NHER 69283 (Monument record) - Potentially Roman or earlier features

July 2013. Watching Brief.
Monitoring of groundworks associated with construction of extension to existing dwelling.
Relatively deep soils were present, with natural geological deposits only exposed at the base of an exploratory sondage excavated in the base of one of the foundation trenches. Elsewhere, the earliest deposit encountered was an overlying reddish brown sandy clay layer thought to potentially represent hillwash derived from slopes to the south. Two Late Iron Age shell-tempered pottery sherds and a single Roman sherd were recovered from this deposit. This material was sealed by a probable former plough soil that produced a single post-medieval pottery sherd and contained a much wider range of inclusions, including fragments of ceramic building material, slag, coal and clinker. This soil was overlain by modern deposits associated with the construction of the adjacent dwelling.
Two large features of uncertain form and extent were recorded within the excavated foundation trenches. Although these produced no finds their cuts were only visible within the lower portion of the possible hillwash deposit, suggesting they were potentially Roman or earlier in date.
Information from draft report. Final version awaited.
P. Watkins (HES), 25 August 2025.