scheduled Ancient Monument (see map 3, page 6).
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Map 3. Site location showing current access points, proximity to the village centre
and A1Motorway (http://www.my.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/?tab=maps) accessed
30/04/2012).
Geology and Topography.
Sawtry is situated on the western edge of the fen margin landscape although the
village is separated physically from the fenland landscape by the A1M. Immediately
surrounding the village and to the west is the central clay lands landscape which
rises up to the northern Wolds. The eastern side of the parish is at or around sea
level (0-5 metres OD). High Holborn hill just to the southwest of the village rises up
to 43 metres OD. The highest part of the parish at 60 metres OD is in the north
western edge between Glatton and Gidding (Welsh 1994). These uplands are an
Oxford clay base with exposed Glacial Boulder clay against the fen edge (Kirby &
Oosthuizen 2000).
The site is between these two extremes and the centre of the site itself is at 12
metres OD sloping gently down towards the A1M and the fen edge also sloping
gently down towards the village centre before rising up to High Holborn Hill. The site
is currently arable and appears to have been so for some considerable time,
certainly in living memory (see plate 3, page 7).
A1M
Sawtry
The
site
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Plate 3. Google Earth image replicating map 3 on page 6, showing the arable nature
of the site (http://www.my.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/?tab=maps) accessed 30/04/2012).
Aerial Photography and Map Regression.
The County Archives office in Huntingdon contains a whole range of Ordnance
Survey maps of the Sawtry area from the 19 & 20th Centuries’ including 1897
through to 1957 and beyond but the nature and shape of the site has not changed at
all from the 1809 Act of Enclosure map and in fact many of the field boundaries in
use today can be traced on the Cavendish estate map of 1612. Therefore only the
1612, 1809 and modern OS map are shown here for comparison.
Huntingdon Archives also has a collection of the RAF aerial photographs, the RAF
took aerial photographs of the entire country at 10 year intervals between the late
1930s and 2001 where they were phased out with the advent of satellite imagery.
These photographs also show the changing landscape in incredible detail. Shown
here for illustration is the earliest aerial photograph of the Sawtry area taken in
October 1945, clearly visible are the road workings for the construction of the A1
trunk road began in 1939 but suspended for the duration of the war.
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The most obvious feature in this photograph is the extensive broad ridge and furrow,
evidence of medieval and post medieval ploughing (plate 4, page 11).
Map 4. The 1809 enclosure award map with the route of the A1M superimposed
over. The field boundaries within the site marked in green are all still visible on the
up to date OS map (page 6) and the Google image shown on page 7 as well as the
majority of the others on the map (courtesy Huntingdon Archives Office).
Approximate
route of
A1M
Sawtry
St Andrews
Church
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Map 5. The 1612 Cavendish Estate map, a full version is available in colour in the
famous Cavendish Atlas held in the archives at Chatsworth House in Derbyshire.
Once again many field boundaries illustrated here and the parish boundaries still
exist on the modern OS map (courtesy Huntingdon Archives Office).
Approximate
route of A1M
St
Andrews
Church
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Plate 4. The RAF 1945 aerial photograph showing the extensive medieval ridge and
furrow ploughing. Of particular note is the way the enclosure field boundaries cut
across existing ridge and furrow (courtesy Huntingdon Archives Office).
St Andrews
Church
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Plate 5. RAF aerial photograph taken during January 1968, a particularly useful
photograph showing a snow covered Sawtry, as well as the medieval ridge and
furrow many other archaeological features are visible including the civil war gun
platform and enclosing embankment (circled green) and the moated platform and
associated stew ponds (circled yellow) (courtesy Huntingdon Archives Office).
It is obvious from this collection of maps and photographs that the nature and
general shape of the site has not altered over the last 400 years or more. The only
real change has been the building and widening of the A1 from trunk road to dual
carriageway to 6 lane motorway and the destruction of the ridge and furrow plough
marks by modern farming methods since 1945 and the way in which that destruction
has accelerated over the last 30 years.
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Archaeology.
The 12 CHER entries within 500 metres of the site are mostly Iron Age – Romano-
British in nature. The closest is CHER 11666 (Welsh K 1994) which was an
excavation carried out ahead of one of the widening programmes for the A1 which
revealed extensive evidence for a late Iron Age to 5th Century Romano-British
farmstead including roundhouses and beam slot type buildings as well as a Roman
age inhumation burial (3rd/4th century). The grid reference given was TL172846
placing this excavation within the site adjacent to the motorway (see plate 6 below).
