A trial trench was located to investigate a large ring-ditch and several linear anomalies (some of which appeared to relate to enclosure ditches) evident both in the geophysical survey and on the cropmark plot. The trench was separated into two parts to accommodate a fence line and water pipe. The first part contained two inter-cutting ditches, together with two linear features which were not investigated. The second part contained a curvi-linear ditch with associated pit, a post-hole and a ditch and two pits which were not excavated. The curvi-linear ditch corresponded with the location of the cropmark ring-ditch.

In the second part, one of the inter-cutting ditches had a NE-SW alignment, with a shallow U-shaped profile, and was filled with a single deposit of brown silt sand. It was truncated on its western edge by a more defined, NW-SE aligned, ditch which was of similar dimensions, but slightly deeper, containing two deposits of silty sand. Neither ditch contained any artefacts.

The curving ditch corresponded to the cropmark ring-ditch. It had concave sides leading to a flat base and was filled with a single deposit of grey sand silt. A single carbonised oat grain was identified in an
environmental sample taken from this ditch. The nearby pit was ovoid with a bowl-shaped profile. It was filled with two deposits of the usual sand silt. Nearby post-hole was sub circular in shape with a bowl-shaped profile. None of these features contained any artefacts.

The excavated ditches identified in the first part of the trench broadly correspond to a geophysical feature and linear cropmark, which are seen to intersect with a large circular feature. The curving ditch recorded in the second aprt of the trenchappears to represent the western side of this circular cropmark. Further features identified in the trench relate to other geophysical and cropmark features recorded across this part of the site. The lack of artefacts make it difficult to characterise the features, but they would appear to be associated with the pre-Roman Iron Age activity recorded to the immediate south.

G. Coates & A. Richmond, 2015, Land at Flash Farm, Averham, Nottinghamshire: Archaeological Evaluation, Trial Trenching, Page 21-23 (Unpublished document). SNT5680.