The evaluation fieldwork comprised the excavation of 50 trenches, each measuring 50m in length by 1.8m in width, in the locations shown on the attached plans. This represented a 4% sample of the proposed 11.25ha area proposed for built development. The trenches were located to test geophysical anomalies and to provide a representative sample of the remainder of the site. In November 2025, Cotswold Archaeology carried out an archaeological evaluation of land to the east of Broad Blunsdon, Swindon, Wiltshire. A total of 50 trenches were excavated. Two instances of worked flint were recovered from the fill of a pit in the central part of the site. The material was found in association with Middle to Late Iron Age pottery and may therefore be residual in a later feature, although could also feasibly be of Iron Age date; nonetheless, its recovery may indicate earlier transient/sporadic utilisation of the site during the broader prehistoric period. Pottery of broad prehistoric and/or Middle to Late Iron Age date was recovered from the fills of two pits and a posthole within the central part of the site. Further undated pits, postholes and ditches were recorded elsewhere and may be contemporary. Evidence of ridge and furrow cultivation was recorded across the site, suggesting that the site lay within the agricultural hinterland of nearby settlements during the post-medieval and modern periods.
Noel Boothroyd (Thu,) studied this question.