Plate 6. The closest 12 CHER entries and their relationship to the site
(http://www.my.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/?tab=maps) accessed 30/04/2012.
CHER9946 is a medieval aged bridge support now faced with modern stone
indicating the route of the ancient Great North Road or Ermine Street.
CHER1328, Roman silver coin of Julius Caesar.
CHER1446 listed as a possible barrow or windmill mound (windmill shown on
1612 and 1809 maps).
CHER1446a. Possible medieval post-mill.
CHER1332 two Roman stone coffins and inhumations, one male & one
female.
CHER11666
CHER 9946
CHER 01328
CHER 01446a
CHER 01446
CHER1332
CHER1334
CHER11665
CHER11721
CHER01834
MCB15921
CHER1329
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CHER1334 Roman pot sherds, colour coated.
CHER11665 Extensive Roman settlement remains 1st - 4th Century, including
cobbled surfaces, ovens & hearths etc.
CHER11721 Further evidence of Roman occupation, Roman and Iron Age
pottery as well as cobbled areas.
MCB15921, medieval ridge and furrow.
CHER1329 a,b.c&d. This is the collective CHER entry for SAM172 including
the medieval moat and related earthworks, Roman and early medieval find
spots and the civil war platform.
This represents the immediate vicinity of the site up to 500 metres form the centre of
the field, within 1km of the centre there are a further 37 HER entries although the
pattern is much the same, I.E. Iron Age and Romano-British settlement evidence
followed by medieval farming evidence.
At each stage of the upgrading, widening or re-aligning of the A1 archaeological
excavations have taken place meaning that the A1 corridor is well documented
archaeologically, at least in later years. During the 1945-50 construction work 83
worked flint items were discovered suggesting later Neolithic or early Bronze Age
activity, however their find spot was not recorded except as Tort Hill West (Ellis et al
1996).
Not all of these archaeologists are in agreement however, Hall writing in 1992
declares that “overall it seems that there was little evidence of a Roman period
settlement in this area”. Later Roberts (1995) concludes that “the route of Roman
Ermine Street passes through the site and is particularly rich in Roman remains.
Another issue is the exact position of the Roman road, Welsh (1994) argues that “the
Roman road is under the western (northbound) carriageway of the A1M”, whereas
Kemp & Reynolds (1995) are sure that Ogilbey’s map of 1675 is right to have the Old
North Road following the Roman road shifting only slightly to allow for turnpiking in
the 17th Century.
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History and development.
The Domesday Survey of 1806 lists three manors in Sawtry, Beaumes, Judith and
Moyne. The moated platform is likely to have housed Moyne Manor, the funerary
brass of Sir William De Moyne (d1412) is held in All Saints church adjacent to
SAM172 (VCH 1932). Moyne manor included numerous villagers, smallholders a
church and a priest (Morris 1975). Earlier references to Sawtry mention King Canute
gifting the land to Turchill (Thorkell) the Dane who died in 1039 bequeathing the
manor to his wife Thurgunt of Hurogonda (Jamison 1986).
Throughout the medieval period there is little surviving documentary evidence
although the de Moyne and Cromwell families do feature at various times, By 1612
Sir William (Lord) Cavendish, the Duke of Devonshire is in ownership and he
provides us with the first map of Sawtry.
The Enclosure Award was made in 1809 and the complete document is held at
Huntingdon Archives Office together with a huge fold out map. Sawtry seem not to
have developed much for the next 150 years and the aerial photograph of 1945
shows a Sawtry not much altered from the 1809 Enclosure map.
Post WW2 is a different story. Large scale developments from the 1960s to the
present day have completely altered the village character. Each piecemeal
development has a different architectural style and technique creating a patchwork of
small to medium size housing estates with no common theme. This combined with
seemingly random infill of open spaces means that any further development is
unlikely to further harm the character of the village.
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Conclusions and Recommendations.
The ancient history of Sawtry District is made up almost entirely from archaeological
evidence turned up at each of the developments made to the A1, from Old North
Road to A1 trunk road to A1 dual carriageway to A1 Motorway over the last 50 years
or so. Before that time a local doctor and antiquarian called JP Garood had
excavated a couple of sites between Alconbury and Sawtry, his reports feature in the
publications of the Huntingdon Antiquarian Society but are far from complete.
