Monument record 1561400000 - South-west of New Denham

Palaeochannel identified in Trench 1 with a gravel 'hump'. Well defined sequence of fluvial and colluvial deposits with a well formed peat layer covering the fluvial deposit. Worked flints dating to the Mesolithic were recovered from two associated fills. The flints were in fresh and unabraded condition. One of the deposits containing the worked flints had a soil like structure, possibley a nascent or transformed peat. This layer may form a preserved Mesolithic surface. It is uncetain if the flints are in situ, but the condition suggests they have not moved far (B1).
Deposit modelling, geophysical and borehole surveys carried out by Wessex Archaeology in March and April 2024 confirmed the presence of the palaeochannel cutting late Pleistocene river terrace deposits (Colney Street or possibly Kempton Park Gravels) and and overlying alluvium from overbank flooding on the Colne floodplain were also identified. See report for detail (B2).
50m trench to investigate palaeochannel. The channel was approximately 2 m deep and filled with minerogenic fluvial deposits sealed by gravels with an organic matrix containing charcoal fragments. The fill of the palaeochannel is considered to be of a Holocene date. A change in climatic condition at the Pleistocene-Holocene transition is marked by deposition of finegrained alluvium and formation of a peaty soil overlying the alluvium. The preservation of the buried peaty soil seems to be localised to the near vicinity of the channel. The archaeological material suggests the location of a possible campsite near the palaeochannel (B3).