2017 Fieldwalking

The first cropmark to be investigated was a rectilinear, double-ditched feature, divided in half by an inner ditch running East-West. Adjoining trackways and ditches are suggestive of stock control and enclosure functions.

An area covering the main cropmark measuring 80 x 130m was laid out and sub-divided into 10m squares for fieldwalking. For each square, anything human-influenced or "out of place" was collected and bagged.

A clear division between modern night-soiling deposits and earlier material was reassuringly found to correspond with the line of a field boundary which had been removed. (Note the gaps in the plotted cropmark). Column 9 interestingly had a concentration of older finds along with cobble fragments and pieces of quartz and haematite - an iron rich but non-magnetic mineral.

See the images below for an idea of the distribution and type of finds made. Links to the Roman era were confirmed by finds of pottery, glass and a melon bead.