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Archaeological desk based assessment

Archaeological desk-based assessments are an assessment of the baseline archaeological record of a location. This record comes from various written, graphic, and electronic sources. The assessment must include study of

  • the proposed development site itself and; 
  • the surrounding area - typically a 1km radius around the site boundary.

They are required for a:

  1. planning application within an Archaeological site
  2. planning application within a Scheduled Monument site

Desk-based assessments must be carried out by a qualified professional. 

Personal research on sites such as Heritage Gateway or Know Your Place do not provide enough information for this assessment. These sites, for example, do not include all the records in the North Somerset Historic Environment Record (HER).

As the first stage of any archaeological work, a thorough desk-based assessment can support any future intervention and mitigation. It can prevent later disruption and unexpected costs to development.

What to include

  • reference to existing frameworks, primarily Chartered Institute for Architects - standards and guidance for historic environment desk-based assessments
  • accurate plans showing the site location
  • current land use
  • historic land uses and landscape characterisation, including historic map regression
  • the locations and nature of the following records in the North Somerset Historic Environment Record:
    • designated heritage assets - including scheduled monuments, listed buildings, registered parks and gardens
    • non-designated heritage assets - including buildings, buried archaeology, standing archaeology, etc.
    • archaeological interventions - including watching briefs, evaluations, excavations
    • archaeological surveys - including geophysical, topographic etc.
  • geology, hydrology and hydrogeology, especially where the site may contain waterlogged deposits beneath alluvial or colluvial material
  • consultation of aerial and Lidar images
  • topographic development of the site from prehistory to the present day
  • portable antiquities scheme records
  • review of published and archival documentary evidence and previous interpretations of the history and archaeology of the site
  • data from geotechnical investigations such as borehole records and test pits
  • observations and photographic records of a site walkover

What the evidence needs to show

The evidence submitted needs to show: 

  • the potential for survival of archaeology from different periods within the site
  • the significance of known and potential archaeology within the site, in local, regional, national and international contexts
  • assessment of any harm to existing archaeology, and impact on the significance of archaeology, or its setting, by the proposed development