| Abstract: |
The evaluation fieldwork comprised the excavation of four trenches, each initially intended to measure 20m long by 1.8m wide, however due to vegetation constraints encountered on site, the trenches were relocated and/or shortened as follows: • Trench 1: the western end of the trench was rotated towards the south, and the trench was shortened to a length of 17m. At the request of the CHET, a small extension was excavated at the north-eastern end of the trench in order to reveal the full extent of ditches 106/108 (see below). • Trench 2: the north-western end of the trench was rotated towards the west. • Trench 3: the trench was shortened to 18m. 9 Land at 12 Fen Lane, Sawtry Cambridgeshire: Archaeological Evaluation © Cotswold Archaeology • Trench 4: the orientation of the trench was changed from north/south to northwest/ south-east, and the trench was shortened to 14m. The trenches were located, as far as possible, to provide a representative sample of the accessible portions of the Site. In September 2022, Cotswold Archaeology (CA) carried out an archaeological evaluation of land at 12 Fen Lane, Sawtry, Cambridgeshire, at the request of Mr Endicott. A total of four trenches, measuring 14m, 17m, 18m, and 20m long, by 1.8m wide, were excavated across the c.0.19ha site. Archaeological features in the form of broadly north-east/south-west aligned ditches were encountered in Trenches 1, 2, and 4 and are likely related to the medieval occupation of the village, forming field boundaries on the edge of the domestic settlement. The slight variations in the feature alignments indicate at least two separate phases of activity. Ditch 211 in Trench 2, which produced fragments of medieval pottery and ceramic building material, was observed to match the location and alignment of a modern field boundary ditch marked on the 1888-1914 Ordnance Survey map. This may indicate that the post-medieval and modern field layout was essentially established much earlier and has remained broadly unchanged since the medieval period. A small assemblage of 11th to 16th century pottery was recovered from two ditches in Trench 2, along with a small range of animal bone fragments identifiable as sheep/goat, cattle, and horse. While the finds assemblage is not substantial enough to allow any more in-depth interpretation, it appears to confirm the site’s location at the edge of the medieval settlement, within the transitional area between the core domestic areas and the surrounding agricultural hinterland. |
