EDO5986 - Woodsford Farm, Field 3; excavation 2010

Excavation of around 3 ha in advance of quarrying. Previous evaluation revealed extensive areas of occupation and landscape features, and highlighted eleven areas of higher archaeological potential thought to represent deposits of early prehistoric to Roman date. Work in Field 3 comprised supervision of stripping of topsoil and subsoil by machine using a ditching bucket, to reveal archaeological deposits at a typical depth of 0.4m. There was a high density of archaeological deposits, predominantly ditches and gullies of later Roman date representing enclosures and fields subject over time to redefinition, enlargment and reorganisation to different alignments. A series of enclosures were later connected by ditches and gullies to create droveways and enclose more land parcels. A notable feature of this system was a large enclosure enclosing 7344 sq m, later subdivided. Another field system on a slightly different alignment was composed of large fields around a long central ditch; this appeared to be later than the majority of the enclosures.