SNN112624 - Geophysical survey report of Copse Lodge, Farthinghoe

Magnitude Surveys was commissioned to assess the subsurface archaeological potential of a c.138ha area of land at Copse Lodge, Farthinghoe. A fluxgate gradiometer survey was successfully completed across the site. A complex multi-phase settlement has been identified in the south-eastern part of the area, occupying over c. 7.5ha. The anomalies within this settlement correspond with, and expand upon, previously recorded cropmarks in the area. The settlement appears to have persisted for a considerable duration, with a morphology suggesting phases from at least the Iron Age into the Roman period. A nearby area of limestone quarrying was identified at the edge of the settlement core, with evidence for in-situ processing of material in the form of potential lime-kilns. Agricultural features including mapped and unmapped former field boundaries, and ridge and furrow cultivation demonstrate landscape utilisation into the medieval and post-medieval periods. Modern ploughing and drains have also been identified across the site. Modern interference in the data is generally limited to ferrous haloes from material within field boundaries, underground services, pylons and noise from spreads of ferrous/highly magnetic debris in some parts of the northern area of the site.