12th January 2005, 05:55 PM
As one of those (often maligned) curators I am very interested to see that the value of investigation is an active debate. I find that watching briefs are extremely useful when initiating investigation in areas with potential but little actual evidence produced from excavations or other interventions. For example watching briefs on single houses (even extensions) within villages which are referenced in Domesday but have never had any actual archaeological investigation. If a watching brief turns up physical evidence then a later planning application in a nearby plot can be evaluated as the evidence exists to support this requirement. The trick is to balance the scale of development against the significance of potential remains. If no evidence exists upon which to argue for an evaluation you can find yourself on the losing side in an appeal!
Steven
Steven