The evaluation fieldwork comprised the excavation of 11 trenches, each measuring 30m in length by 1.9m in width. This represented a 2% sample of the proposed development area. The trenches were located to test the previously identified geophysical anomalies and to provide a representative sample of the remainder of the site. In February 2026, Cotswold Archaeology carried out an archaeological evaluation of land for a proposed solar farm at MOD Lyneham, Wiltshire. A total of 11 trenches was excavated. An undated ditch, correlating to a roadside ditch depicted on historic cartographic sources including the 1846 Tithe Map of Lyneham, was recorded in a trench excavated in the central part of the site. Structural remains, including walls, floors, a pit/well, and associated deposits, were identified in a trench excavated in the central part of the site. These remains correlated closely to structures depicted on the 1846 Tithe Map of Lyneham and on later mapping (e.g. the 1887 First Edition Ordnance Survey map). Artefactual material recovered from deposits in this trench confirmed the postmedieval/modern date of both the building and the pit/well. As illustrated by contemporary mapping, the building had been demolished by the late 20th century to make way for the expansion of the airfield. Evidence for Second World War levelling and construction were recorded in trenches excavated in the north-western part of the site, with structural remains associated with a Lamella hangar and associated elements identified. These structures correlated closely with anomalies identified by a preceding geophysical survey.
Bateman et al. (Thu,) studied this question.