Archaeological monitoring of the Letchworth to Royston 33KV Cable Pipeline, Hertfordshire.

Abstract

This report is the assessment of the results of the archaeological monitoring and recording of a pipeline located between Letchworth to Royston, Hertfordshire undertaken between July 2010 and June 2011. Carillion Utility Services Plc commissioned the project on behalf of UK Power Networks (formally EDF Energy). The pipeline was situated along the verges of the A505 dual carriageway and Baldock Road between Baldock and Royston (TL 2693/3505 to TL 3478/4061). The rich archaeological landscape surrounding this area placed a particular emphasis on the monitoring of the pipeline, particularly as the route passed through the Mile Ditches, which are a Scheduled Ancient Monument. However, stretches of the pipeline route were within existing service trenches or made ground and just two archaeological features were revealed. The two features that were revealed were a shallow undated north-south aligned linear ditch, located to the south of the A505 and the top of the western Mile Ditch, a Scheduled Ancient Monument (SAM) dating to the Iron Age. Several layers of overburden, revealed within the pipe trench, which are probably the direct result of the construction of the A505 appear to have removed evidence of the central and eastern Mile Ditches in the vicinity of the pipe trench.