Highways Agency
Safe roads, Reliable journeys, Informed travellers
Introduction and description of the bypass
Introduction and Description of the Bypass
The bypass route is a 6.3km long dual two-lane road passing to the north of Aston Clinton between Woodlands Roundabout in the west and Tring Hill roundabout in the east. The project includes bridges carrying side roads over the bypass and a local diversion of the Wendover Arm of the Grand Union Canal.
The A41 Aston Clinton bypass posed some challenging archaeological problems and provided some fascinating insights into this area's past. The purpose here is to explain briefly some of the measures taken to reduce the effects of the scheme on archaeology.
The modern landscape shows traces of ancient road lines and field boundaries. Two clearly ancient roads are the 'holloway' running parallel to the scheme at Drayton Beauchamp and Roman road known as Akeman Street. The bypass dissects the important cross-country routes of the Upper and Lower Icknield Way which utilise the scarp of the Chilterns as a natural line of communication and are thought to date from prehistoric times. The work at the Lower Icknield Way Site B identified a late Iron Age and Roman buried trackway running perpendicular to the Icknield Way and parallel to the holloway at Drayton Beauchamp. The holloway forms the medieval parish boundary of Drayton Beauchamp and Buckland, the elongated medieval strip parish to the south. Both the buried track and the holloway appear to form components of a grid of lanes and fields lying at the foot of the Chiltern scarp. This grid is clearly earlier than the Roman road Akeman Street which slices obliquely through it. The track from Site B indicates that the medieval elongated parishes overlay a much earlier landscape dating to prehistoric times.
The Environmental Approach
The Highways Agency aims to minimise the effects of road works on the environment. To reduce the impact on archaeological remains we identified the key elements to take into account in deciding on the detailed design. The evaluation was through:
- Desk-based assessment - An assessment of the previously known sites and historic landscape.
- Fieldwalking - Surface collection and plotting of artefacts from ploughed fields along the route.
- Geophysical Survey - A rapid survey of the route followed by detailed survey of areas of potential interest.
- Trenching -Sample excavation within areas of archaeological interest highlighted by the above techniques.
The desk-based assessment showed that the high ground of the Chiltern scarp, the 'Icknield Belt' and the Vale of Aylesbury through which the bypass runs are rich in archaeological remains. Iron Age and Roman sites exist in the vicinity of the bypass, the line of the Roman road of Akeman Street below the existing A41 through Aston Clinton. Two high status medieval moated sites are at Drayton Beauchamp and at Vatches Farm, Aston Clinton. The works avoided these sites. The road location close to the Vatches Farm moated site was designed to have no effect on the water level within the moat.
Fieldwalking of available ploughed land located one significant scatter of Roman pottery in fields on either side of the Lower Icknield Way (Site B). Geophysical survey confirmed the presence of buried archaeological features at the Lower Icknield Way Site (Site B), a possible feature to the north (Site C) and buried ditch lines on the crest of Tring Hill towards the south eastern end of the scheme (Site D).
Trenching was conducted at Site A (at Vatches Farm), B, C and D. The trenches at Site A failed to reveal any features associated with the medieval moated site. The expected Roman occupation site at Lower Icknield Way Site B was confirmed along with early Saxon and late Iron Age features. Site C was found to be a post-medieval feature, and a late Iron Age ditch and undated features were identified at Tring Hill Site D.
Care, thought and expert knowledge were applied throughout the project planning and construction process to overcome the potential archaeological impacts of the bypass. We agreed a mitigation strategywith English Heritage and Buckinghamshire County Council. This entailed route realignment, archaeological excavation ahead of construction and a watching brief during construction. The bypass was realigned to avoid the medieval moated sites at Drayton Beauchamp and Vatches Farm. Detailed excavation and recording was undertaken at Lower Icknield Way Site B, and an intensive archaeological watching brief was undertaken at Vatches Farm/Woodland Roundabout Site A, beyond the excavation area at Site B, and at Tring Hill Site D. We kept a watching brief throughout the topsoil stripping phase to identify and record any further archaeological finds, during which two unsuspected sites were revealed, an early Saxon cemetery and a medieval windmill base at Tring Hill Site D, and an Iron Age site at the Woodlands Roundabout at Site A.
