NHER 69192 (Monument record) - Roman enclosure and other features

May-June 2022. Trial Trenching.
Evaluation of site of proposed extension to existing agricultural reservoir.
The majority of the 11 trenches excavated revealed only layers of modern made ground associated with the construction of the adjacent reservoir. The three trenches placed to the north of the reservoir did though reveal a concentration of Roman remains, including three sections of a north-west to south-east aligned ditch that corresponds with the southern side of a small rectilinear enclosure visible as cropmarks on aerial photographs (NHER 39024). This ditch produced a notable quantity of Roman pottery (>3kg), along with a fragment of quern stone, pieces of fired clay and an iron nail. Three pits were recorded immediately to the south of the enclosure ditch, two of which contained small amounts of Roman pottery. Two Roman pottery sherds were also recovered in one of two adjacent north-north-west to south-south-east aligned ditches. The one feature of note recorded within what would have been the interior of the enclosure was a pit containing a significant quantity of burnt flint (>8kg) but with no evidence for in situ burning. Although it is noted that a sample from this feature produced more than 30 pottery sherds this material has yet to be examined so at present the date of this feature remains uncertain. It is though notable that one of the two samples taken from the fills of the enclosure ditch was also found to contain large quantities of burnt flint. Other material present within the samples taken this ditch and two of the potentially Roman pits included occasional cereal grains (one identifiable as barley) and bramble seeds. The Roman pottery assemblage recovered is quite diverse and appears to span much of the period.
Evidence for earlier activity was limited to a small assemblage of Neolithic/Early Bronze Age worked flints, all of which were probably residual within later features.
Undated features included a north-north-east to south-south-west aligned ditch in the north-west corner of the site and a similarly-aligned possible linear feature recorded to the south of the reservoir.
Information from draft report. Final version awaited.
P. Watkins (HES), 10 June 2025.