An archaeological evaluation was carried out by CFA Archaeology on land at Winkburn Farm, Nottinghamshire in January and February 2021 in order to inform a planning application for a solar installation. The trenches reported on in this document form a draft report of Phase 1 of the trial trenching evaluation project. The evaluation followed a geophysical survey of the site which identified possible linear archaeological features. Areas highlighted as featuring geophysical disturbances and trends were thoroughly investigated, with the responses proving largely to be the remains of post-medieval field boundaries, with the exception of two possible clay extraction pits filled with 17th-19th century CBM which were recorded towards the northern end of the site. The trial trenching carried out during Phase 1 of the evaluation at Winkburn revealed little in the way of surviving early archaeological features within the trenches excavated. Geophysical anomalies largely proved to be the remains of post-medieval field boundaries or evidence of agricultural practices in the form of furrows and shallow ditches. A spread of CBM material recovered from the topsoil surface towards the northwestern end of the site contained tiles dated from the late 17th - 19th century and along with large pits, presumably the remains of clay extraction, recorded in Trench 10, may be evidence of the presence in the vicinity of post-medieval industrial activities
George Beardow (Fri,) studied this question.