Plot 4a, Cabot Park, Poplar Way East,

Bristol
Archaeological watching brief
(final report with additional observations)
May 2008 GGAT report no. 2008/028
Project no.P1237
A report for Terramond Severnside LLP National Grid Reference:
by Rob Dunning BSc & Steve Sell BA ST 5345 7900

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The Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust Ltd

Heathfield House Heathfield Swansea SA1 6EL
 Plot 4a, Cabot Park, Poplar Way East, Bristol: archaeological watching brief

CONTENTS Page
Summary....................................................................................................................... 2
Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................... 2
Copyright notice........................................................................................................... 2

1. Introduction............................................................................................................
1.1 Project background ........................................................................................ 3
1.2 Archaeological background ........................................................................... 3

2. Methodology ......................................................................................................... 6

3. Results .....................................................................................................................
3.1 The topsoil strip ............................................................................................. 8
3.2 The drainage work ......................................................................................... 9
3.3 The dock levellers ........................................................................................ 10

4. Conclusions......................................................................................................... 11

Bibliography ............................................................................................................... 11

Appendix 1: Context index ......................................................................................... 12

Appendix 2: Finds index (topsoil strip) ...................................................................... 13

FIGURES Page
Figure 1: Location of development area (red) .............................................................. 5
Figure 2: Location of topsoil strip, drainage work and dock levellers ......................... 7

PLATES Page
Plate 1: View to northwest of topsoil stripping in area of Little Googs prehistoric site8
Plate 2: View to west of topsoil stripping and the partial removal of the historic rhine8
Plate 3: N-layer preserved in excavated spoil ............................................................... 9

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 Plot 4a, Cabot Park, Poplar Way East, Bristol: archaeological watching brief

Summary
GGAT Contracts undertook a watching brief, in accordance with the archaeological
written scheme of investigation (Dunning 2006), during topsoil stripping and partial
excavation of the subsoil, subsequent drainage and other groundworks, in advance of
a development at Plot 4a, Cabot Park, Poplar Way East, Bristol. The only
archaeologically significant deposits encountered were of a post-medieval or modern
date, furthermore all the observed material culture was of a post-medieval or
medieval date. The line of a historic rhine was also noted. No features or artefacts
associated with the known prehistoric site of Little Googs were noted, although the
horizons potentially associated with prehistoric and Roman settlement were noted
during the deeper groundworks.

Acknowledgements
The project was managed by Richard Roberts BA, the fieldwork undertaken by
Richard Lewis BA, and the report prepared by Rob Dunning BSc and Steve Sell BA
of GGAT Contracts.
The authors would like to acknowledge the assistance of Bob Jones (Bristol City
Council Archaeologist) during the project. Thanks are also due to Malcolm Sainsbury
of Midas Construction and to Martin Lally of Sharemills for their assistance during
the project.

Copyright notice
The copyright of this report is held by the Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust
Ltd, which has granted an exclusive licence to Terramond Severnside LLP to use and
reproduce material it contains.

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 Plot 4a, Cabot Park, Poplar Way East, Bristol: archaeological watching brief

