National Mapping Programme: The Leadon Valley Sand and Gravel Aggregate Area (Leadon Valley ALSF)

The survey area covers 126 km north-west of Gloucester between Highnam and Churcham in the south to Staunton in the north; extending west to Gorsley and north to Little Marcle. The need to identify potential sites for sand and gravel extraction within Gloucestershire to supplement mineral extraction in the Upper Thames Valley led to the Leadon Valley Sand and Gravel Aggregate Area (No. 4832) National Mapping Programme (NMP) aerial survey, which sought to identify and assess historic and archaeological assets visible on aerial photographs within the potential aggregate producing area of the Leadon Valley. The Leadon Valley had an apparently low density of archaeological records in comparison to neighbouring areas of the Forest of Dean, the River Severn valley and estuary and the Malvern Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), where NMP aerial surveys that are currently ongoing or have been completed have contributed greatly to the archaeological record in the National Monument Record (NMR) for those areas.