The archaelogical story
The Archaelogical Story
Bronze Age
We found one or two possible late Bronze Age features at Woodlands Roundabout Site A and three cremation burials to the south east of the Lower Icknield Way. At Site B there are structural postholes, probably from roundhouses, and a pit containing smashed pottery.
Iron Age
Unexpectedly we found evidence of earlier Iron Age activity. A series of pits, a ditch and two structures were found, one was a square structure comprising of four post holes. As a human skull was found in a nearby pit the structures may be associated with burial rites. The other structure was a roundhouse with pits containing unusual pottery vessels .
The Lower Icknield Way site provided evidence of early Iron Age settlement with pastoral and arable farming.
By the late Iron Age field and plot boundary ditches divided the farmed landscape at Lower Icknield Way. The late Iron Age trackway at Site B led directly towards the settlement at Tring Hill, implying a social and economic link between the two settlements. The Tring Hill site was enclosed by ditches and included a number of pits and post holes, although the only clear structure is likely to have been a four post grain store.
The Roman Period
The new road network built by the Roman army included Akeman Street. At the Lower Icknield Way site an agricultural community continued to farm throughout the Roman period. The economy continued to be dominated by pastoral farming. The late Iron Age track was probably first metalled with a gravel surface in the latest Iron Age or early Roman period, at which time a cremation was buried adjacent to it. It appears to have been re-surfaced at least three times as wear in areas close to settlements began to create a holloway. We suspect that much of the Roman settlement area lies undisturbed. Small amounts of Roman tile including tiles from a Roman underfloor heating system were recovered at the Lower Icknield Way site. These suggest a villa may be situated nearby though the low distribution implies this was a modest structure.
Illustration of Iron Age pottery fragments recovered form site A
The Early Saxon Period
Remains of 5th to 7th century AD activity were found sporadically across the Lower Icknield way site. At Tring Hill Site D, a major unexpected find was a dispersed early Saxon cemetery. A total of 18 inhumation burials were excavated with a further three possible empty grave cuts. The graves were widely dispersed and most produced grave goods. One contained a crouched burial of a large man with no grave goods. As with other early Saxon cemeteries, the most common finds were iron knives. Other items included a spearhead, a pottery vessel with a child, bronze toiletry equipment and amber, shell and antler pendants. Perhaps significantly no swords or shield bosses were present.
The most spectacular burial was that of a mature high status female who was adorned with a pair of gilded, decorated large cast bronze 'saucer brooches' on her shoulders with a bead necklace originally suspended between (SEE PHOTOS). We found toiletry equipment in the form of elongated utensils that would have hung from her belt by a bronze ring. The artefacts date to around AD600.
Analysis of the skeletons will provide further information. It is clear that a cross-section of the community is represented. It is possible that only half of the cemetery has been uncovered. The remainder is likely to lie on the high point of the hill perhaps extending as far as Akeman Street.
View larger image
The Medieval Period
The early Saxon settlement at the Lower Icknield Way Site B and the burial ground at Tring Hill Site D were abandoned prior to the Medieval period. We can see from surviving furrows that the route of the A41 bypass was open fields in the medieval and post-medieval periods. A Medieval windmill was found during the site investigations. Pottery from the windmill base dates to the 13th-14th century at which time the milling industry was expanding. There were few traces of features associated with the adjacent medieval moated sites at Vatches Farm or Drayton Beauchamp. However a gilded bronze horse harness mount of 12th-14th century date was found near the latter moated site.
During the Post-Medieval and more recent past, the route appears to have remained largely unchanged rural land, with only the addition of a few post-medieval ditched hedgerows and the construction of the Wendover Arm of the Grand Union Canal.
The archaeological investigations for the A41 Aston Clinton Bypass have enhanced our understanding of how the local landscape evolved.
Introduction
Introduction
The new £25 million A41 Aston Clinton bypass is 4 miles (6.3km) long and runs from the new Woodlands Roundabout to the west of the Aston Clinton in Buckinghamshire to the new Tring Hill Interchange in Hertfordshire.
The new Tring Hill Interchange replaces the old roundabout with a dumbbell pairing of new, smaller roundabouts, linked by a bridge running above the A41. This means traffic will naturally continue along the bypass, which is dual carriageway throughout its length. Access to the village will be via a slip road off the A41.
