Soham
Archaeology and Development at Soham
Soham sits on a fen island with growth allocations on its margins, where the archaeological method can change significantly over a short distance.
- Authority
- East Cambridgeshire District Council
- Landscape
- Fen island and margins
- Key early step
- Establishing depth of overburden
- Method risk
- One trench design across two landscapes
The landscape
Higher ground surrounded by drained fen, with a long settlement history on the island and sealed deposits possible on the lower edges. Ground conditions and depth of overburden vary noticeably between the two.
What it means for your development
A single evaluation design applied across a site that straddles the island edge will usually be wrong in one half of it. Establishing overburden depth early, before trench design is fixed, is the practical way to avoid excavating at the wrong level.
Questions
Common questions on this
Why would trench depth be wrong?
Because on fen margins archaeology can sit beneath a metre or more of later deposit. A standard-depth trench can cut through empty overburden and stop above the archaeology, producing a false negative.
Project review
Developing at Soham?
Send the planning position and the site plan. We will set out the likely archaeological requirement, the sequence and where the programme risk sits.