Highfield Park, Fenny Bentley, Derbyshire- Desk-based Assessment

Rural Solutions, on behalf of their client, North Dales LLP, requested that Oxford Archaeology North (OA North) undertake a desk-based assessment prior to the proposed refurbishment and upgrading of a caravan park at Highfield Park, Fenny Bentley, Derbyshire (NGR SK 1710 5095). The proposed development included conversion and refurbishment of some existing buildings, provision of portable holiday accommodation units, landscaping and removal of some existing hedges. A scoping study was previously undertaken (OA North 2008) to highlight any archaeological constraints to the proposals. Consequently, a more detailed desk-based assessment was requested by the Peak District Nation Park Authority’s (PDNPA) archaeologist to assess the impact of the development on any potential below ground remains and inform a staged field assessment to investigate the requirements for a mitigation strategy to be imposed as a planning condition.
The desk-based assessment comprised a search of both published and unpublished records held by the Derbyshire Historic Environment Record (DHER) in Matlock, the Derbyshire Record Office, also in Matlock, the PDNPA office in Bakewell, and the archives and library held at OA North. A site visit was carried out as part of the original scoping study, the results of which have been considered in order to relate the landscape and surroundings to the results of the desk-based assessment.