1. Introduction
1.1 Project background
Terramond Severnside LLP have received planning consent for the construction of
four warehouses, together with associated access, yards, car parking and landscaping
at Plot 4A, Cabot Park, Poplar Way East, Bristol. Such a development has the
potential to damage the archaeological resource and a condition was added to the
planning consent stating that all intrusive groundworks will be monitored and
recorded by an archaeological organisation approved in writing by the LPA (Planning
Application number 06/01275/M/N).
A written scheme of investigation (Dunning 2006) was produced, which allowed for
an archaeological watching brief to be carried out on intrusive ground works, and
included an in-built facility to record any unforeseen remains. Terramond Severnside
LLP commissioned the Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust, Projects Division
(GGAT Projects), to undertake the watching brief during all intrusive groundworks.
Monitoring of the soil-strip was undertaken between 08/10/06 and 09/10/06, the
drainage work between 19/02/07 and 05/03/07, and the additional work on the dock
levellers on 04/03/08 and 07/04/08.
1.2 Archaeological background
The proposed development lies within a much larger area of archaeological potential,
established initially by a programme of survey work followed by a number of
assessments, evaluations and excavations. More recently much of the emphasis has
been upon the monitoring of groundwork associated with geotechnical and
development works.
Survey work has established and plotted the depth and extent of a prehistoric organic
horizon within the alluvial sequence (the BARAS or N-layer), thought to represent an
episode of land stability during the Neolithic period, and two gleyed layers. The
lower of these (known as the Rockingham or B-layer) is thought to represent a
stabilised horizon during the Bronze Age, and the upper (the R-layer), although less
secure, may belong to the Roman period.
Occupation from the Late Bronze Age or Early Iron Age has already been noted
preserved within a relict landscape, at Stinkums, Kites Corner, Little Googs and most
recently at Plot P11 (Tuck 2003). Excavation has been undertaken at Kites Corner
and P11, with these sites being characterised by scatters of charcoal associated with
burnt stone, pottery, flint, bone and fired clay. The results from Kites Corner indicate
that this site may represent a transitory hunting camp occupied during the Late Bronze
Age, possibly involving some kind of industrial activity (Locock et al 1998).
Later sites have also been identified. Excavations have been undertaken on two of the
farmsteads existing prior to development, Moorend and Yeomans, and showed that
both had medieval origins. Moorend continued to be occupied throughout the post-
medieval period, and other farmsteads (Packgate, Poplar and Madam) dating to the
post-medieval period indicate continuity of occupation with gradual intensification,
probably following improved and extended land drainage (Locock et al 1998).
The current development encompasses the known prehistoric site of Little Googs. A
field evaluation was conducted in 1998 in the field labelled as Little Googs (meaning
‘small marshy field’) on Taylor’s Map of 1773; this noted evidence of activity

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 Plot 4a, Cabot Park, Poplar Way East, Bristol: archaeological watching brief

associated with the lower gleyed horizon, thought to be associated with Bronze Age
activity.
Several trenches were excavated, with one trench (Trench 8) containing traces of
charcoal, numerous burnt stones, animal bone, prehistoric pottery dating to the Late
Bronze Age or Early Iron Age and a possible post-hole. Similar material was also
recovered from a second trench to the north (Trench 42), whilst a third trench to the
east (Trench 19) produced fragments of bone and stone. Organic lenses and a
charcoal-rich deposit were also visible in nearby trenches (Trenches 29, 30, 31 and
35) (Locock et al 1998).

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 Plot P4a, Cabot Park, Poplar Way East, Bristol: archaeological watching brief

Based on the 2005 Ordnance Survey 1:5000 Landplan with the permission of The Controller of Her GRID
Majesty’s Stationery Office, © Crown Copyright, Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust Ltd, Licence
number Al10005976
N
0 500metres

Figure 1. Location of development area (red)

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 Plot 4a, Cabot Park, Poplar Way East, Bristol: archaeological watching brief

2. Methodology
An area measuring 220m by 150m was excavated to a depth varying between 50mm
and 250mm. A full written, drawn and photographic record was made of all
archaeological deposits, in accordance with the GGAT Manual of Excavation
Recording Techniques. Contexts were recorded using a single continuous numbering
system, and are summarised in Appendix I. All significant contexts were
photographed using a Nikon Coolpix 4500, Kodak DC215 Zoom and Pentax Optio
E40 digital cameras. All classes of finds were retained, cleaned, and catalogued until
arrangements for final deposition have been agreed, in line with the requirements of
the Institute of Field Archaeologists’ Standard and Guidance for the collection,
documentation, conservation and research of archaeological materials (2001).
Monitoring of the foul drainage run was undertaken following the publication of the
original report, which has been amended to include the later work. This phase of the
groundworks was carried out using a 360° tracked excavator with a maximum depth
of approximately 3m below the reduced level. The drainage works ran along the
southwestern side of Poplar Way East in a southeasterly direction before turning
through 90° c60m from the easternmost corner of the site. Inspection of the lower
part of the trench was inevitably restricted owing to the need for drag-boxes to be
used in such deep excavations in unstable ground conditions.
The report has been further amended to include monitoring of groundwork for the
dock levellers, on the northwestern side of the main building under construction. This
work also used a 360° tracked excavator with toothed bucket, and covered an area of
c16m x 30m, with a maximum depth of c1.40 below the current ground level at its
northeastern end.

