Monument record MBC45166 - A rectilinear banked enclosure of uncertain date and function, Middle Claydon.

A rectilinear banked enclosure of uncertain date and function is visible on historic aerial photographs and remote sensing data as earthworks and was mapped as part of the North Buckinghamshire Aerial Investigation and Mapping project (EBC18304). Located in a field about 357 metres SE of All Saints church in Middle Claydon and centred at SP 72145 25038, the feature comprises a rectilinear bank between 5.5 and 7.5 metres wide that encloses an internal area about 33 metres NNW-SSE and 26.5 metres WSW-ENE. The feature sits within a block of medieval and/or post-medieval ridge and furrow cultivation earthwork, which are clearly visible running across the entire earthwork, though in the central area the ridge and furrow is much levelled. It is possible that the feature pre-dates the ridge and furrow. However, aerial photographs taken in 1959 and 1961 appear to show a possible sports field at the location, possibly for cricket given the subcircular boundary around the feature visible in the 1961 aerial photograph. No OS map editions shows a sports field at the location, but it is possible that this area was created by flattening the ridge and furrow and terracing the slope slightly in the mid-20th century for the purposes of a sports field (1-4).