NHER 65555 (Monument record) - ?Roman, Late Saxon and post-medieval features

March 2016. Geophysical Survey.
Magnetometer survey of proposed quarry extension.
Although numerous discrete anomalies were identified these were mostly background variations of probable natural origin. A small number of slightly stronger and/or more clearly defined anomalies do however potentially infilled pit-type features. There was however no obvious pattern to these anomalies suggesting they are unlikely to represent a significant archaeological site.
The small number of linear responses included narrow negative anomalies that corresponded with visible displacements of the subsoil between adjacent plough furrows. Weak positive linear anomalies close to these may represent localised increases in soil depth.
The remaining discrete anomalies were probably caused by ferrous objects in the plough soil, most likely modern debris.
See report (S1) for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 25 April 2022.

February-March 2019. Trial Trenching.
Evaluation of site of proposed quarry extension.
The 34 trenches excavated revealed a number of linear and discrete features, although the majority produced little in the way of dating evidence.
A number of ditches were exposed in the northern half of the site, the alignments of which indicate they were most likely associated with at least two distinct phases of activity. A north-west to south-east aligned feature at the northern end of the site was probably contemporary with the similarly-aligned Roman field system recorded during earlier excavations at the site to the north-east (NHER 39833). It is suggested that a number of the other ditches were probably also Roman, although no finds of this date were recovered. One of these east-north-east to west-south-west aligned ditches also clearly corresponds with a former field boundary depicted on the Buxton tithe map. A similarly-aligned feature to the south also produced a number of post-medieval finds, suggesting another, parallel ditch between the two and a nearby perpendicular feature were most likely also of a relatively recent date. Post-medieval finds were also recovered from a north-east to south-west aligned ditch.
The discrete features included a group of 17 shallow pits of consistent shape and size that all had a notably charcoal-rich main fill. In many cases the underlying material was heat-reddened, indicating that either burning had occurred in-situ or the charcoal-rich material had been deposited when still hot. Samples taken from these deposits contained exceptionally rich assemblages of what appears to be predominantly oak charcoal but little else in the way of plant macrofossils. Similar features recorded at the site to the north-east were thought to have been associated with charcoal production and this was almost certainly the case with the pits here. Although no finds were recovered, a Late Saxon radiocarbon date of 908-1028 cal AD at 95.4% probability (SUERC-87181; 1041 +/- 24 BP) was obtained for charcoal from one of the pits. This is consistent with two Middle to Late Saxon dates (690-900 cal AD and 690-890 cal AD) that were obtained for similar features at the adjacent site and serves to confirm that this activity continued into the latter part of this period.
Also revealed were a series of discrete circular features that were all very similar to features recorded during earlier work to the north-east, which had been identified as glacial hollows. The five examples tested at this site appeared to be of similar origin, with all of them found to be in excess of 1.2m deep and infilled with homogenous, sterile, silty deposits.
See report (S2) for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 26 April 2022.

May 2019. Desk-based Assessment.
Assessment of proposed extension to Mayton Wood Quarry comprising this field and land to the north-east (NHER 39833), east and south-east (NHER 65556).
See report (S3) for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 26 April 2022.