Planning Case Study 45
Greet Road, Winchcombe, Gloucestershire
Planning scenario(s)
Heritage assets affected
Undesignated heritage assets with archaeological interest
Type of application & broad category
Local planning authority
Authority: Tewkesbury Borough Council
References: 12/00464/OUT
Development proposal
Outline application for residential development comprising up to 120 dwellings, vehicular access, public open space, facilities for sport and recreation and other associated infrastructure.
Archaeological information known about the site before the planning application was made, or before the development commenced, as appropriate
A Roman agricultural landscape and the southern wall of a Romano-British masonry building were discovered and excavated in 2007/8 on the adjacent land prior to proposed development on this site.
These features extended up to (and were presumed to continue beyond) the southern edge of the development site but there was no evidence of heritage assets recorded on the HER for the site itself.
Archaeological/planning processes
A large area to the immediate north of the previously excavated Roman archaeological features was proposed for development. In response to a pre- application enquiry the prospective developers were advised that archaeological evaluation should be undertaken to assess the extent and significance of the presumed continuation of the archaeological remains already identified.
A geophysical survey was undertaken in March 2009 and evaluation trenching followed in in April and May 2009.
An unusually well preserved stratified sequence of Iron Age and Roman settlement was identified and was of sufficient importance for the site to be recommended for designation by Gloucestershire County Council. Part of the site was subsequently scheduled as a Romano-British villa. Key to the assessment of significance was the presence on the site of not only two phases of Roman activity (possibly a villa, with well-preserved structural remains) but also earlier, Iron Age, activity. This stratified sequence, including Iron Age settlement sealed by Roman terracing and buildings, is extremely unusual in a rural context in Gloucestershire, where the majority of such sites have been adversely affected by subsequent cultivation; where Iron Age - Roman sequences exist they are more usually truncated with no remaining vertical stratigraphy.
Outcomes: archaeological
Part of the area originally proposed for development was scheduled (SM 21700 Romano-British villa 170m south-west of Winchcombe School, Greet Road, Winchcombe, Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, NHLE no. 1021449) and excluded from the area to be developed.
Development subsequently proceeded in the western half of the site that was not designated as a Scheduled Monument. A pre-commencement planning condition was attached to the planning permission. Archaeological excavation was undertaken, revealing Neolithic and Bronze Age features as well as the expected Iron Age and Roman agricultural activity.
References and links/bibliography
- Bartlett-Clark Consultancy 2009, Land at Greet Road, Winchcombe, Gloucestershire. Report on Archaeogeophysical Survey. Unpublished report.
- John Moore Heritage Services 2009, An Archaeological Evaluation at land off Greet Road, Winchcombe, Gloucestershire. Unpublished report.
- Nichols 2016, Iron Age and Roman settlement at Greet Road, Winchcombe: Excavations in 2007-8 and evaluation in 2009, Paul Nichols, Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society 134, 2016, 127-156.
- Simmonds and Walsh 2016, Prehistoric Settlement and Roman Features on the periphery of the possible villa complex at Greet Road, Winchcombe, A Simmonds and K Walsh, Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society 134, 2016, 157-188.
- Simmonds and Nichols 2016, Greet Road, Winchcombe: A possible Roman villa in context, A Simmonds and P Nicols, Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society 134, 2016, 189-202.
