| Abstract: |
Wessex Archaeology was commissioned by The Wheeldon Group to undertake an archaeological strip, map and record excavation to inform a planning application (AVA/2012/0084) for housing development at Outseats Farm, Alfreton, Derbyshire (centred on NGR 442414 355540).
The mitigation works have fulfilled the aims of the project and have successfully expanded our understanding of the layout of a medieval enclosure complex that was previously identified by evaluation trial trenching. Associated features including a droveway, pits and drainage gullies were also recorded. The pottery has been assessed but further analysis may reveal more detail and improve our understanding of the Site. It is recommended that the results of the mitigation are published in a suitable journal.
The layout of the three main enclosures appears to have been well planned; the ditches formed a rectilinear drainage network taking water from the south-west to the north-east, down the natural slope of the Site, with an additional ditch draining the enclosures towards Cranfield Wood. Only a single formal entranceway was present in one of the enclosures, which was approached via a droveway from the north-west. Internal pits within the north-east enclosure are of uncertain purpose but may have been watering holes. The pits form two regular groups suggesting well-planned activities. The lack of evidence for domestic structures across the Site supports a function of livestock containment or cultivation for the enclosure complex. The approaching droveway suggests that livestock containment was the most likely purpose, at least for the central enclosure.
The presence of 13th to 15th century ceramics, from the enclosure ditches, droveway, a drainage gully and a pit, attest to settlement activity in the vicinity of the Site, perhaps immediately to the south-west as a precursor to the 16th- to 17th-century Carnfield Hall. A relationship between the enclosures and a nearby settlement may be demonstrated by the place name Outseats, with the enclosures possibly forming part of a fold or shieling associated with a nearby settlement such as a manor.
A series of later ‘stone getting pits’ (minor quarries) are associated with a sandstone wall in the south-west of the Site. These pits and wall probably represent a later phase of activity although they may represent the original south-west limit of the enclosures. The south-west part of the Site lay on higher ground and had been heavily truncated, probably by ploughing.
An earlier geophysical survey was successful in detecting some of the enclosure ditches and associated pits. However, some features were not detected by geophysical survey, particularly smaller gullies and features in the south-west and north-east of the Site. The geophysical survey failed to detect the presence of sandstone walls in the south-west. The poor performance of the geophysical survey in the south-west was perhaps due to the changing geology in this area. The archive has been submitted to Derby Museum and Art Gallery under accession code DBYMU2012-181. |
