Archaeological Monitoring and Recording at Land South of The Chase, Harlyn Bay, St Merryn, Cornwall

This report presents the results of archaeological monitoring and recording that was carried out by South West Archaeology Ltd. (SWARCH) for a residential development at Land South of The Chase, Harlyn Bay, St Merryn, Cornwall. The site was stripped of vegetation and of modern landscaping deposits from the 1960s to the 1970s (c.1.0m of material) prior to the commencement of archaeological works. The archaeological monitoring and recording consisted of monitoring the excavation of the footings for the proposed development through windblown sand deposits. The footings covered a total area of 12m (NE-SW) by 10m (NW-SE) and were between 1.0m and 1.4m wide and were excavated to a depth of 1.0m below the reduced ground level. The stratigraphy that was encountered consisted solely of a 1.0m thick clean homogenous light reddish-yellow sand. This clean windblown sand became firmer towards the base (c.0.3m thick). The only feature that was noted was a modern pit. The only find was a late 19th century or 20th century flowerpot that was discarded on site. The excavations were not deep enough to expose the natural geology or to reach the known levels of archaeological features.