Lawn Lane, Coven, Staffordshire: Archaeological Evaluation

Excavation and recording of 165 50 x 1.8 m trenches Fifty-six of the 165 excavated trial trenches contained archaeological remains, with features scattered across Fields 1, 3 and 6-8. All trenches in Fields 2, 4 and 5 were archaeologically sterile. The uncovered features comprise mainly ditches, with some pits and furrows. The majority of the features are undated, and all dated features are either medieval, post-medieval or modern in date. No evidence for earlier background activity has been encountered, and it was not possible to determine if any of the undated features in the south of the site related to known nearby Bronze Age activity. Several ditches were found to correspond to field boundaries recorded on historic mapping, and an earlier land division was suggested by the presence of a boundary not present on historic mapping but aligned with the overall layout of the surrounding field system. The results of the geophysical survey have been found to be mostly unsuccessful as only one ditch aligned with a geophysical anomaly, likely resulting from the widespread distribution of green waste across the site. A small group of finds was recovered, ranging in date from medieval to modern, with the bulk of the items being of post-medieval date. No further examination of the material is considered necessary. The evaluation has met its aims and objectives as far as is possible. The agricultural nature of the land is well established and conforms to the current understanding of the local area, whilst the survival of post-medieval field boundaries detailed on historic mapping supports the existing picture of land divisions from this period. The limited amount of dateable material recovered hinders the potential of the results to contribute further to the understanding of the area.