Land at Church Road, Laverstock

The archaeological fieldwork work was undertaken by Red River Archaeology Ltd and consists of the excavation of thirty-six evaluation trenches, measuring 30m x 2m (Figure 1). These have been positioned to target the potential archaeological anomalies and 'blank' areas identified through the magnetometer survey. The trench layout provided assumed the Esso pipeline exclusion zone of 3m is acceptable to the attending engineer once the service has been located. A contingency of up to 100m x 2m, is included should this be required for further characterisation of archaeological remains and upon agreement with the Wiltshire County Archaeological advisor and the client. Non-significant overburden was be removed to the top of archaeological deposits or natural substrates, whichever was encountered first. This was achieved through use of a mechanical excavator with a toothless grading bucket under constant archaeological supervision. Thereafter cleaning and excavation will be conducted by hand. All archaeological deposits and features were subjected to appropriate levels of investigation without compromising the feature with regard to future study. Decisions about the relative value of archaeological deposits and features were made in consultation with the archaeological advisor to the local planning authority. Sample excavation of archaeological deposits were limited and minimally intrusive, sufficient to achieve the aims and objectives identified above, and at this stage there was no requirement to sample all archaeological features encountered. Where appropriate, excavation did not compromise the integrity of the archaeological record and was undertaken in such a way as to allow for the subsequent protection of remains either for conservation or to allow more detailed investigations to be conducted under better conditions at a later date. The evaluation confirmed the presence, in Trenches 20 and 22, of vestigial domestic archaeology of likely Early Iron Age date in the form of two ditches and a pit, all containing ceramics identified as Post Deverel Rimbury pottery. Worked lithics of prehistoric date were also recovered. It is believed that the archaeology represents domestic or light industrial activity.