HS2 dig is fast track to our past Excavation is proving one of Midlands’ richest seams of history
ARCHEALOGISTS have hailed a site along the HS2 rail route as one of the most important in the region, if not the country.
Roman brooches, ancient rubbish tips and Iron Age roundhouses are among the finds to have been unearthed at the HS2 archaeological dig near Solihull.
Experts have shed further light on what excavations at Coleshill, in north Warwickshire, have revealed about people who once lived in the area.
Sites are being investigated along the length of the London to Birmingham line, with the Coleshill land regarded as the most exciting spot in the Midlands.
Wessex Archaeology, which has taken the lead on the project, said it had already been delving into the history of Iron Age roundhouses and an ancient Roman structure.
And excavations at the site of a nearby medieval moated manor house are due to get under way this summer.
Emma Carter, from Wessex Archaeology, first set foot on the site three years ago and said she was excited by the next phase of the work.
“If you go onto Google Maps, you can actually see a very distinctive octagonal moat that’s still in place. “We are hoping to proceed with that excavation in late June or early July. We’ll be trying to find out how much of the manor house is still intact, and one of the things we really want to look at is to what extent were the ornamental gardens in place as well.”
Teams also hope to establish if anything pre-dates the moat and what impact the Black Death – the plague which caused devastation in the Middle Ages – had on the local area.
“I think one of the most exciting things about day-to-day life at Coleshill is that it’s potentially represented in the Bronze Age period, Iron Age, Roman, Medieval and the later early modern and 19th century,” said Ms Carter.
“From things like the grain analysis that we get from taking soil samples we can say what the settlement might have smelt like.
“There’s a particular type of straw that has this kind of lovely lemony scent to it, and at one of our sites we’ve got an abundance of that, so that suggests there would be a lemony hay bale smell coming through the settlement.”
Among the objects unearthed so far include the remains of a Roman brooch dating from the 1st century and a distinctive artefact with a serpent design.
While Ms Carter said its “misleading” appearance might remind people of the Vikings, it was in fact a 19th century fitting, which had probably adorned a piece of furniture.
Solihull councillors have demanded the objects remain in the local area and are not “spirited away” to London.
Cllr David Cole (Lab) warned that any items taken off to the capital would not return.
This week HS2 Ltd seemed to give a firmer commitment to keeping the discoveries in the region.
Helen Wass, HS2’s head of heritage, said: “After the archaeological specialists have done all their analysis to make sure that we get all the information out of the artefacts, to tell the full story of the site, we will be depositing them with a local museum. So Birmingham or Warwickshire.”
CONTROVERSIAL plans to bring HS2 lorries along rural routes in Solihull have been handed to the council.
The project is seeking approval for HGVs to travel to a compound at Park Lane, Balsall Common, which will be a major base during construction.
Villagers fear extra traffic on the already congested Kenilworth Road and emissions increasing as a result.
There will be up to 50 two-way journeys a day this year, though this will increase to 150 when the construction intensifies.
Cllr Diane Howell (Con, Meriden) said it was vital any disruption to local residents was kept to the minimum.
“The Government has given HS2 notice to proceed and so we can expect to see an increase in construction activity,” she said. “However it is more important than ever that as local councillors we hold HS2 to account and seek to minimise and mitigate disruption to our local residents. “Although the Park Lane compound is on the fringe of Balsall Common there are some residential properties in the area, so I will be seeking assurances that HS2 will be mindful of their neighbours during these works.
“This application will see up to 180 HGVs per day accessing the compound. It’s therefore vital that HS2 continue to use less polluting Euro-6 diesels.”
Hayden Wright, from Balfour Beatty Vinci, the chief contractor for the works, said that preparation work was under way at both the Park Lane depot and a similar base in Coleshill Heath Road, Chelmsley Wood.
“We’re in the process of mobilising those compounds now, so within the next six to eight months they will be being built,” he said.