Proposed Wind Farm Development at Coldham Estate, Coldham, Near March: A Desktop Assessment

This desktop assessment was commissioned by West Coast Energy Ltd in order to define the archaeological potential of land centre don NGR TF 455/010, to the south east of Coldham Hall Farm on the Coldham Estate. It also attempts to assess the impact of the proposed wind energy development scheme upon the local archaeological resources.
The investigation area comprises c 2ha of land which is partly in the parish of Elm and partly in the parish of Christchurch (formerly Upwell). The development scheme proposes the construction of nine turbines, each with a maximum height to blade tip of around 95m.
The object of this study is to assess areas of archaeological potential and the possible effects of the proposed scheme by consulting a wide range of available sources. These include the Sites and Monuments Record (SMR) information, cartographic evidence, secondary documentary sources and aerial photographic collections that were integrated to produce the general historical and archaeological background of the study. No surveys (e.g. fieldwalking, geophysical surveys, and re-assessments of air photographs) were commissioned in advance of the present desktop assessment. Therefore no new information specifically aimed to the study of the area under investigation was available at the time of writing.
The development area lies within a rich Roman landscape. The records show the presence of industrial sites (salterns) and rural settlements both within and around the subject site. There is, therefore , high potential for Roman remains to be encountered during groundwork. In addition, there is moderate potential to uncover presently unknown late prehistoric features, which may be masked by Roman cropmarks. Finally, metal detecting may help to identify Saxon sites, although this type of surface scanning in the area has only produced metal finds of Roman date so far.
Disturbance of archaeological features and deposits will have been affected by the drainage schemes and ploughing during the post-medieval and modern periods. However, the preservation of undamaged remains should be good. Any intrusion below the present topsoil has the potential to destroy archaeological remains. Therefore, archaeological evaluation before erection and construction of wind turbines.