SNN112119 - Land east of Banbury Lane, Culworth Grounds Farm, Thorpe Mandeville: Archaeological evaluation

A trial trench evaluation was undertaken by Bournemouth Archaeology for Anesco Ltd on land east of Banbury Lane, Thorpe Mandeville, Northamptonshire (NGR 454410 245475). Anesco intend to develop the site as a solar farm and this project aimed to establish its archaeological potential by investigating potential features revealed by a geophysical survey undertaken earlier in the year. The results of the evaluation are presented in this document and these will be used to form the basis of proposals for appropriate mitigation against the potential impact of the solar farm development. A total of 18 trenches were excavated across the site and these mainly targeted the potential archaeological features highlighted by the geophysical survey. Areas of low potential where geophysical anomalies were absent were also investigated. Archaeological features and deposits were found in nine of the trenches and these mainly correlated with the geophysical survey anomalies. Some additional features, not represented by the geophysics were identified and some potential features were found to represent variations in the natural geology. The results of the trial trenching, corroborated by the geophysical survey results have identified two zones of settlement activity represented by large pits, post-holes and ditches and these are both located towards the south east corner of the site. Most of the features investigated yielded pottery which has all been attributed to the Bronze Age (2400 – 700 BC) as well as animal bone synonymous with domestic type features of this date. A number of trenches beyond the settlement zones contained ditches and these are believed to be aspects of a field system surrounding the settlement activity identified during this project. It has been concluded that there are locally significant archaeological features and deposits of Bronze Age date on the site. These will be impacted upon by ground works associated with the proposed development and will need to be taken into consideration during the design and planning process.