ENN110599 - Bell Plantation Garden Centre, 2022 (Trial trench)

The evaluation fieldwork comprised the excavation of 12 trenches, each measuring 50m long by 1.8m wide, in the locations shown in Figure 2. The trenches were located to test geophysical anomalies and to provide a representative sample of the remainder of the site, as a means of prospection for remains of a type or period that may not respond to geophysical survey, in order to ascertain the nature and state of preservation of any archaeological features present. A number of linear ditches were encountered in the trenches, matching geophysical anomalies which suggest the presence of a system of rectilinear enclosures and field systems, as well as possible trackways linking different elements of the agricultural landscape. A scatter of apparently isolated small/medium sized pits were also present, although no evidence for structural, domestic or industrial remains was encountered. The majority of the pottery assemblage recovered from the Site dates to between the 1st and 3rd centuries AD, with a relative scarcity of late Roman pottery fabrics and forms pointing towards a decline in activity from the late 3rd century onwards.