Prior to an archaeologist being on site, the initial clearing of vegetation within the site boundary took place. Excavations then took place in an area that ran north to south on the eastern portion of site. This area was stripped down using a 360� excavator with a toothless bucket to the natural chalk. Excavations on the western extent exposed disturbed ground that was visible in plan due to the superficial differences between the made ground and the previously untouched topsoil. The total area that was excavated measured roughly 115m by 13m. The western extent of the proposed pond excavations were not monitored, as we were not notified when they would resume excavations. However, part of the area was previously excavated and monitored during and archaeological recording action by JMHS (JMHS 2018 and 2020). The archaeological monitoring and recording aimed to identify the presence or absence of significant archaeological remains, with a particular focus on prehistoric and Roman remains. During the course of the excavations, a single modern ditch and a single, probable modern pit was uncovered in the south of the site area. Situated in the northern-most extent of the site area were a series of undated linear features. A diffuse linear ditch, 19, was truncated by a later linear gully, 21. The full extent of linear ditch 19 and the south-eastern extent of gully 21 could not be established due to heavy rooting. Linear ditch terminuses 03 and 15 were on the same west-north-western alignment and terminated before gully 21. These terminuses then extended beyond the limit of excavation to the east. It is possible that gully 21, and ditch terminuses 03 and 15 were contemporary features, as they all three appeared to respect the boundaries of the other, and were likely in use within the same period. However, without any dateable evidence, this cannot be confirmed. During the previous archaeological excavations undertaken by JMHS (JMHS 2018 and 2020), and in the area immediately west of the proposed pond (Figure 1), there was a west-north-west by east-south-east orientated ditch. This ditch was interpreted as a possible post-medieval to modern drainage ditch. This ditch had the potential to be uncovered during the current phase of the pond excavations, however, the continuation was not observed. Similarly, to the south-west of the proposed pond area, and observed within the same phase of previous excavation works, a north-east by south-west aligned modern ditch was observed. This previous ditch appeared to be on the same orientation as modern ditch 22 within the current phase. The distance between these two ditches was c87m, so it is difficult to determine with any certainty that these ditches were contemporary. Due to the limited archaeological features within the site area, and the concentration of undated features within the northernmost extent, it is difficult to extrapolate the observed archaeology within the wider landscape.
Whitehead et al. (Wed,) studied this question.