Monument record 0960600000 - Taplow-Dorney pipeline: Site B Roman pits, ditches and trackway

Archaeological geophysical survey, evaluation trial trenching, excavation and a watching brief were undertaken on the Taplow-Dorney water pipeline.
Very little was identified in geophysical survey and evaluation (B1 & B3). Roman features were found in excavation at the southern end of Site B in Areas 4 and 5. Roman pottery was recovered from the latest fill of the ditch 2065 and from a trackway ditch and immediately to the west was a contemporary post-hole (B4).
Roman features were found towards the southern end of Site B and consisted of a trackway, an undefined feature and three postholes or pits. The trackway was orientated north-east/south-west and consisted of a slight holloway flanked by two ditches from which small quantities of Late Iron Age/1st-century AD and generic Roman pottery were recovered. This trackway would apear to be part of a curving trackway visible to the north within the Berry Hill Farm cropmark complex. A posthole/pit located next to the trackway was filled with a single inorganic fill from which 3rd/4th-century pottery was recovered. Two adjacent postholes/pits remained undated but are likely to have belonged to the Roman period given their proximity to the dated Roman trackway and the posthole/pit mentioned above. The undefined feature was 3.4m wide and 2.5m deep. It extended beyond the limits of excavation but its almost vertical sides suggest that it is more likely to have been a pit than a ditch. It was filled with a series of naturally-accumulated fills from which small amounts of Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age and Late Iron Age/1st-century AD pottery were recovered (B5).