Iron Age activity on the site is represented by five ditches, four of which are Middle Iron Age and the other dating to the Late Iron Age. Three pits of Middle Iron Age date were also revealed. In the centre of the site, to the east of the ditches and pits, was an undated curvilinear feature with a projected diameter of c. 5.5m; on the basis of form this possibly represents the remains of a roundhouse of Iron Age date. The Iron Age ditches and pits were found within 80m of the curvilinear feature, hinting at a complex of settlement and associated features in this part of the site. However, the environmental samples taken from this area suggest a fairly low concentration of activity. Only one feature, a Middle Iron Age pit, yielded sufficient amounts of charcoal, charred plant remains and burnt bone to suggest the presence of domestic waste, while all the other features sampled, including the possible ring gully, yielded few remains of this kind. While the artefactual evidence indicates the presence of Iron Age settlement remains in this part of the site, the nature, extent and intensity of these are unclear, and the interpretation of the curvilinear feature as an Iron Age roundhouse is tentative.

Five ring gullies with diameters of between 12m and 21m, and a series of land management ditches representing a settlement of Middle to Late Iron Age date have been found during an evaluation immediately to the south of the present site (Swales 2015), and a Middle Iron Age settlement consisting of several ring gullies and associated boundary ditches was revealed c. 1km to the north of the site (Shaffrey 2020). The possible roundhouse gully discovered could be contemporary with these features, although further investigation is required to confirm this.

Margi Koumplis & Joanne Lathan, 2021, Land at Fernwood Meadows, Newark: Report on an Archaeological Evaluation (Unpublished document). SNT5941.