NHER 66825 (Monument record) - Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age and undated pits and undated boundary bank

September-October 2019. Watching Brief.
Monitoring of groundworks associated with installation of new fence.
This work was focused on the locations where the line of the new fence would cross two bank features visible on LIDAR imagery – a north-to-south feature running between TL 7453 9003 and TL 7456 8981 (Bank 1; Context 1) and a west-north-west to east-south-east aligned feature visible between TL 7450 8980 and TL 7479 8975 (Bank 2; Context 2; part of a group of boundary banks and associated ditches previously recorded as NHER 36808).
The only evidence associated with the north-to-south aligned bank was a layer of dark grey sand with flint.
The west-north-west to east-south-east aligned bank was found to have already levelled by an existing trackway at the point where its line was crossed by the new fence.
No finds were recovered.
See report (S1) for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 13 March 2023.

October 2020. Aerial Imagery Interpretation.
Examination of images taken by unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) following deep ploughing to create habitat for stone curlews (work which inverted the ground to a depth of between 0.4m and 0.6m).
A number of potentially archaeologically-significant features were identified, the fills of which were distinguishable from the redeposited geological material now covering much of the site. These included a possible ring-ditch at TL 74626 8962, two adjacent pairs of concentric possible ring-ditches at TL 74502 89686 and TL 74536 89695 and a cluster of overlapping possible ring-ditches at TL 74489 89606. A very wide possible sub-circular ditch was also identified in the south-east corner of the site, at TL 74669 89497.
See report (S2) for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 13 March 2023.

January 2021. Field Survey, Walkover Survey and Test Pitting.
Archaeological mitigation undertaken following soil inversion to create new habitat for stone curlews (Compartment 2). This work was focused on the areas in which possible features (including a number of possible ring-ditches) had been identified on aerial images. Following an examination of these features (which included some limited test pitting) it was concluded that they were all most likely geological rather than archaeological in origin.
It was though possible to identify a dispersed cluster of disturbed probable pits in the northern half of the site (Site 2; Context 3), two of which were found to contain several sherds of Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Beaker pottery. One of these features also contained a reasonably large assemblage of what were probably contemporary worked flints, which comprises flakes, several blades, cores (two with keeled platforms) and a number of retouched implements, including edge-trimmed flakes, 'flaked flakes' and a denticulated flake. It is likely that the seven other pits in this cluster were of a similar date, although finds from these features were limited to a single sherd of possible Beaker pottery and a small number of additional worked flints.
Although an attempt at systematic fieldwalking was attempted the extent of the ground disturbance meant that finds were largely limited to the patches of material likely to represent the fills of disturbed features. The objects recovered elsewhere included a small number of Late Neolithic and Neolithic/Bronze Age worked flints and several burnt flints [1]. Metal-detecting recovered only modern artefacts (none of which were retained).
See report (S3) for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 13 March 2023.