Monument record 077820000 - Field north-west of St Mary's (old) Church

A possible ditch aligned north-east was identified by the survey (B1)

Ditches and water channels of probable medieval/post medieval date are visible on historic aerial photographs and remote sensing data as extant earthworks and were mapped as part of the Aylesbury Vale Aerial Investigation and Mapping project (EBC18604). Located north of the site of old St Mary’s Church, Stoke Mandeville, and centred at SP 83669 09616. A water channel, with raised levees on the western bank, is visible on aerial photographs and lidar visualisations, running from the south east to the north west of the field. Drainage ditches join this watercourse at right angles, and one flows parallel to the watercourse. An earthwork of a subrectangular pond can be seen at the northern end within the same field. This is not clear on 1940s aerial photographs due to tree cover, and lidar visualisations show the current extent, the length of which has been reduced by the straightening of a bend in the main road; it measures approximately 30x10m. It is one of several former ponds/fishponds along this stretch of the watercourse which flows past the fishponds and possible moat near to the site of the old church. The line of this watercourse is visible as a line of a few trees on the Epoch 1 map and the Ordnance Surveyors’ drawing for Aylesbury shows a straighter watercourse. The southern half of the area has been used for the construction of High Speed Rail 2 (HS2) and most of the earthworks have been removed. (2-5)