Elmbank Caravan Park, Cow Lane, Spittal, Northumberland- Evaluation

Rural Solutions, on behalf of Richard Roberts, have submitted a planning application (reference B38/47: 4160) for the expansion of the Elmbank Caravan Park, Cow Road, Spittal, Northumberland (NGR NU 0055 5101). 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. An appraisal of the site, organised by OA North in January 2008, identified putative archaeological features through aerial photograph analysis and geophysical survey, several of which could have been affected by the proposed development. Accordingly, 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. Oxford Archaeology North (OA North) was commissioned by Rural Solutions, on behalf of Richard Roberts, to undertake an archaeological evaluation to meet the standards of the NCCCT brief, which was conducted in July 2008.
The evaluation, comprising the excavation of seven trial trenches of various dimensions, focused principally on those putative features identified during the previous appraisal, including several curvilinear features, possible boundary ditches, and areas of potential settlement activity. Three trial trenches represented a control sample to test the veracity of the geophysical results in areas that appeared nominally blank or affected by magnetic interference. The evaluation revealed the presence of 23 archaeological features, most of which had not been identified during the appraisal. In turn, those putative features identified during the appraisal could not be directly equated with archaeological remains revealed during the evaluation, although at times it was possible to see how the clustering of features may have produced more coherent geophysical anomalies.