The shape of Crow Wood can be explained by the presence of a substantial bank and ditch, which encloses the wood on three sides. … The bank … survives to a height of more than 1.5m and has a relatively steep profile. It may be that the modern drain flows along the course of an older infilled ditch on the outside of the bank, in which case the circuit may be said to be bi-vallate. … It is difficult to suggest a date for the construction of the earthworks; the fact that the surviving bank is on the inside of the ditch … may indicate that it is a medieval forest bank. But it seems equally plausible that the remains are older in origin, perhaps even prehistoric. … the eastern side of the wood may hold remains of quarrying. (1)
A complex of shallower banks and ditches are located in the middle of the wood. The layout of these banks and ditches resembles 'entrances' seen in smaller Iron Age enclosures elsewhere in England, eg. Coveney, Cambridgeshire … the earthwork features forming an enclosure within Crow Wood are of high archaeological significance. Although it is not possible to date the monument at present, the enigmatic shape of the enclosure suggest it might be of Iron Age date. (2)
The banks and ditches which enclose the site, along with its size and location, all compare favourably with other suggested marsh forts (eg Moorhouse Farm, Tickhill, only 1,600m to the north and Sutton Common, near Doncaster), however, the internal earthworks suggested as entrance structures in (2) seem unlikely to be such and are far more likely to represent modern disturbance, such as the results of quarrying. (3)
See M18272 for quarries

<1> ARCUS, 1993, An Archaeological Desk-Top Survey Of Land At Styrrup Hall Farm, Styrrup (Unpublished document). SNT1960.

<2> ARCUS, 1994, Archaeological Field Evaluation of land at Styrrup Hall Farm, Styrrup, Nottinghamshire., pp 9-10 (Unpublished document). SNT1961.

<3> Budge DJ, 2007, Pers Comm (Personal comment). SNT1973.