Princes Foods, Lynn Rd, Wisbech. Archaeological Evaluation

An archaeological evaluation was carried out on the 4/4/12 concurrently with ground works associated with a development taking place within the grounds of the Princes Foods site, Lynn Road, Wisbech. The work was carried out on behalf of Princes Foods, ahead of the construction of additional factory facilities. The proposed area for development is centred on grid reference TF 46420 10380. The Roman Bank sea defence runs along the line of Mount Pleasant Road, which forms the northern boundary of the site. One 8m by 1.6m trench was excavated to a depth of 1.5m, a sondage was dug into one end of the trench using a narrow bucket to reveal a total depth of 2.1m of deposits below the modern tarmac level (3.81m AOD). Three layers were encountered within the trench, a topsoil measuring 0.29m in thickness, and two indistinct layers comprising a light brown clayey silt deposit 0.4m thick, overlying a mid brown clayey silt. The later was excavated a further 1.41m without any visible change in material. Anecdotal conversations with site workers confirmed the same material had been seen to a depth of 2.5m however this was not observed during the archaeological investigation due to the rapid inflow of ground water at 2.1m below ground level. A small amount of post-medieval material was observed within the first 0.5m below the modern surface, no other finds or archaeological features were present within the trench. The lower layers are likely to represent flood deposits as encountered elsewhere in Wisbech, however, in this location they do not appear to be sealing any evidence of settlement or other archaeological activity.