Denfurlong Solar Farm, Frampton on Severn, Gloucestershire. Northern Parcel. Archaeological Evaluation

Wessex Archaeology was commissioned by Pegasus Group (Cirencester) (�the consultant�), on behalf of Elgin Energy EsCo Ltd (�the client�), to undertake an archaeological evaluation of a 54.6 ha parcel of land located at Denfurlong Farm, Frampton on Severn, Gloucestershire, GL2 7EN. The northern evaluation area is centred on NGR 374761 206106, and the southern evaluation area is centred on NGR 374535 204737 The evaluation comprised 56 trial trenches, along with an additional three contingency trial trenches targeted on the results of a preceding geophysical survey. Twenty-seven of the fifty-nine excavated trial trenches contained archaeological features and deposits, indicating archaeological remains are present across the site, with a slight concentration in the northern half of the area. Archaeological features comprised ditches, a possible ring ditch, furrows, pits and postholes representing four potential periods of activity: Iron Age, Late Iron Age/Romano-British, medieval and medieval/post-medieval, though several features remain of uncertain date. There is also some evidence of earlier prehistoric activity in the vicinity as indicated by the recovery of an unstratified, slightly burnt flint core. Modern features related to the current agricultural use of the site including ceramic land drains were identified in the majority of trenches and a modern demolition rubble spread was also encountered. The recovered artefacts provided the primary dating evidence for the site and included material of Iron Age, Late Iron Age/Romano-British, medieval and medieval/post-medieval date. The artefact assemblage consisted of pottery, animal bone, ceramic building material, copper alloy, fired clay, flint, iron, shell, slag and stone.