Lukely Brook and Plaish Meadows, Isle of Wight - Palaeoenvironmental Assessment

Wessex Archaeology

A programme of geoarchaeological borehole survey, palaeoenvironmental assessment and scientific dating was undertaken at Lukely Brook and Plaish Meadows. A total of twelve boreholes were undertaken at the Site. Four boreholes were located within the Scheduled Monument, each of which was positioned to investigate the peaty deposit and palaeochannel sediments. An additional borehole (WA-04) was located upstream of the possible cross-valley roadway (outside of the Scheduled Monument) to assess conditions behind this possible barrier; two additional boreholes were located in Horse Paddock and the southwestern end of Plaish Meadows, along with two transects of two and three boreholes respectively located within the area southwest of the Scheduled Monument within Plaish Meadows.

Organic deposits were encountered only in WA10 and WA01; in WA10 a peat unit was identified, described as a homogenous, well humified peat with occasional gravels between 25.34 to 25.01 m OD and a well humified, woody and herbaceous peat with inclusions of brick/CBM between 25.01 to 24.90 m OD. No other organic deposits were found in the boreholes other than an organic alluvium identified in WA01 at 25.43 m OD, which was not bottomed at 25.34 m OD.