Manor Court Field, Withington - Archaeological Landscape Survey Report

This survey was undertaken to ground-truth the Wessex Archaeology 2018 and 2022 geophysical, LiDAR and UAV surveys within Manor Court Field. The visible earthworks are thought to be associated with the second Romano-British villa building, within the scheduled monument area (NHLE 1003345). To inform the fieldwork, ArcGIS Pro was used to combine and visualise the existing datasets. The survey was conducted to a Level 2 standard as defined by Understanding the Archaeology of Landscapes (Historic England 2017). A team of two mapped the extant features using TST and GNSS equipment, supported by a photographic survey. The survey area was walked systematically, and all archaeological features encountered were assigned a unique identification number and recorded. The data was processed and compared with existing datasets, to form the discussion. The visible earthworks in Manor Court Field were probably created by the construction, subsequent abandonment and demolition of a Roman villa. The impact of later agricultural activities meant the features were indistinct in some areas. The study has added to the body of information and provided a better understanding of the extant features, and how they relate to underground structures identified by GPR. Where excavations have taken place, the material uncovered was broadly consistent with what was predicted from the previous geophysical survey. The form, function and phasing of the villa is currently not fully understood from the limited excavation that has been carried out, and further work may also help understand its context within the wider Roman economy and landscape.