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 Plot 4A, Cabot Park, Poplar Way East, Bristol: archaeological watching brief

ID
GR

0 100 200 300metres

Figure 2: Location of Area A (red), Area B (brown), drainage works (blue) and dock levellers (red hatching); historic rhine shown in green

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 Plot 4a, Cabot Park, Poplar Way East, Bristol: archaeological watching brief

3 Results
3.1 The topsoil strip.
The large open area excavation measured 220m by 150m, was excavated to a depth
varying from 50mm to 250mm. The general stratigraphy of the site (Area A)
consisted of a topsoil (1001) which was composed of a root matt bound in a dark red-
brown clay matrix. This overlay a mid red-brown clay (1002), with a minimum depth
of 0.25m, containing frequent angular sandstone inclusions (<0.20m in diameter).
The area in the southeast corner of the site (Area B) consists of a bank (1003), with a
maximum height of 1.5m, sloping up to the southeast. The bank is composed of
made-ground containing fragments of concrete, iron, steel and tarmac, and is topped
by a modern security fence.
The line of a rhine was also noted, aligned northeast-southwest and measuring 1.5m
wide and with a maximum depth of 1m (see Figure 2). The rhine is associated with a
single line of poplar trees (Populus tremula), positioned along a similar alignment.

Plate 1: View to northwest of topsoil stripping over the site of Little Googs prehistoric site.

Plate 2: View to west of topsoil stripping and the partial removal of the historic rhine.

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 Plot 4a, Cabot Park, Poplar Way East, Bristol: archaeological watching brief

3.2 The drainage run

The initial indications of the presence of the Neolithic, or N-layer came from
examination of spoil from excavations to the southwest of the southerly building
under construction, where this organic-rich later, some 0.05m in thickness, formed the
interface between the general greyish-brown upper alluvial layer, and the grey-blue
lower alluvium (see below, Plate 3). Parallels could be drawn between this sequence
and that observed in one of the geotechnical test-pits excavated on the adjacent
development site, Plot P4b. (Sell 2007).

Plate 3: N-layer preserved in excavated spoil (see above)

Occurrence of both the upper and lower gleyed layers, associated elsewhere with
potential occupation in the Roman and Bronze Age periods respectively, was
sporadic. The upper gley, locally associated with a thin organic lens, showed clearly
towards the northwestern end of the drainage run, where it appeared to lie just below
the horizon between the layer identified as ploughsoil and the main upper alluvial
layer, at a level that would be consistent with its occurrence on the adjacent plot
(ibid). The lower gley was noted further to the southeast, at one point appearing as a
divided lens; a thin concentration of organic material noted at a similar depth, but
without the characteristic gleying, may also represent the B-layer.
As on the adjacent plot, up to seven layers or lenses were identified during the
drainage phase. Topsoil (2001) had already been removed (see above). A layer of
lime stabilisation (2002), yellowish or greyish-brown alluvial soil, overlay the main
upper alluvial layer (2003/4), which was generally bluish-brown becoming
increasingly greyer with depth, either with or without two gleyed or organic horizons
representing the R and B-layers (2003a, b). The lower horizon of this layer appeared
to be formed by the N-layer, a substantial and constant lens of organic material
perhaps 0.05m in thickness (2005), which separated this layer from the bluish-grey
lower alluvial layer below (2006). However, this stratigraphy was not consistent
throughout the area covered by the drainage; the organic N-layer occasionally
appeared to form a lens within the presumed lowest part of the main upper alluvial
layer, but this anomaly might also be the result of partial gleying just below the N-
layer in some areas but not in others.
No artefacts were recovered from this phase of the groundwork.

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 Plot 4a, Cabot Park, Poplar Way East, Bristol: archaeological watching brief

3.3 The dock levellers

The total area excavated measured approximately 16m x 30m, ramped in from the
southwestern end, with a maximum depth of 1.40m below the current surface over a
strip some 4m wide at the northeastern end of the excavation. The stratigraphic
sequence consisted of recycled building materials (3001) with a depth of c0.50m
overlying a layer of lime stabilisation (3002), a yellowish-brown clayey deposit
c0.50m thick added to the site following the stripping of topsoil and initial reduction
of the levels over the building footprint.
The upper main alluvial layer consisted of the remainder of what probably represents
the ploughsoil layer (3003), a greyish rooted clay-loam measuring between 0.10m and
0.25m in thickness, overlying mid-brown alluvium (3004), flecked blue in fresh
fracture, to the limit of excavation, between 1.30m and 1.40m below the present
raised surface level. Apart from one land drain within the upper part of layer 3003,
and a minor linear feature aligned northeast-southwest, filled with stabilisation
material, there were no other features of archaeological significance, and no artefacts
were recovered.

