Trial Trench at Beacon Fen Energy Park

The evaluation comprised the excavation of 1042 trenches measuring 50m in length by 1.8m in width across the proposed development area. The trenches were placed with informed knowledge of known drainage systems and ecological constraints which have required consideration of known stand-offs. The investigation revealed that archaeological activity was generally only found within the higher areas of the Site, above 8m AOD. The higher elevations around Eweby Thorpe contained evidence of activity dating from the prehistoric period to the 12th century AD. The earlier prehistoric activity (a round house and associated pits and postholes) had been truncated by the later medieval activity. The medieval activity displayed evidence of beam slots and associated postholes and pits. The archaeological evidence also included associated ditches likely used as boundaries and drainage. These ditches do not match the later field systems recorded on historical mapping and were likely associated with the earlier activity at the site, although no datable material was recovered from the ditches to refine this further. In addition, geophysical survey results have highlighted that this archaeological activity extends to the north and west of the area of trial trenching, within an area of the site not due to be impacted by the scheme. There were small scatters of archaeological activity noted in the lower areas of the Site, but these appear to have largely been associated with water management within the area. The majority of these features are related to the post medieval field systems and include backfilled historic field boundaries and traces of earlier ridge and furrow systems.