Late Iron-Age/Early Roman “Vineyard” at the Cokenach Estate, Barkway, Hertfordshire

Oxford Archaeology (East) (formally CAMARC of Cambridgeshire County Council) conducted an archaeological investigation on land at the Cokenach Estate in the parish of Barkway, Hertfordshire. The investigations took place between 5th and 11th August 2008 and consisted of an open area “strip, map and record” followed by an excavation of the features present. The investigations took place within the development area of proposed grain stores, spanning an area of approximately 4050m2. This investigation identified an undated segmented ditch, on a roughly north to south alignment. Running roughly perpendicular to this was a series of closely spaced, regular parallel ditches on an approximate north-west to south-east alignment. These ditches, for drainage, irrigation, lazy beds or planting trenches contained sherds of abraded Iron Age pottery in the excavated ditch fills. In other excavations, similar features have been interpreted as vineyards. One of the aims of this investigation was to look for any surviving evidence of a deserted medieval settlement of Cokenach, however no evidence of any surviving features of that date were encountered. Little archaeological investigation has previously taken place within this part of Barkway, and this report hopes to add to the understanding and development of the area, particularly in the Iron Age/early Roman period.