A419 Swindon Noise Barriers - Archaeological Watching Brief: Covingham and Kingsdown Trail Pits

Wessex Archaeology

The southern half of the Covingham Site had been heavily landscaped during the construction of the A419 and adjacent housing development. At the northern half of the Covingham section, a widespread ‘dark earth’ deposit was noted, consistent with the findings of previous adjacent evaluation. In at least two test pits (TP 8 and 10), the ‘dark earth’ deposit sealed further Romano-British deposits, although, at least within TP 8, this underlying deposit contained a fragment of modern concrete. This would suggest either the presence of localised modern disturbance or that the ‘dark earth’ layer comprised redeposited material rather than representing an in-situ deposit, which would significantly reduce the archaeological significance of the findings in this area.

No archaeological deposits were observed at the Kingsdown Site. An outcrop of limestone was observed in the identified location of enclosure cropmarks, which may suggest an alternative explanation for the origin of the features.