Land east of Lodge Road, Hurst, Wokingham, Berkshire

The evaluation fieldwork comprised the excavation of 50 trenches. 49 of the trenches measured 50m x 1.8m, and 1 trench measured 38m x 1.8m as Trench 28 was shortened to avoid a buried power cable. Trenches were set out and overburden was stripped from the trenches by a mechanical excavator under archaeological supervision to the top of the natural substrate, which was the level at which archaeological features were first encountered. Archaeological features/deposits were investigated, planned and recorded. Deposits were assessed for their paleoenvironmental potential and samples were taken. In November/December 2022, Cotswold Archaeology carried out an archaeological evaluation at Land east of Lodge Road, Hurst, Wokingham, Berkshire. A total of 50 trenches were excavated. Archaeological features were recorded in the majority of trenches, only nine were blank. Three trenches contained medieval material, and five trenches contained post-medieval material. Several agricultural field systems and pits relating to agricultural activity were identified during the field evaluation, alongside several field systems identified on historic mapping. A number of ditches remain undated, which do not follow current and historic boundary alignments and might therefore be deemed to date earlier than the post-medieval period.