A single very small sherd of later prehistoric/Roman pottery was recovered from the subsoil near a test pit that uncovered a post-medieval ditch.

A total of 39 worked lithics (63g) was recovered (all made using flint), in addition to one piece of burnt, unworked flint (1g). The assemblage is entirely redeposited and this is reflected by the condition of the flints – 51% are broken and the majority display a moderate to heavy degree of edge damage (microflaking) and/or rolling (abrasion). Six flakes had been recorticated white. Of the unrecorticated items, 19 are grey and six are brown. The brown flints are finer grained than the grey.

53 sherds of pottery, weighing 565g, were recovered from 16 deposits. The assemblage ranges in date from the later prehistoric or Roman period through to the modern era. The earliest material comprises a sherd in a vesicular fabric of later prehistoric or Roman date and one sherd in a Roman greyware; both were highly abraded. A single sherd (5g) in a sandy fabric, recovered from alluvial deposit, is of probable medieval date, but was abraded and undiagnostic. Late medieval wares comprise Midlands Purple Ware (6 sherds, 99g), of mid-14th to 16th century date, recovered from the topsoil.

The post-medieval and modern material comprises types typical of the region, including North Midlands earthenwares (7 sherds, 116g, topsoil deposits, and an alluvial layer); Cistercian Ware (1 sherd, 1g, topsoil); red earthenwares (2 sherds, 14g, alluvial deposits); Staffordshire slipware (3 sherds, 32g, plough scar); stoneware (5 sherds, 54g, topsoil and alluvial deposits) and a grey earthenware with brown glaze (1 sherd, 7g, natural deposit); all are broadly dated from the 17th to the 20th centuries. The largest group of pottery is the refined white wares and cream wares, some with transfer-printed designs (27 sherds, 183g), of 18th to 20th century date, and recovered from the topsoil, alluvial layers, and the subsoil.

Twenty-seven fragments of ceramic building material, weighing 398g, were recovered from all test pits. These include nine of plain, flat tiles, 10-15mm thick, two slightly curved pieces that may derive from roofing tiles and four brick fragments. All are of post-medieval or modern date. Amorphous fragments of fired clay (6 pieces, 15g) were recovered, but none were identifiable to form.

Nine fragments of clay tobacco pipes were recovered from the topsoil and plough scar. They include one bowl, of 20mm diameter, with coiled heel and decorated at the front and rear of the bowl with a repeated frilled motif, possibly a leaf pattern; it is of mid. To late 19thcentury date. The rest are plain stem fragments.

Three fragments of copper alloy, representing waste products from metalworking, were recovered from an alluvial layer. A curved sheet fragment came from the topsoil.

Three fragments of glass (119g) were recovered from four deposits (the topsoil, the subsoil, an alluvial layer). Two were in a dark green and one in a brown colour; all derived from bottles. The dark green colouring of this material is consistent with the ‘high lime low alkali’ type of vessel manufacture, characteristic of the mid-17th to later 19th centuries (Dungworth 2005).

Two pieces of iron-working and fuel-ash slag, weighing 274g, were recovered from the topsoil.

C. J. Ellis, 2017, A46 Farndon, PA Freight, Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire: Archaeological Test Pit Evaluation, Page 17-18 (Unpublished document). SNT5494.