Monument record 0165900000 - Three Locks Golf Course

Stone scatter near 2 trees in middle of field, associated with black soil. About 20 sherds were found including Oxford ware mortarium and platter rims. Found by RWG and J Southernwood (B1-2).
Further pottery, Romano-British metalwork & coins found in 2 ditches associated with a small gravel pit whilst metal detecting (B3,B6).
Evaluation survey by machine trenching in advance of golf course construction.10 trial trenches (2 percent sample) were dug. Seven produced archaeological features/deposits including linear ditches and gullies, a cobbled surface and 2 courses of insitu masonry walling: all probably Romano British. Animal bone was recovered from trenches 3, 5, 6 and included teeth, long bones, vertebrae, part of a horn core and a large metacarpal/metaiarsal.species included cattle, sheep/goat. Overall the bone was fragmented but well preserved; evidence of butchery (knife cuts) was present. Two fragments of thick Romano-British tile were recovered,1 from ditch 29 and 1 from above the cobbled surface. Such tiles could have been for walling, hypocausts or flooring. 63 sherds of pottery, mostly 2rd - 3rd century AD, recovered from trenches 5 & 6. The earliest sherd was 1 Samian piece, probably D rag.18/31 dish, late 1st century – 2nd century AD, from wall. Half the pottery is mid/late 2nd century AD and includes storage jars, bowls, sandy greywares & finewares. Pottery is in good condition with large mean sherd size (B4).
Additional trial trenching by BCM to investigate groundwater level (trench 11.20 x 1.9m), between Wessex Archaeology's trenches 4 and 6 revealed a ditch 1.17m wide, plus the edges of a cut feature with Romano-British pottery and bone (B5).
The area excavation undertaken by Thames Valley Archaeological Services revealed 31 features – nine ditches, four gullies, thirteen pits, three postholes and one hearth/burnt area and one metalled area. All of the features produced dating evidence belonging to the Roman period. The ditches were interpreted as a small portion of a field system. Two parallel ditches to the north of the sire may form a droveway passing from northwest to southeast. The ditches were 14m apart. Several of the ditches appeared to have been recut one or more times. The metalled area towards the centre of the excavated site was underneath layers containing a substantial proportion of pottery and bone (possible rubbish dumps). The area of hard standing was made up of stones and cobbles from 10mm to 250mm wide, some angular and some rounded. It had no clear edges although the western limit had been cut by earlier and evaluation trench dug by Wessex Archaeology. An undated pit was cut through the metalling. Not evidence of a nearby building was found. Of the thirteen pits, one produced part of a possibly whetstone, some slag and a price of worked wood. The stonewall previously found was not explored further but the whole seems to indicate a large are of activity dating from the late 2nd through to the later 4th century in three phases. At the southern end of the site a headland is visible as an earthwork. A sondage 1.4m wide and 0.5-0.7m deep was machine excavated across the site but did not located any buried soil. Plough stripes were observed orientated in different direction on either site of the bank, and it would appear that the headland is a result of gradual accumulation at the end of plough strips to the south (B7).