| Catalogue Finding Number | WYHER/13121 |
| Office record is held at | Historical Environment Record, West Yorkshire Archaeology Advisory Service |
| Held Outside WYAS | THE RECORD DESCRIBED IS HELD AND ADMINISTERED BY THE WEST YORKSHIRE HISTORIC ENVIRONMENT RECORD PLEASE CONTACT THEM ON 0113 535 0157 IF YOU WISH TO MAKE AN APPOINTMENT TO VIEW THIS RECORD |
| Title | Geophysical Survey and Trial Trenching at Church Lane, Adel |
| Description | An Archaeological Assessment undertaken by Archaeological Services WYAS in November 2009. The evaluation was in the form magnometer survey followed selected trial trenching at Church Lane, Adel, Leeds. The site area covered approximately 2.5 hectares of argricultural land on the north eastern edge of the settlement of Adel. The evaluation was undertaken to assess the archaeological potential of the site in advance of a planning application for a housing development (PA 09/04190/FU/NW).
Prior to the evaluation little was recorded on or in the vicinity of the site. 900m to the north of the site a suspected iron age trackway (a precursor to the line of a Roman road was recorded. There was little evidence of any further prehistoric activity on the site. Much of the archaeological work in Adel had previously focused on the Roman Fort and Vicus and it appeared that any Roman activity did not extend south to the area of the site. St. John the Baptist a church built in the 12th century was located approximately 200m north east of the eastern site boundary. the reasons why the Church was sited at this location is unclear and the available cartographic information suggested that by the 18th century Adel comprised of a series of dispersed farmsteads and there are possible remains of ridge and furrow to the north west of the site. from cartographic evidence it appeared that the site was located between two areas of moorland which led to the possibility that agricultural activity and settlement may have occurred within the site.
The geophysical survey found that to the east of Adel Beck a series of linear trends aligned north west to south east were clearly discernible. These anomalies were interpreted as ridge and furrow ploughing with characteristic striped nature due to the contrast between the infilled furrows and the former ridges. The only other identifiable anomalies were due to the presence of ferrous debris in the plough soil.
To the west of the beck were linear trend anomalies running parallel with the beck in a north east to south west alignment. these could be seen extending to about 50m west of the beck. Other less strong linear anomalies running perpendicular to the other anomalies were also identified. These were however interpreted as being of argricultural origin or being the result of field drains or a combination of both. In addition two discrete anomalies exhibiting significant magnetic enhancement were identified 15 20m west of the beck. These significantly stronger anomalies are imdicative of an area of burning, perhaps a hearth or a kiln.
No other anomalies of archaeological potential were identified by the geophysical survey.
the results from the trial trenching are as follows:
Trench 1: Located in the western edge of the site perpendicular to Otley Road. The trench which measured 2m by 30m had no archaeological remains
Trench 2: Aligned north/south to the east of Adel Beck. The trench measured 2m by 29m and was increased 4m to the south to follow a spread of cobbles.The layer of cobbles sat within a grey, silty matrix and was approximately 0.20m thick. It is though that the cobbles may have been intentionally placed to aid drainage, or they may simply have been upcast during the construction of a field drain (identified in trench 3) and the alignment of the drain clips the clips the south east corner of trench 2.
Trench 3: Was aligned east to west to the east of the beck in an apparently 'blank' area and measured 2m by 25m. Other than a field drain (also seen in trench 2) no archaeological features or artefacts were identified.
Trench 4: Located towards the western edge of the site parrallel with Otley Road in a 'blank' area.and measuring 2m by 25m with an extension of 2m by 9m. The excavation of trench 4 revealed two pit/postholes and therefore the southern half of the trench was extended eastwards in order to determine if there were any other associated features. |
| Date | 21st century |
| Extent | contact the West Yorkshire Archaeology Advisory Service for information on what is available |
| Level | Item |