Two trial trenches were located in an area of unknown archaeological potential, whereas another two trial trenches were located to investigate a series of enclosure cropmarks. One trench was also located to encounter the cropmark enclosure, but no deposits were identified in this particular trench.

The first trench contained just a single undated ditch, at its southern end. It had an E-W alignment and was filled with a single deposit of silt sand. The other trenches contained more features.

The second trial trench had a large NE-SW aligned ditch, truncated by a smaller ditch on its south-western edge. Two shallow post-holes were identified to the west of the ditches. One ditch had a large U-shaped profile and was 2.2m wide and up to 0.7m deep, filled with several deposits of silt sand and silt clay. The lowest deposit was waterlogged. Three fills contained pottery dated to the Late Iron Age and early Roman periods (c. 100 BC to 70 AD) along with a rib bone from a large mammal. The archaeology here was sealed beneath c. 1m of alluvial overburden, no doubt associated with the bordering stream.

Four ditches were identified in the third trench, two which aligned with cropmark features. One ditch had a N-S alignment, with a deep U-shaped profile, up to 0.6m deep and filled with two deposits of silt clay, which did not contain any artefacts. Also discovered was a shallow U-shaped ditch filled with two deposits of silt sand. It was truncated by a deeper and wider ditch, with a similar profile. A further ditch was not investigated. None of the features in this trench contained any artefacts.

A number of ditches, pits and post holes were identified in the final trench, several which aligned with cropmarks. The earliest feature was a ditch, which had a NW-SE alignment with a curving NE return at its southern extent. It had a U-shaped profile up to 0.6m deep being filled with two deposits of clay silt. The upper fill contained 5 sherds of Roman pottery originating from jar and bowl forms. This feature was truncated by two undated ditches.

The earliest ditch anf one of the undated ditched were later truncated by an undated bowl-shaped pit, which was 1.75m in diameter. Two shallow post-holes were located in the vicinity.

Environmental samples from two waterlogged deposits suggested a nearby landscape of scrub and waste ground, possibly interspersed with small patches of open ground. The higher level of common nettle seeds present in the sample may indicate an increased level of nitrogen, often associated with manuring.

The features identified in the second trial trench represent late pre-Roman Iron Age activity possibly associated with an agricultural enclosure of some description. They are likely to relate to the extensive cropmark complex to the immediate south, beyond the site boundary.

Ditches and pits in the last two trenches relate to identified cropmark enclosures in this part of the site, although an exact correlation between excavated features and cropmark plot was not always clear. It was unusual that features were not identified in bordering another trench. The activity here appears to be Roman in date and will be associated with the wider cropmark complex to the immediate east, outside of the Site boundary.

G. Coates & A. Richmond, 2015, Land at Flash Farm, Averham, Nottinghamshire: Archaeological Evaluation, Trial Trenching, Page 46-48 (Unpublished document). SNT5680.