Archaeological excavations since 2000 have been carried out on the Eastern side of
the A1m ahead of construction of two large factories and both of these add to the
evidence of Iron Age and Roman settlements in the area (Doyle & Weston 2006 and
Eddisford, O’brien & Williamson 2004). It is now widely accepted that Sawtry has a
fairly significant late Iron Age/Romano-British settlement somewhere under its north
eastern quarter. Depending on which archaeologist you read this will be beneath the
site under consideration or on the opposite side of the motorway.
At 21 hectares the site is too large to be subject to a complete geophysical survey so
the recommendation here is to proceed with an evaluation excavation in the field
immediately adjacent to the motorway and to carry out a reduced geophysical survey
further away from the motorway. The evidence from previous archaeological
excavations shows that it would be likely for archaeological evidence to have
survived intact.
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References and Bibliography.
Cambridgeshire Archaeology. http://www.my.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/?tab=maps
accessed 30/04/2012.
Craig. J., Burchan. J., & Truslove. J., 1809. Sawtry Act of Enclosure. Huntingdon.
NPPF 2012. Department for Communities and Local Government. http://www.communities.gov.uk/planningandbuilding/nppf accessed 23/03/2012.
Ellis. P., et al, 1996. Excavations alongside roman Ermine Street in Cambridgeshire.
Birmingham University Field Archaeology Unit. Archeopress, Oxford. BAR 276
Garood. J., 1937. An Iron Age and Romano-British village in Huntingdonshire. Antiquaries Journal, vol. 20 1940. Huntingdon.
Hall. D., & Buckley. D., eds 1992. Fenland Survey vol 6. Cambridgeshire. The South West Cambridgeshire Fens. Cambridge Archaeological committee.
Local Development Framework Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment. 2008 (available at Environment and Community Services – Planning, http://www.huntsdc.gov.uk accessed 20/02/2012.
Institute for Archaeologists (IFA). http://www.archaeologists.net/codes/ifa accessed 23/03/2012.
Jamison. C., 1986. A history of Sawtry. Cambridge. Cambs Libraries Publication.
Kirby. T., & Oosthuizen. S., 2000. An atlas of Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire History. Cambridge. Anglia Polytechnic University.
Morris. J., ed 1975. History from the sources, Domesday book, Huntingdonshire.
Chichester Philimore.
Page. W., Proby. G., and Norris. H., eds 1932. Victoria County Histories, Huntingdonshire vol 2. London St Catherine’s Press.
Pearson & Murray 2000. Land adjacent to St Andrews graveyard Sawtry. Hertford. Hertfordshire archaeological trust report number 763
Roberts. J., 1995. Further excavations at the Roman settlement east of Tort hill Sawtry. Cambridge CCC AFU report no. A60
Shiel. D., 1997. Geophysical survey report; Sawtry. Bradford. Geophysical survey report no. 97/102
Tuck. C., and McOmish. D., 1999. RCHME SAM pilot project. London. English Heritage.
Welsh. K., 1994. Iron Age and Roman settlement remains at Tort hill, Sawtry. Cambridge. CCC AFU report number 103.
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Appendix 1 CHER fieldwork references.
ECB345 Excavations at Tort Hill, Sawtry. 1965 TL173842.
ECB1685 Preliminary assessment, A1 widening scheme, 1991 CCC AFU Alconbury
to Norman Cross.
ECB1555 Evaluation at Tort Hill, Sawtry. 1993 TL172846 CCC AFU.
ECB1047 Assessment, pipeline East of Tort Hill, Sawtry. TL172848 CCC AFU.
ECB 1604 Excavations along Roman Ermine Street Cambs. 1996 TL171846.
Birmingham University Field Archaeological Unit (BUFAU).
ECB2782 Evaluation of Tort Hill East 1996 TL173845 BUFAU.
ECB976 Watching brief, Manor Farm Sawtry. 1997 CCC AFU TL171839.
ECB2254 Geophysical survey 1997 Geophysical Surveys of Bradford. TL172840.
ECB 511 Evaluation and earthwork survey at St Andrews way Sawtry. 1988. Lindsay
Archaeological Services TL173835.
ECB2021 Survey of SAM 172 1999 RCHME TL172839.
ECB316 Evaluation, land adjacent to St Andrews graveyard. 2000 Hertfordshire
Archaeological trust TL176839.
ECB1916 Evaluation, Black Horse Farm Sawtry. 2004 Archaeological Solutions
TL177832.
HER 01834 Fieldwalk by Sawtry Archaeological Society 1983. TL173848. 15 kg of
Roman roof tile was collected (approximately 25% of what was discovered). In one
hour 1,254 sherds Roman pottery and 25 Roman coins
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