Golden Hay Field Archaeological Survey
An initial survery of the field was carried out in 2023 (see report below) and following the outcome of this work a full site survey was made a pre-condition of the planning permission formally granted in February 2026 and approved by the planning committee in November 2025. The full survey was performed from the beginning of March to end May 2026. A full report will be issued in due course by Thames Valley Archeaological Services (TVAS) and ADAS, and is expected to be published in 2028 after all the analysis of the site and its finds has been completed. This will not delay the build works which is expected to start in August/September 2026.
February 2023 Initial Survey
The report here is from the intial survery of Golden Hay Field, and was published on the Tewkesbury Borough Council planning site as part of the development.
See "Planning Concerns"
The following is a short extract from the introduction of this report:
"RSK ADAS Ltd were commissioned by DB Land and Planning Consultancy Ltd to carry out an archaeological trial trenching evaluation following pre-application advice from Mr Toby Catchpole, Heritage Team Leader for Gloucestershire.
The site was first evaluated in a desk-based assessment by ADAS in 2021 which identified high potential to encounter prehistoric, Romano-British and Medieval archaeological features. In February 2023, a geophysical survey of the site was carried out on an area measuring 0.86 hectares and numerous anomalies suggestive of significant archaeological activity were detected, indicative of probable settlement activity. Agricultural features including a former mapped field boundary, a mapped track, and a former pond were identified. The archaeological evaluation targeted anomalies identified in the geophysical survey and five trenches measuring between 24.2 – 25.4 m in length and 1.8 m in width were excavated equating to a 2% sample of the total development area.
The evaluation confirmed the archaeological significance of geophysical anomalies, particularly in the northern half of the field. A number if ditches, pits and postholes were identified throughout the site and most of the excavated features contained pottery and animal bone. The pottery is predominantly middle to late Roman in date, with just a hint of an earlier presence. Post-medieval furrows were seen across the site and may mask further features.
During the evaluation, 137 sherds of pottery were presented for assessment. There is some evidence of a late Iron Age or Early Roman settlement, although most of the pottery this early occurs residually. The majority of the pottery is associated with a late 2nd to 3rd century settlement. The deposition pattern, functional analysis and fineware levels all suggest that this is at the high end of the rural status, perhaps a villa or Romanized farmstead. There is no evidence of pottery necessarily dating later than the mid-3rd century AD , and the absence of high levels of Oxford colour coats, later shelly wares , developed bead and flange rim bowls and the low level of black burnished wares suggest that the site supply ceases by the late 3rd century."
Open Day 10th May 2026.
Full Survey March to end May 2026.
More details will be provided here once reports are published by TVAS & ADAS