The new bypass is expected to remove 70% of the traffic currently passing through the village and is expected to carry 20,000 vehicles a day on opening.
Some five new bridges have been built - at Tring Hill Interchange, Canal Bridge, Lower Icknield Way, Lower Buckland Road and College Road. Most link existing local roads running north-south across the bypass.
(Bridge beam lift, Lower Icknield Way, pictured top right and the new bypass taking shape)
Who's who
Who's who
The A41 Aston Clinton Bypass has involved more than two years of work by the bypass construction team. The team is made up of:
- The Highways Agency - Government body responsible for all trunk roads in the UK and with overall control of the bypass project. The Highways Agency has funded the scheme and regularly monitored its progress.
- Balfour Beatty Construction - main contractor with overall responsibility to ensure the bypass designed and constructed to Highways Agency specifications.
- Owen Williams Consultants - employers agent working on behalf of the Highways Agency as a hands-on, day-to-day presence at the site, working with the contractor and consultant engineers to ensure the bypass is built according to the designs and plans.
- Arup - consulting engineers employed by Balfour Beatty to design the bypass.
Digging up the past at aston clinton
Digging up the past at Aston Clinton
Archaeologists unearthed some exciting finds before construction work began at Aston Clinton. The most spectacular and gruesome was the discovery of a Saxon graveyard dating back to the 5th - 7th century AD. Amongst the 18 graves, the team discovered the skeleton of a wealthy Saxon woman whose large, bronze-cast circular shoulder brooches and beads had been preserved for about 1,400 years. The most common Saxon finds were iron knives, but archaeologists also found a spearhead, some pottery, bronze toiletry equipment and pendants made of amber, shell and antler.
The digs also unearthed signs of Bronze Age, Iron Age, Roman and Medieval civilisations, including tiles from a Roman under-floor heating system and a Medieval windmill.The finds are still being analysed by the archaeology team but will soon be handed over to the Bucks County Museum in Aylesbury.
Road and canal run in harmony
Road and canal run in Harmony
The Highways Agency has worked with British Waterways to divert a section of derelict canal and build a new canal bridge where it runs under part of the new bypass. The construction of a 400 metre new channel will bring the whole of the Wendover Arm of the Grand Union Canal back to life.
The project demonstrates the Highways Agency and British Waterways working together to ensure the closer integration of the road and waterways network. Earlier on this year, a Memorandum of Agreement was signed between the two organisations to mark this new way of working.
New wildlife habitats were created by using wildlife-friendly design features, including coir rolls - soft riverside bank protection which allows waterside plants to quickly establish themselves and water voles to burrow into the banks.
Working with the community
Working with the community
Youngsters from Aston Clinton School got kitted out in hard hats and high visibility jackets when they visited the construction site in October 2002. Fifty pupils from years 5 & 6 learned first hand how roads are built and discovered exactly what all the large vehicles and machines were for. They heard and saw how the earth was dug up and then used to build the new road, how the drainage system worked, how the bridges were built and where the Saxon burial ground was found. At the end of the visit the children got to pick their very own lump of chalk to take home to commemorate the trip!
Caring for the environment
Caring for the environment
Caring for the environment and protection of the local wildlife has been a major consideration throughout the scheme.
- Bat boxes have been put up around the restored canal to encourage bats to nest in the area.
- Water voles were discouraged from living near the canal during restoration work by natural measures, such as keeping the grass cut short. Soft riverside bank protection has been used to encourage water voles to burrow into the new canal banks.
- Newt fencing has been placed along the edge of the new road in the wetland areas to the west of the village.
- Cowslips were relocated prior to work starting.
- Extensive badger fencing has been installed and two badger tunnels have been provided, together with one artificial sett.
Facts and figures
Facts and figures
Construction of the bypass used:
- 25,000 tonnes of concrete
- 110,000 tonnes of tarmac
- 200,000 cubic metres of new low noise carriageway
- 3,350 cats eyes and road studs
- 12,500 road cones
- 26,783 metres of drainage pipes
- 35,000 tonnes of drainage stone
The maximum number of people working on the scheme was 240 and 750,000 hours of work were notched up!
Contacts
Highways Agency Information Line: 08457 50 40 30