NHER 68278 (Monument record) - Late Saxon to medieval remains

July-August 2023. Trial Trenching.
Evaluation of site on proposed route of new water main (Trenches 1-4).
The four trenches excavated at this location revealed a number of pits and ditches, most, if not all of which appear to have been of Late Saxon to medieval date. The bulk of the pottery recovered is Late Saxon, with the presence of smaller quantities of early medieval and medieval pottery demonstrating that activity had continued into the 11th century and beyond. This is consistent with the results of earlier metal-detecting at this location, which had suggested the presence of Late Saxon and medieval occupation sites in the vicinity (see NHER 33298).
Determining the exactly age of the individual features is made somewhat difficult by the fact that much of the pottery was clearly residual – the largest individual assemblage of Late Saxon pottery, for example, being recovered from the feature that also contained the most medieval sherds (an east-to-west aligned ditch).
One of the trenches also exposed a particularly large feature interpreted a as possible pond or extraction pit. A small assemblage of Late Saxon pottery was recovered from this feature, along with a single medieval sherd, a medieval casket binding strip or mount, an iron strap loop of possible medieval date and fragments of animal bone.
Evidence for earlier activity was limited to an unstratified flint blade of possible Mesolithic or Early Neolithic date and a small number of Roman pottery sherds found residual within a later ditch. The other unstratified finds recovered at this location included a small number of Late Saxon and early medieval pottery sherds and a medieval buckle.
It is possible that the ditches uncovered during this work relate to linear cropmarks noted on aerial photographs of the surrounding fields that are thought to represent field boundaries and irregular enclosures (recorded as NHER 35507).
See reports (S1) and (S2) for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 22 April 2024.