ASE front cover 3127 Dover Castle - Archaeology South-East

Archaeology South-EastDover Castle New Admissions Building1.0 INTRODUCTION1.1 Archaeology South-East (University College London Centre for AppliedArchaeology) were commissioned by English Heritage to carry out anarchaeological appraisal, consisting of an archaeological Desk-BasedAssessment, preliminary walkover survey and Watching Brief, at landat the Dover Castle New Admissions Building, Dover, Kent.1.2 The current Admissions point at Dover Castle is considered too smallfor the function, and a new purpose-designed facility is planned for thesite.1.3 The development area is located on the western half of the terrace atthe base of the south slope of the earthwork bank around St Mary inCastro and is currently occupied by a temporary ticket office and a carpark. However, for the purposes of this report the appraisal siteconsists of a 50m radius of NGR 632673, 141758. Whilst importantfeatures of the castle such as the Officers New Barracks and thesouthern earthwork are included in part within the appraisal site it isunderstood that the development will not impact these features. Thelocation of the appraisal site is shown in Figures 1 and 2.1.4 The site is located within the curtilege of Dover Castle, a ScheduledAncient Monument. In view of the archaeological importance of thesite, English Heritage require a Desk-Based Assessment to be carriedout to inform the proposed development in identifying the known andpotential archaeological significance of the site.1.5 This report follows the recommendations set out by the Institute ofField Archaeologists in Standards and Guidance for ArchaeologicalDesk-Based Assessments and utilises existing information in order toestablish as far as possible the archaeological potential of the site. Thisinformation can then be used in an attempt to make informed decisionsregarding the potential impact any proposed development may have onthe archaeological resource. Mitigation strategies can then begin to beformulated which will reduce this impact.1.6 It should be noted that this form of non-intrusive appraisal cannot beseen to be a definitive statement on the presence or absence ofarchaeological remains within any area but rather as an indicator of thearea’s potential based on existing information. Further intrusiveinvestigations such as machine-excavated trial trenching are usuallyneeded to conclusively define the presence/ absence, character andquality of any archaeological remains in a given area.1.7 In drawing up this assessment report cartographic and documentarysources held by the Kent County Records Office, Maidstone werechecked. The Historic Environment Record maintained by Kent CountyCouncil and relevant Aerial photographic evidence held by the NationalMonuments Record at English Heritage were consulted. Cartographic,_____________________________________________________________________1