Archaeological Watching Brief at 27 High Street, Culham, Oxfordshire Ox14 4na

Two evaluation trenches 10m and 5m long by 1.35m wide were excavated across the proposed development site. Trench 1 was orientated north - south and Trench 2 was orientated east - west. Excavation was by a 3 tonne excavator equipped with a ditching bucket. Mechanical excavation was taken down to the uppermost archaeological horizon under direct archaeological supervision. The resulting surfaces were cleaned where appropriate. Archaeological features within the trenches were then excavated by hand. All surfaces and excavated spoil were scanned with a metal detector. Subsequently, the Watching Brief involved monitoring the machine excavation of the foundation trenches for the new building, together with a soakaway pit. Some of the archaeological features were only partially exposed due to them continuing below the level of impact. A service trench located running from the front of the new development northward to the High Street was only up-to 0.5m deep and was considered to be situated above the archaeological horizon at c. 1m depth and was not monitored. The archaeological features within Trenches 1 and 2 were mostly dated to around the 11th / 12th century AD with the exception of one pit, 1/17 that was dated to from after the mid 16th century. The scatter of pits and postholes within Trench 1 possibly represent the remains of a medieval toft settlement during the 11th century onwards. Gully 1/07 could represent a land division to the rear of the toft (no features found south of it) and ditch 2/04 in Trench 2 could also serve as a land division to the east of the toft. The excavation of the foundation trenches during the watching brief stage revealed two pits and two linear ditches that were all un-dated as no finds were recovered. However an 11th - 12th century date was established for the surrounding features in the previous evaluation. Ditch 11 can be securely dated to the 11th century as it is a continuation of the ditch identified in Trench 2. Both pits 5 and 9 were located directly east of pit scatters dated to the 11th - 12th century in Trench 1, so are likely to be of a similar date. Ditch 7 remains un-dated, but is likely to be of a similar date. The pits represent a continuation of the features relating to a medieval toft settlement during the 11th century onwards. Ditch 11 could also serve as a land division to the east of the toft.