The project involved the demolition of the existing club house and the construction of its replacement, remodelling the access road, carparking and the recontouring the 18-hole course and the 9-hole Academy course, with associated landscaping, tree planting and biodiversity enhancement.

Pre-Construct Archaeology Ltd London was initially commissioned to prepare a Desk Based Assessment and Heritage Statement which were submitted to the Local Planning Authority in support of the planning application.

The outcome of this desk-based survey concluded the site had the potential to contain archaeological remains from early prehistory to the post-medieval era.

Given the potential for archaeological remains, and in accordance with a planning requirement an archaeological evaluation was required to characterise and assess the survival of archaeological remains within those areas directly impacted by the proposals.

The evaluation was completed in two phases approximately one year apart, comprising nineteen trenches of up to 50m in length.

The trenches were located by PCA using GNSS Geomax survey equipment, to ensure they were positioned according to pre-determined set out data stipulated in the Written Scheme of Investigation.   The excavation of each trench was carried out by an 8-tonne tracked excavator fitted with a toothless ditching bucket under a strict supervision by PCA supervisory grade staff.

In the event only limited archaeological features and finds were made, the latter included several heavily-patinated worked or knapped flints dated to between the Late Neolithic to early Iron Age and a late Iron Age ditch gully. The ditch may have been a part of a farming enclosure located to the south-west of the site. Post-medieval features related to the farming of the area were also present, mostly in form of land drains. Modern truncation was present throughout the site and was linked to the landscaping work during creation of the golf course.

PCA’s report concluded that the 1960’s landscaping both removed original soil deposits and dumped redeposited soil across the site. This had a detrimental effect on the archaeological resource and allowed the local planning authority to make an informed a decision that no further archaeological work would be required at the site.