Letter from Berkshire CC to Hungerford Mayor summarising the dig

Royal County of
BERKSHIRE
Department of Highways & Planning
Shire Hall • Shinfield Park • Reading • Berkshire • RG2 9XG
Telephone Reading (0734) 875444 • Facsimile Reading (0734) 310268 • DX 4058 Reading
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Your reference My reference SMR 1220-40/30/1 1/PC/NS
When calling ask for
Mr P Giadwick
Dear Mrs Bullock,
Charnham Lane. Hungerford ; Archaeology.
On Reading 234938
17th January 1990
I was sorry that Mr Chadwick, my Archaeological Officer, was out of the
office when you rang on Tuesday to enquire about archaeological
discoveries at Charnham Lane. I hope his Assistant, David Hopkins, was
able to answer your queries. However, in view of your interest I thought
it might be helpful to write with a bit more background and also to give
you a brief 'overview' of the way archaeological matters are dealt with in
Berkshire.
As you may be aware, this County Council plays an important role in
protecting and enhancing Berkshire's heritage. The County is rich in
archaeological sites of all periods since the last Ice Age and our policy
towards this precious resource is outlined in the Replacement Structure
Plan; briefly, we attempt to preserve the most important sites intact and
where sites are not of a quality or importance to be preserved intact,
they often do merit investigation ahead of damaging development. In some
instances we just don't have sufficient information, or information of
adequate quality to advise on the proper course of action, thus we look to
the developer to commission an assessment to gather this information ahead
of their planning application being considered.
In each case my staff specify the scope of work needed and we look to the
developer to employ an archaeological contractor to undertake any
necessary excavation and analysis. .
To this end, every planning application for development is vetted against
our computerised database (the County Sites and Monuments Records) and
where an archaeological interest is identified we try to ensure that the
planning decision takes the appropriate response on board. You will
appreciate that with the volume of development in Berkshire and a staff of
only two permanent archaeologists (and only two historic building
architects) this aspect of our environmental protection work is kept at
full stretch. Nevertheless, despite these pressures Berkshire have built
up a sound national reputation for the integration of archaeology into the
planning process and is widely used by English Heritage as a model for
other counties.
Director of Highways & Planning • R H Clarke BA LLB CEng

In the case of Charnham Lane the planning applications for development are
being handled by Newbury District Council. However, in line with the
procedures set out above, the Heritage Group checked the applications and
considered whether there was an archaeological interest. Although we had
no direct evidence from the site, it was evident that the site had high
potential, and that any evidence that existed would be destroyed if an
investigation did not precede development. Accordingly, we asked the
developer to commission an archaeological assessment of the site. This he
did, and the trial, trenches excavated by Thames Valley Archaeological
Services to a specification set by the Heritage Group located evidence
indicating that the Charnham Lane area was first settled around 10,000
BC! Although remains from this remote period were pretty sparce, evidence
of structures and buildings belonging to the early Bronze Age (15,00 BC)
and the medieval period (1100 - 1500AD) have been located.
Work examining these sites in more detail is drawing to a close, then the
excavators return to their base to sort out the 'pieces of jigsaw' and
decipher the picture that emerges. We are particularly lucky at Charnham
Lane that the peat deposits near the river have provided evidence about
past environments. Thus, in time, we should be able to reconstruct not
only where and when people settled and farmed there, but also what the
landscape looked like in prehistoric and later times.
All this work had been funded by the developer and has been supervised and
monitored by staff from the Heritage Group. We are certainly very pleased
with the discoveries and hope the enclosed information sheds some light on
the site.
If you would like any more information about the Charnham Lane site, or
others in your neighbourhood, please do not hesitate to contact me.
You/s^incerely,
A
Mrs G Bullock
104 High Street
Hungerford
Berks
RG19 ONB