Watching Brief, Evaluation at The County Arms, The Orchards and adjoining land at 72 Oxford Road, Stone

Survey - The evaluation trenches were located to sub metre accuracy by hand measuring from fixed points at the plot boundaries. Evaluation Trenches - Five trenches (1-5) were excavated under close archaeological supervision using a 360o tracked excavator fitted with a 1.8m wide toothless ditching blade: Trench 1 was located in the north western corner of the site to west of the existing tennis court. It was oriented approximately north east - south west and crossed the proposed footprint of the building in plot III. Trench 2 was located at the northern limit of the site across the existing tennis court. It was oriented north west - south east and crossed the proposed footprint of the building in plot IV. Trench 3 was located to the north of the demolished Orchard House. It was oriented north east - south west and crossed the proposed footprint of the building in plot VII. Trench 4 was 'T' shaped. It lay at the southern edge of the site by the Oxford road, adjacent to the car park of the old County Arms public house. It crossed the proposed footprint of buildings in plots IX and X. Trench 5 was 'L' shaped. It lay beside the Oxford road, in the south western corner of the site, to the east of the access road. It crossed the proposed footprint of the building in plot I. Watching Brief - In the light of the evaluation results, a watching brief was carried out on the ground reduction works and excavation of house foundations on plots IV, VII, VIII, XI and XII. The presence of active badger setts meant that no trenches were excavated in the north eastern arm of the PDA and consequently there was no watching brief for this area. The spoil was visually searched and scanned by a metal detector for archaeological finds. CONCLUSIONS The evaluation and watching briefs confirmed earlier indications that there was Roman activity within the PDA. The evidence, however, points more towards agricultural activity than to ceramic manufacturing in situ as had been anticipated. Nearby smallscale Roman settlement is considered likely and could exist immediately outside the PDA to the north east of plots VII and VIII, or possibly within the PDA itself in plots V and VI, which were not subject to evaluation due to previous disturbance and the proximity of badger setts. The evaluation has not been able to throw any further light on the Roman kilns purported to have been found in the 19th century to the west of the PDA. Although there is abundant evidence that Stone was occupied in the medieval period, only minimal findings were made within the PDA indicating that this area played an insignificant role in the development of medieval Stone. The flint tool found in plot VII represents no more than minor prehistoric activity. Confidence of Results - All the archaeology encountered was clearly defined, and the conditions were good, allowing a high degree of confidence in the results.