Monument record 0054000000 - WARD'S COOMBE, IVINGHOE

Dimensions - Radius 0025 m
Plan Form - PENANNULAR
EARTHWORK FOUND DURING WOODLAND CLEARANCE (B1).
EXCAVATED BEFORE REPLANTING (B2).
PENNANULAR BANK, OPEN ON SE SIDE. INTERNAL DITCH DELIMITS SACRED AREA (B2).
TRIAL HOLE FOUND DITCH WITH IRON AGE & RB SHERDS (B1).
EXCAVATION FOUND HUMAN & HORSE SKELETONS (B2).
SCHEDULED. SCRUB & CONIFERS COVER SITE (B6).


(SP 97021576 - sited from plan) A small earthwork was discovered by J Wilson in 1968, on National Trust land. Trial excavations by the Bucks County Museum in 1971, after the site had been re-planted with saplings, revealed a penannular bank with internal ditch (see plan). The bank was some 40 cms high in places, separated from the ditch by a berm 75 cms wide. The ditch varied in profile but on the south was a good V-shape, 1 1/2m deep and 2m wide at the top. No trace of structures was found in the enclosure, but a tip of Roman roof tile was found in the ditch. Coarse Iron Age pottery probably dating to 300 BC was found in the first silt of the ditch but the main occupation was Belgic and Romano-British continuing to the 4th century. A child skeleton was found in the ditch and two Belgic and one Roman cremation burials were found in urns in the enclosure. There was also a pit containing articulated skeletons of three horses, undated, which could be much later. Belgic objects from the burials included a bronze and an iron brooch, a butt beaker and an iron knife. There were also two Roman brooches, one from the cremation. It was suggested that the site was of ritual significance, likened to the Frilford shrine but this was tentative in view of the limited excavation (B2).

This record includes National Record of the Historic Environment Information provided by Historic England on 4 June 2025 licensed under the Open Government Licence.