Elmbank Caravan Park, Cow Road, Spittal, Northumberland- Archaeological Appraisal and Geophysical Survey

Following proposals by Rural Solutions for the expansion of the Elmbank Caravan Park, Cow Road, Spittal, Northumberland (NGR NU 0055 5101), the Northumberland County Council Conservation Team (NCCCT) issued a brief for a programme of archaeological investigation to be undertaken in advance of the development, in order to further inform the planning process. The planning application covers two fields with a total area of 4.2ha, although only the central 1.7ha will be developed under current proposals. Oxford Archaeology North (OA North) was subsequently commissioned by Rural Solutions to undertake an archaeological appraisal of the development area, which was conducted in January 2008. The appraisal comprised three phases: a review of the available aerial photographs of the site, a site visit, and a geophysical survey.
The aerial photographic analysis examined all available images, comprising nine examples from the Northumberland Historic Environment Record (NHER), and one from the Newcastle Museum of Antiquities. Three putative cropmarks of potential archaeological origin were identified on several photographs, and a further two cropmarks appeared just once. None of these features could be defined as extant earthworks by the walkover survey, although one additional feature, a slightly raised earthwork platform, was identified. The clearest of these cropmarks lies within that part of the site which will be developed for static caravans as part of the present proposal. Two lie within an area that has already been developed, whilst the remainder fall to the east on sloping ground which will not be developed as part of the present proposals.