SNN110887 - Land North of Daventry Road, Staverton. Northamptonshire. An Historic Environment Desk-Based Assessment, 2015

Pre-Construct Archaeology Ltd. was commissioned by Andrew Granger & Co. to undertake an Historic Environment Desk-Based Assessment on land off Daventry Road, Staverton, Northamptonshire, in advance of determination of a planning application to re-develop the land. The aim of the assessment was to collate information about the known archaeological resource on the site to inform the constraints at the site for development in terms of archaeology and cultural heritage, and to identify possible impacts upon these resources. It is intended that this information allows an informed planning decision to be made as to whether any further archaeological intervention or mitigation strategies are required, and to make recommendations as to what form such further mitigation should take. The assessment demonstrated that, potentially, extensive prehistoric activity exists to the north of the site although evidence closer to the study site is slight. Romano-British activity is limited to a scatter of chance finds although some of this is contained within the study site. Potential Anglo-Saxon settlement activity is recorded to the north of the site although, despite its putative Anglo-Saxon origins, very little evidence is recorded within the environs of Staverton Village. Medieval activity, in the form of earthworks, has been identified from aerial photography to the south of the study site and it is this activity that offers the most potential for survivial on the site. Cartographic evidence shows the study site has changed very little as a parcel of land from that depicted on a 1834 OS map, reflecting the dominant agricultural use of this land since the Middle Ages. As the desk-based assessment failed to demonstrate the archaeological potential of the site, an appropriate response to planned development might be to evaluate the site with trenching in an attempt to further assess that potential.