The targeted trial trenching was carried out over three days between 21st and 23rd of August 2023. The weather was mainly clear and bright with a few brief showers. Due to the trees on the east side of the site we were unable to dig the trench in the south east of the house footprint. Two smaller trenches (trenches 10 and 11) were excavated within the houses footprints in order to complete the requisite metreage of trenches. This small targeted archaeological evaluation was carried out due to the proximity of the standing stones and possible henge monument recently discovered to the north west of the site. The only noteworthy feature uncovered was the ditch uncovered in Trench 2. There is no record of any ditch or feature within the vicinity on historic mapping which could suggest that the feature was excavated and refilled between the surveyors recording the features on the ground. As the sides were almost vertical, the base was largely flat and the lack of artefacts or dating evidence it is believed to be more recent feature. The feature was also unlikely to have been open for very long and the mixture of topsoil and subsoil would seem to suggest that it was backfilled as one event and did not just silt up over time. Two drains were also uncovered in Trench 9, these are not considered archaeologically significant.
Karen Kennedy (Sun,) studied this question.