South Midlands Archaeology (41)

Reports on the archaeological investigation of about sixteen hectares of land on both sides of the Elstow Brook near Harrowden in advance of flood defence works. The development brought an opportunity to study the evolution of the landscape from the early Iron Age, through the Iron Age and Roman periods into the early Saxon period. The presence of flint tools and flakes also hinted at human activity in the late Mesolithic, Neolithic and Bronze Age. LD

Reports on archaeological investigations to the rear of Twickenham House in Abingdon, which provided an invaluable insight into the archaeology and history of the town. Good preservation of features and finds fitted neatly into an ever-growing picture of the Iron Age settlement, with features seeming to relate to a dense settlement where industrial activities such as the manufacture of textiles and metal objects took place. Later surfaces indicated a change of function in this area during the Roman period. Medieval and post-medieval pits were also present, along with a medieval linear feature that may represent the remains of a boundary dividing separate tenement plots in the rear gardens of properties that fronted onto Bridge Street and Turn Again Lane. LD

Reports on an excavation undertaken in 2010 as part of the Brightwell Baldwin Community History and Archaeology Project, run by the South Oxfordshire Archaeological Group. A resistance meter survey in Brightwell Park in 2008/09 located the site of the old 'Manor of Parkes', which was burnt down in 1788. It revealed an extensive complex of buildings and clear signs of formal Italianate gardens, and in 2009 an exploratory excavation targeted part of the manor house buildings. In 2010 the previous year's trench was partly reopened and extended to the south and west to look for evidence of a gateway or gatehouse. The findings were such that it is necessary to substantially revise a number of the provisional interpretations from 2009. LD

Reports on the 2010 excavation season of a long-running project in Oxfordshire which acts as a training excavation and is committed to education in the widest sense, with participants from across the world as well as a selection of British schools and universities. Work in 2010 focused on Trendles Field, in two different areas: the area of the Roman religious complex, and an area of predominantly Iron Age activity. LD

Numerous brief, separately authored notes on archaeological investigations carried out, in the main, during 2010 in Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire. Entries are organised within county sections by archaeological unit, consultancy or society, and within these sections alphabetically by location. The more substantial contributions include: