The evaluation was to have consisted of the excavation and investigation of 2190m of trial trench (73no. 30m trenches at 1.8m wide) within the site, which equated to a 4% sample evaluation of the c. 9.8ha area. The trenches were positioned to target anomalies identified by the geophysical survey, while also providing a representative sample of the whole site. However, due to site constraints, Trench 73 was not excavated and Trench 72 had to be relocated and realigned c. 30m to the north. There was a contingency for additional trial trenching (an additional 1% sample), part of which was used to extend Trench 53. A small residual Late Neolithic find was recovered from the subsoil in the south-west corner of the site, consisting of a fragment of a 'Seamer'-type axehead. In the south-eastern corner of the site, a small pit was investigated that contained two sherds of Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age Beaker pottery and pieces of burnt flint; the trench was extended around the pit, but no further features were encountered. Passing through three trenches in the northern part of the site was a post-medieval boundary ditch that is shown on the 1883 First Edition Ordnance Survey map of the area; the eastern part of this boundary is also shown on the 1839 Stanton Parish Tithe Map. Three other ditches also approximately correspond with field boundaries shown on the Tithe map and the only ditch not depicted on any maps contained fragments of post-medieval brick and tile. Other features investigated by the evaluation included a post-medieval extraction pit and associated pitting in the western part of the site, a further two post-medieval pits and an undated pit.
Rita Pedro (Wed,) studied this question.