Archaeological Fieldwalking (Phase 2) on Land at Messingham Quarry, Lincolnshire

In March 1999 ARCUS was commissioned by Entec Limited, on behalf of their clients, Hepworth Minerals and Chemicals Limited, to undertake the second stage of an archaeological field survey of land at Messingham Quarry, Lincolnshire. The area is subject to a planning condition requiring a programme of archaeological works prior to and during a planned quarry extension. The ploughed area covered approximately 12 hectares. Finds recovered included prehistoric flints, post-medieval pottery, glass, clay pipe, metal, slag, field drain and brick and tile. The post-medieval pottery was by far the most common material recovered. The majority of the finds, particularly pottery, glass, clay pipe, slag and brick and tile came from the eastern half of the present field. Apart from this general trend all the material appeared to be randomly distributed throughout the field. This pattern, splitting the field into two halves coincides with the line of an old and now removed field boundary shown on the 1891 O.S. map. This suggests that the two former fields may have been under different agricultural regimes in the nineteenth century.