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Designations

• Scheduled Monument 1471867: Romano-British pottery site, prehistoric ring-ditches and enclosures, including medieval ridge and furrow, Lower Farm, Nuneham Courtenay

Monument Type(s):

• LITHIC SCATTER (Later Prehistoric - 4000 BC? to 42 AD?)
• RING DITCH (Bronze Age - 2350 BC? to 701 BC?)
• (Alternate Type) YARD? (Roman - 67 AD to 166 AD)
• OCCUPATION SITE (Roman - 67 AD to 166 AD)
• TRACKWAY? (Roman - 67 AD to 166 AD)
• GULLY (Roman - 133 AD to 400 AD)
• INHUMATION (Roman - 133 AD to 400 AD)
• POTTERY KILN (Roman - 133 AD to 400 AD)
• POTTERY MANUFACTURING SITE (Roman - 133 AD to 400 AD)
• SETTLEMENT (Roman - 133 AD to 400 AD)
• WELL (Roman - 133 AD to 400 AD)
• RIDGE AND FURROW (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)

Summary

Excavation revealed extensive Romano-British pottery production site, used from C2-4. Also defined were ring ditches and ridge & furrow. Lithic scatter of 17 flints & greenstone axe fragment.

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds:

Description

1) Romano-British pottery and prehistoric flint scatter.
2) The Thames Water Didcot-Oxford pipeline crosses the site, and revealed a Roman kiln site used from C2nd-C4th. North end of site contained ditches, pits and postholes comprising 2 circular huts. South of settlement was pottery workshop which included stone-lined chests for storing clay, stone-drying racks, drains for water supply and a deep well. Also found further south was a massive dump, c.100m N-S, 15m E-W and 1.2m deep. Site is important due to excellent presentation of features. Geophysical work identified kiln locations.
3) Classified as Romano-British pottery for MPP.
4) (1963) Romano British sherds found by Mr J Reeve, 300 yards E of Lower Farm. (1993) Excavation revealed extensive Romano-British pottery production site, incorporating a probable domestic area, a 'workshop' area and a pottery dump. Insufficient evidence to suggest a distinct Iron Age phase, but the ceramic evidence suggests two distinct phases of Roman activity in the early Roman (late C1-early-mid C2) and mid-late Roman (mid-late C2- C4). Only a few features attributed to the early phase, including a cobbled yard or trackway, ditches, gully and a posthole. The later phase occupies three distinct zones. The domestic area incorporated ditches, pits and postholes and included 3 infant burials. The pottery production area is demarcated to the north by a gully and includes evidence for pottery production but no actual structure. The third zone comprises a pottery dump which extended 20-30m beyond the limits of the excavation area. Excavation report and detailed pottery analysis. Also incorporated within site are 17 flints and greenstone axe fragments from SP 5378 0068 and more pottery at SP 538 008 (sites 17 & 18), from 1993 Oxo+.
5) Magnetometer survey report showing ditches, kilns, ring ditches and ridge and furrow. For full discussion, see Oxoniensia (1993).
6) Watching brief carried out at Lower Farm and during construction of access road to E did not reveal any archaeological features or finds.
8) Field walking over c.30 ha across 3 fields yielded 4000 Roman pottery sherds scattered throughout area, but concentrated in central and SE part of area. Some of largest clusters correspond to kiln anomalies from 1994 magnetometer plot, site clearly extends as far east as A4074. Full range of fabrics represented.
9) Further geophysical work by AML in late 1996 revealed that the site extended east to the A4074; kiln-like anomalies found singly and in groups. Future work includes more field walking and geophysical survey to south and east and trial excavations to determine condition of remains
10) November 1996 magnetometer plot showing enclosures extending east of main Roman kiln area; now in detailed record file.
11) Good summary of work done between 1994 and 1996.
13) Watching brief carried out by OAU in 1996 did not reveal any archaeological features or finds. The site lies just north-west of a major Roman pottery production complex partly excavated in 1991. Geophysical surveys supplemented by fieldwalking indicate that enclosures and associated pottery kilns and pottery scatters cover some 10 ha of the Lower Field of the farm.
15) Ancient Monuments Laboratory carried out a magnetometer survey in 1992 following the discovery of a kiln site the previous year. A linear pattern of rectangular enclosures with associated pits was shown very clearly with an adjacent road or trackway along its western edge. A number of ring ditches were detected in the NE corner of the survey area, two clearly and one indistinct. Also evident on the plots as well as on the ground itself was a ridge and furrow system.
16) scheduled on 14 December 2020 as Romano-British pottery site, prehistoric ring-ditches and enclosures, including medieval ridge and furrow, Lower Farm, Nuneham Courtenay.
17) Summary of magnetometer surveys undertaken from 1992 to 1996 by the AML. Former reports did not include the 1996 surveys. A total area of 12.7 hectares was surveyed resulting in a detailed plan of Roman enclosures, pottery kilns and trackways revealed with great clarity.

<1> OS Record Card, SP 50 SW 31 (Index). SOX273.

<2> OAU Newsletter, Article by G Keevil (1991) (Article in serial). SOX270.

<3> MPP Documents for Oxfordshire, S Lisk, 9.3.93 (Index). SOX259.

<4a> OAU Newsletter, December 1991 (Article in serial). SOX270.

<4> Oxford Architectural & Historical Society, Oxoniensia, Vol 28 (1963), p 90; Vol LVIII (1993) pp.98, 115-217 (Serial). SOX284.

<5> CBA South Midlands Group, South Midlands Archaeology, Vol 22 (1992) p.49 by G Keevil et al. (Serial). SOX5.

<6> Oxford Archaeology, 1996, Lower Farm Barns, Sandford-on-Thames, Oxfordshire: Arch'l Watching Brief Report, Lower Farm Barns, Sandford-on-Thames, OAU (1996) (Unpublished document). SOX570.

<7> Britannia, Vol XVIII (1992) p.287 (Serial). SOX282.

<8> CBA South Midlands Group, South Midlands Archaeology, Vol 26 (1996) pp.57-8 (Serial). SOX5.

<9> CBA South Midlands Group, South Midlands Archaeology, Vol 27 (1997) p.59 (Serial). SOX5.

<10> English Heritage, various, Ancient Monument Laboratory Report, Magnetometer Surveys (1992-4); AML4/96 (Unpublished document). SOX6222.

<11> Britannia, Vol XXVIII (1997) p.428. See CAS Lib: Vale 41 (Serial). SOX282.

<12> NMR Monument - Long Listing Filed in Detailed Record File, SP 50 SW 31 (Index). SOX391.

<13> CBA South Midlands Group, South Midlands Archaeology, Vol 27 (1997) p.61 (Serial). SOX5.

<14> CBA South Midlands Group, South Midlands Archaeology, Vol 25 (1995) p.53 (Serial). SOX5.

<15> CBA South Midlands Group, South Midlands Archaeology, Vol 23 (1993) pp.73-4 (Serial). SOX5.

<16> Historic England, Notification of listing decision or amendment (Assessment for Listing). SOX6069.

<17> Historic England, 2020, Research Report Series, 225-2020 (Unpublished document). SOX6312.

Sources

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