The objections poured in thick and fast. Many objected to the poor quality of the planning application, which seems to be claiming that two huge buildings, associated traffic and commercial activities, and an enormous chimney, would have 'no adverse impact' on this ecologically beautiful, archaeologically-rich locale. Then there was the lack of an obvious map (at least whenever I looked), and the somewhat desultory list of consultees. It was, to my eyes, as an archaeologist and a former Planning Committee member, all pretty woeful. And, sadly, the archaeological desk-top survey included with the application was incomplete, based on inadequate data, and quite eyebrow-raising in its brevity.
Read moreThe 'Gods of Old' at Norton Disney - and the Power of Community Archaeology
Pavement at 'Potter Hill villa', Norton Disney, excavations c 1934. Photo kindly supplied by David Barker, archivist of the Collingham & District Local History Society. An already-damaged Roman building undergoes a somewhat shoddy excavation in the 1930s.