Heritage and Archaeological Assessment
The NPPF[1] states “Where a site on which development is proposed includes, or has the potential to include, heritage assets with archaeological interest, local planning authorities should require developers to submit an appropriate desk-based assessment and, where necessary, a field evaluation.” We regularly provide these for clients across the UK.
Green Fields
Development opportunities exist on former airfields or village edge locations. Many of these were formerly part of Medieval field systems, some have a longer use and hedgerows may lie along roman or prehistoric trackways and boundary markers. We are adept at spotting the signs of age in field systems and can advise on the likely uses to which a piece of land has been put. We research a site using historic maps, LIDAR data, aerial photographs and through walking the land and checking for signs of earthworks or cropmarks.
Identifying previous land use
Modern agricultural fields are frequently ploughed and cropped into either flat, or rolling landscapes. The densely planted crops accentuate the uniformity. However, beneath the fields there are traces of many previous landscapes and land uses. Former settlements, burial grounds and battlefields are some of the archaeological remains. Also, traces of modern airfields and areas of industrial activity and even large scale mineral extraction can fast become hidden below a modern ploughed field.
We use aerial photos, archaeological records, LIDAR, and site walkover to pick up the signs of previous land use and flag these within our assessment.
Setting of Heritage Assets
Many of our rural landscapes lie close to historic villages or estates. Registered Parks and Gardens, Battlefields and village Conservation Areas are all considered in our assessment process. We pick up on Listed Buildings and locally Listed Buildings. Such Heritage Assets will have a setting and the degree to which that setting contributes negatively or positively to their significance is a key point. We have experience in assessing the significance of heritage assets and in recognizing and distinguishing the role played by setting in that significance. We carry out a site visit to the development plot, and we visit heritage assets which may potentially be affected. We carry out bespoke setting assessment of each asset which has the potential to be affected. In so doing our clients are informed on this important topic.
Hedgerow Regulations
The Hedgerows Regulations (1997) were intended to protect important countryside hedges from destruction or damage. The Regulations define what a hedgerow is, and set out the criteria for determining what an ‘important’ hedgerow is. Who often uses this service? Renewable Energy developers (e.g. Solar Farms, Wind Turbines) Commercial and Residential Property Developers Aggregate extraction companies An early awareness of their existence can help to guide ways of integrating ecologically and archaeologically important landscape components into a masterplan. Therefore, we routinely comment on their existence when recognised from historic map regression and build this into the assessment process.
Quarries
Aggregate extraction targets specific deposits, such as chalk or gravel. These deposits will have influenced the soil above them and the activities that took place on those soils. A typical example being gravel rich soils associated with major river systems are frequently also landscapes containing a rich variety of archaeological remains. We work with aggregate extraction companies to identify such landscapes.
Topography and Hydrology
The height of land and its relationship to water and different types of geology can affect the kinds of archaeological remains likely to be found in a location. Hilltops, river valleys, low lying peat marshes; these are very different in terms of potential and we pay attention to the precise location, topography and hydrology when predicting remains and comparing landscapes.
Go ahead and ask………
If you would like to talk over a site or any of the topics mentioned above, please give us a call or send an email. We are happy to help out with some preliminary observations on archaeology and heritage.
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