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HS2: The Doddershall Survey
PART OF THE HS2 HISTORIC IMPACT ASSESSMENT PROJECT
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| THE HS2 ROUTE MAP AT DODDERSHALL, showing the high-speed rail line (top) passing close to the earthworks and listed buildings (marked in red). The deserted village site is in the fields north of the manor house (top right). The actual footprint of the line is expected to be wider than shown. |
Doddershall was included in the society's
Response to the HS2 Environmental Statement in February 2014.
What construction of the line will mean
The projected line of HS2 will destroy the lodge house of the Doddershall estate and run within 400 metres of its Jacobean manor house. The line would also cross the site of the deserted medieval village of Doddershall, pass only metres away from an earthwork that has been claimed to be a gun battery from the English Civil War and close by two Grade 2 listed farmhouses.
After the Archaeological Society was approached by the owner of the estate, members conducted surveys and undertook considerable research. The results, set out in three reports, were submitted to become part of the HS2 Environmental Statement which – hopefully – will contribute to their protection as historically valuable assets.
Our research has shown that:
• Construction work for the proposed line would destroy a section of the deserted village earthworks at least 75 metres wide by half a mile long.
• The identification of the ‘civil war gun battery’ is possible but unproven; only detailed excavation before construction of HS2 can resolve the issue.
• Doddershall Lodge, which will be destroyed if the line goes ahead, is a 19th-century building – but contains older structural elements, probably recycled from rebuilding work at the manor house.
THE REPORTS
Each of the pages that follow provides a summary as well as an opportunity to download the full text of the report itself.
MAP BY HS2 LIMITED.