Planning Case Study 101
Land north of Fentons Farm, Stanningfield Road, Great Whelnetham, Suffolk
Planning scenario(s)
Heritage assets affected
Non-designated heritage assets with archaeological and historic interest of regional importance
Type of application & broad category
Local planning authority
Authority: St Edmundsbury Borough Council
References: DC/16/1268
Development proposal
Housing development of 10 dwellings, on an area of land just under 0.4ha in size.
Archaeological information known about the site before the planning application was made, or before the development commenced, as appropriate
The site is situated within an area of archaeological potential, with a known Roman settlement recorded to the north. However, no archaeological remains were previously recorded within the site, the closest record of Roman activity being 200m away.
Archaeological/planning processes
The archaeological advisors to the LPA highlighted the archaeological potential of the site and advised early evaluation. However, they did not insist on evaluation in this instance due to the evidence suggesting that Roman activity was focused to the north and the fairly modest scale of the proposal.
The application was granted planning permission, with pre-commencement conditions securing archaeological evaluation, mitigation, assessment, reporting, dissemination and outreach. At the post-determination evaluation stage (5% trial trenching was undertaken) Roman pits and 3 human burials within a ditch were identified in two of the trenches. Excavation of this area was therefore required.
Upon excavation more than 50 burials were identified, many at some depth, forming part of an extensive Roman deviant burial cemetery. The excavation was completed in 2018 and received national publicity including a report in the East of England episode of ‘Digging for Britain’ in December 2018.
The evaluation was therefore representative, but given the distance from the known Roman settlement and lack of records on or in the immediate vicinity of the site, the size and the unusual nature of the cemetery was unexpected.
Due to the small scale of the housing development and the fact that some of the houses are social housing, the time and resources required to fully mitigate the impact of the development on archaeological remains has caused serious concerns. There are ongoing discussions regarding the resourcing of post-excavation and archiving/publication.
Outcomes: archaeological
The size and importance of the Roman cemetery, identified at the excavation stage, was unexpected and affected the viability of the development.
The absence of pre-determination evaluation clearly reduced the options for archaeological mitigation including design solutions for preservation. However, the post-determination evaluation, although it identified the cemetery, didn’t reveal its importance. This is understandable given the nature of the evidence which is contained within a small proportion of the burials. Its also unlikely, given the nature of the evidence, that options for preservation of the cemetery would have been acceptable to a developer intending to build and sell houses, leaving refusal of the application as the only other option for the LPA.
Other outcomes/outputs e.g. other public benefit such as public engagement, research and new/changed work practices
The national publicity from the press and BBC television provided significant public benefit and also advocacy for the archaeology sector - nationally and locally.
References and links/bibliography
- Archaeological Solutions Ltd 2017, An Archaeological Evaluation, Land North of Fenton's Farm, Stanningfield Road, Great Whelnetham. Unpublished report.
- Digging for Britain, BBC, December 2018: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0001jg7
