Dove House Farm, The Lane, Wyboston, Bedfordshire: Archaeological Trial Trenching

Archaeological trial trenching, comprising five trenches measuring 30m long and 1.8m wide and one trench measuring 25m long and 1.8m wide, took place between 16th and 17th August 2022. The trial trenching identified a series undated/modern ditches and scattered tree throws in Trenches 1, 2, 5 and 6. Other than a modern land drain, no features were found in Trenches 3 and 4. Two undated ditches had a similar alignment to the existing field boundaries, suggesting they represent former boundaries or land divisions. Although they are possibly post-medieval or later in date, given the proximity to the postulated core of the medieval settlement of Wyboston, a medieval date cannot be ruled out. Modern features included pipe trenches associated with a recently installed water pump, land drains, and larger ditches containing fragments of wood, indicating they were backfilled relatively recently. Four tree throws produced no finds and are considered to be of natural origin. The results of the field evaluation suggest that the archaeological potential of the site is low. The modern agricultural features have no further potential to address research aims. The two potentially medieval/post-medieval boundaries are likely of agricultural origin; as such they are of limited significance with no further potential to address the medieval or post-medieval research aims.