1EW03 - Enabling Works Central AWHh - Summary Report for Trial Trench Evaluation at Oatleys Farm, Buckinghamshire, AC250/4, Site Code: 1C20OATTT

Trial trench investigation Archaeological features, comprising ditches, pits, postholes and natural features were present in 10 trenches, with a further 26 trenches containing plough furrows, plough scarring and land drains; the remaining 13 trenches were devoid of features. The fragmentary remains of a possible late Bronze Age pottery vessel are suggestive of limited activity within the wider landscape during this period. More substantial evidence of prehistoric activity was concentrated in the south-east of the Site (Area C25109; Figs 4 and 5), comprising the remains of a pit alignment of probable late prehistoric date, with a nearby cluster of three postholes suggestive of related activity. Late Iron Age/early Roman activity is demonstrated by a small number of ditches that may have formed part of a small-scale agricultural enclosure/field system and/or farmstead in the west of the Site (Area C25108; Fig. 7), while evidence of later Roman land use was concentrated further eastwards (Fig. 6). Remains of medieval/post-medieval ridge-and-furrow cultivation were more widely distributed across the Site, with later land drains also observed, indicating continued agricultural land use in the later post-medieval/modern period.