Site Event/Activity record ENT4857 - Evaluation at Cotmoor Solar Farm, Halloughton
Location
Location | Cotmoor Solar Farm, Halloughton, Nottinghamshire |
---|---|
Grid reference | Centred SK 68083 52343 (2231m by 1776m) |
Map sheet | SK65SE |
District | Newark |
Civil Parish | Halloughton, Newark |
Technique(s)
Organisation
Cotswold Archaeology
Date
Not recorded.
Description
The proposed development site is approximately 102.5ha in extent located to the north of Halloughton and 1.3km to the southwest of Southwell. The site currently comprises fourteen agricultural fields and is bounded on all sides by further agricultural land. The boundaries largely comprise hedges with occasional wire and wooden fencing.
The evaluation fieldwork comprised the excavation of 79 trenches each measuring 50m x 1.8m. The trenches were located to test geophysical anomalies and to provide a representative sample of the remainder of the site.
The archaeological remains recorded exclusively relate to agricultural practice during the medieval/ post-medieval and modern periods. This is consistent with the results of the previous archaeological works undertaken on the site. The geophysical survey proved more effective than the evaluation in identifying the remains of the former agricultural landscape, likely due to the extensive modern ploughing truncating the furrow bases, which were not cut into the natural substrate.
The ditches revealed on site are all likely former field boundary ditches relating to agricultural activity, with five ditches mirroring the alignment and closely relating to boundaries shown on historical mapping from 1841. Two other ditches do not correlate with a boundary identified on historic mapping
but are comparable with alignments on the geophysical anomalies indicating furrows suggesting they represents a former field boundary associated with former field systems.
Some of the ditches investigated had been deliberately backfilled as part of amalgamating several smaller fields into larger ones. The geophysical survey identified the potential for varying alignments of the furrows, indicative of established open field systems. However, the results of the evaluation are insufficient to establish any dating to the phasing.
One pit was backfilled with burnt material with the charred hazelnut shell and charcoal producing a radiocarbon date of 1043 - 1152±23 yr BP, placing the feature at the end of the late Anglo-Saxon / medieval period. No medieval remains were previously identified within the site; the pit likely relates to the medieval ridge and furrow are present to the south and north of the site.
Another pit, possibly a marl pit, is consistent with the agricultural activity identified on site, and was likely backfilled in the modern period, associated with the amalgamation of smaller fields on site.
Sources/Archives (1)
- --- SNT5536 Unpublished document: Ralph Brown. 2022. Cotmoor Solar Farm, Halloughton, Nottinghamshire: Archaeological Evaluation.
Related Monuments/Buildings (9)
- MNT28073 Ditch at Cotmoor Solar Farm, Halloughton (Element)
- MNT28075 Ditch at Cotmoor Solar Farm, Halloughton (Element)
- MNT28076 Ditch at Cotmoor Solar Farm, Halloughton (Element)
- MNT28077 Ditch at Cotmoor Solar Farm, Halloughton (Element)
- MNT28078 Ditch at Cotmoor Solar Farm, Halloughton (Element)
- MNT28079 Ditch at Cotmoor Solar Farm, Halloughton (Element)
- MNT28080 Ditch at Cotmoor Solar Farm, Halloughton (Element)
- MNT28074 Pit at Cotmoor Solar Farm, Halloughton (Element)
- MNT28081 Pit at Cotmoor Solar Farm, Halloughton (Element)
Record last edited
Feb 14 2024 3:53PM