Archaeological and Heritage Consultation and Contracting

Principal Archaeologist and Director Jude provides the appropriate strategy to tackle archaeological issues early on in your project, enabling resources to be allocated in a planned and efficient manner, with diligence to cost and time.

We deliver services on short notice, and operate anywhere in the UK.

Heritage Statement

Archaeological Desk-Based Assessments (DBA’s), more comprehensively known as Heritage Statements, provide crucial information to understand the potential impacts on the historic environment, and your development project. They can help to empower clients to anticipate requirements, and inform their project design. It can include a walkover survey and/or geophysical survey for an enhanced ability to predict outcomes.

Witten Scheme of Investigation

A WSI is a pre-commencement report that sets out the methodology, and brief background (sometimes including a search of the Council Historic Environment Record) for the project, then submitted to and discharged by the Council.

Watching Brief

Undertaking an archaeological Watching Brief, Cursus Archaeology will monitor groundworks within the development area. The excavator must be equipped with a toothless ditching/trenching bucket and the driver will be instructed to reduce in approximately 100mm level reductions at a time. This method will be required at all times when being monitored by the archaeologist, based on the requirements as laid out in the Written Scheme of Investigation and specified by the Council, and is essential to be able to properly observe any buried remains which may be uncovered.

Evaluation

Cursus Archaeology’s Archaeological Evaluation service, is a method used in pre-planning/determination to anticipate the archaeological potential in advance of planning submission, to either finish at that stage if there's no findings, or if archaeology is identified, the next stage of work can be negotiated with the Council, and a planning condition will then be in force. The size and number of the trenches will be a percentage of total site area, and will ideally be targeted upon potential features identified in a survey.

Excavation

Strip map and record/sample excavation will be required on either a known site of archaeological significance or if identified during a watching brief or evaluation.

Archaeological undertakings should be thought of as sequential staged programmes, each contingent upon the last, and their completion is a legal requirement before your build can take place and then be approved in planning.

Historic Building Recording

Cursus Archaeology has the best expertise in photographic recording of historic buildings, and is accomplished at recording them to the industry standard Historic England levels 1-4; level 1 being the lowest and least involved, 4 can involve multiple techniques and stages. We have worked on Scheduled Monuments including 12th Century Leeds Castle in Kent, Grade II and II* Listed structures, and non-designated buildings of historic interest, in both urban and rural settings, for all your archaeological requirements to discharge a Listed Building Condition.

Our specialist techniques include photogrammetry, rectification, 3D modelling and drone surveys.

Geophysical Survey

Cursus Archaeology undertakes surveying using magnetometry, to scan for potential buried remains, for enhanced desk based assessments.