Land west of The Pastures, Upper Caldecote, Central Bedfordshire: Archaeological Investigation

The fieldwork followed the methodology set out within the WSI (CA 2017a), for a programme of strip, map and record investigation, the location of which was informed by the results of the preceding trial-trench evaluation (HPS 2016). The excavation area was opened in the western half of the development site, totalling 0.5ha. Due to the identification of archaeological features within the area of the Strip, Map and Record investigation, the area was subsequently expanded to the east with the approval of the CBC AT. Between November 2018 and January 2019, Cotswold Archaeology carried out an archaeological strip, map and record (SMR) investigation of land to the west of The Pastures, Upper Caldecote, Biggleswade, Central Bedfordshire. An area of 0.5ha was excavated within the development site. The fieldwork revealed features pertaining to the pre-medieval, medieval and post-medieval periods, along with a number of undated pits. A small number of features, comprising four ditches and a pit, were found to be stratigraphically earlier and on a notably different alignment to the Period 2 medieval features. However, due to a lack of associated artefactual and environmental material, their dating is uncertain. The medieval features suggest that the site saw a relatively short-lived but intensive level of activity during the 12th-13th centuries. This involved the establishment of at least two enclosures that saw repeated maintenance and reestablishment. The majority of the features extended beyond the limits of the excavation, suggesting that this enclosure activity continued to the north, south and west. The postmedieval features comprised a large, elongated pit, which probably formed a pond. The pottery assemblage recovered during the fieldwork is comprised solely of 12th-13th century domestic wares. Nearly a quarter of the assemblage evidenced burning and sooting on the exterior surface, and some had burnt residues on their interiors. In addition to the pottery, ceramic building material, residual worked flint, fired/burnt clay and animal bone was recovered during the fieldwork. Environmental evidence indicates that during the medieval period the development site was situated in an area of grassland, with hedgerows and some rough grassland/waste ground in the vicinity. The presence of both still and moving water molluscan species in soil samples, coupled with an assemblage of uncharred seeds, implies localised fluctuations in the water table levels and the likely presence of aquatic environments, such as the pond established within the site during the post-medieval/modern period.