Willington Power Station Willington Derbyshire

Between July and September 2005, Oxford Archaeology (OA) carried out two phases of field evaluation at Willington Power Station, Willington, Derbyshire (NGR SK 309 289) on behalf of John Samuels Archaeological Consultants (JSAC). The first phase of evaluation, to the north of the A5132, revealed sections of the northern ditch of the Neolithic cursus monument known as the Findern or Potlock cursus. The ditch was located in the southern part of the site. Ditches that may have belonged to Romano-British enclosures were also revealed. In other areas a late Bronze Age ditch, probably a field boundary, and a large Iron Age ditch, which may have bounded a settlement, were located. The site had suffered considerable disturbance during the construction of the power station in the 1950s. Much of the site had been landscaped and areas had been set aside for gravel extraction. The best preservation of archaeological features was within the southern part of the site.

The second phase of evaluation, carried out in September, to the south of the A5132, revealed five ditches of uncertain date. One of the ditches was interpreted as being the southern ditch of the Findern/Potlock cursus. The archaeological features were well preserved and showed little evidence of disturbance.