Monument record 0709100000 - Long Crendon Industrial Estate

Evaluation trial trenching carried out in October 2010 in advance of proposed development identified a possible Roman farmstead or similar small rural domestic site. Features were found in 7 of the 12 trenches, comprising 11 or 12 enclosure ditches, 2 shallow gullies and 2 possible pits. Ditches ranged in size from 0.72m to 1.91m wide and from 0.22m to 0.7m deep, with various profiles from steeply sloping to gently sloping sides and narrow flat bases to concave bases. Ditches were mostly aligned NE-SW and NW-SE. None of the ditches were thought to extend into adjacent evaluation trenches, although ditch 10 appears to comprise the corner and parts of two sides of a square or rectangular enclosure. Six features were undated but are thought to be Roman in date. The pottery recovered dates from the later1st or early 2nd century to the 4th century AD; two sherds of handmade Saxon pottery were found in a ditch fill which also contained Roman pottery but it is not clear if the Roman pottery is residual or if the Saxon pottery is intrusive. The quality of the Roman pottery and absence of imports suggests a fairly low status rural occupation site such as a farmstead. A layer of colluvium 0.05m to 0.28m thick was identified in trenches in the south west corner and the eastern part of the site. See report for detail (B1).