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 Plot 4a, Cabot Park, Poplar Way East, Bristol: archaeological watching brief

4 Conclusions
The only archaeologically significant structures or deposits uncovered during the
watching brief were of a post-medieval or modern date, including a bank and rhine.
The line of the rhine suggests that it is the feature depicted on the 1st edition OS map
(1888) and Poplar Farm is likely to derive its name from the associated poplar trees.
The recovered cultural material was of a post-medieval or medieval date, although the
unglazed sherd from Area B is likely to be residual in nature.
Despite its proximity, no features or artefacts associated with the known prehistoric
site of Little Googs were noted, although the presence of horizons potentially
associated with occupation during the Roman, Bronze Age and Neolithic periods was
noted during the drainage work.

Bibliography
Dunning, R, 2006, Cabot Park Plot 4A, Poplar Park, Bristol: archaeological written
scheme of investigation, GGAT Report no. 2006/063
Locock, M, Robinson S and Yates A, 1998, Cabot Park distribution park and
international rail freight terminal phase 2: Poplar Packgate and Moorend:
archaeological evaluation, GGAT report no. 98/047
Sell, SH, Plot P4b, Cabot Park, Poplar Way East, Bristol: archaeological watching
brief, GGAT report no 2007/022
Tuck, M, 2003, Plots P11 and P2b, Cabot Park, Avonmouth, Bristol: archaeological
monitoring of test pits, GGAT report no. 2003/065

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 Plot 4a, Cabot Park, Poplar Way East, Bristol: archaeological watching brief

Appendix I
Inventory of contexts:
1 The topsoil strip
Context Type Depth (m) Description
1001 Deposit 0m-0.05m Dark red-brown clay
1002 Deposit 0.05m-0.3m Mid red-brown clay
1003 Structure - Modern bank

2 The drainage work

Context Type Description
2001 Deposit Topsoil (already removed)
2002 Deposit Yellowish or greyish brown clay-loam; lime stabilisation layer
2003/4 Deposit Upper alluvial layer; greyish-brown, bluish in fracture
2003a Deposit Upper gley (?Roman) or equivalent organic lens, within 003/004
2003b Deposit Lower gley (?Bronze Age) or equivalent organic lens, within 003/004
2005 Deposit Organic lens (?N-layer) usually at base of 003/004
2006 Deposit Lower alluvial layer, greyish blue

3 The dock levellers

Context Type Description
3001 Deposit Recycled building materials
3002 Deposit Yellowish or greyish brown clay-loam; lime stabilisation layer
3003 Deposit Upper alluvial layer; greyish-brown rooted clay-loam, ?ploughsoil
3004 Deposit Upper alluvial layer, mid brown, bluish in fracture

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 Plot 4a, Cabot Park, Poplar Way East, Bristol: archaeological watching brief

Appendix 2
The finds (topsoil strip)
An assemblage of thirteen artefacts was recovered as surface finds during the topsoil
strip. The assemblage consisted almost entirely of ceramics dating to the late 18th
and 19th centuries including ‘local’ coarse red earthenware, transfer-printed and plain
white earthenware, the stem from a clay tobacco pipe and other modern ceramics.
The exceptions were two sherds of pottery of medieval date, a body-sherd from a
glazed jug and part of the rim of an unglazed vessel, both probably dating to between
the 13th and 14th centuries.

Material Detail Qty Weight (kg) Period

type
Clay pipe Stem fragment 1 0.001 Post-medieval
Pottery Stoneware 4 (=1) 0.020 Post-medieval
Pottery Local coarseware 1 0.012 Post-medieval
Pottery White earthenware, plain 4 0.004 Post-medieval
Pottery White earthenware, transfer-printed 1 0.004 Post-medieval
Pottery Glazed 1 0.002 Medieval
Pottery Un-glazed (rim) 1 0.040 Medieval

Note:
4 (=1) Fragments originate from single vessel

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