Post-medieval Ditches and Furrows and Undated Postholes, Bennell Farm, Comberton, Cambridgeshire

Between the 23rd and 28th of November 2015, Oxford Archaeology East conducted an archaeological evaluation at Bennell Farm, on the western edge of Comberton in the parish of Toft (TL 3748 5622). The trenching was undertaken in advance of the determination of planning application S/2204/15/OL, and followed on from a desk-based assessment (Atkins 2015), aerial photographic assessment (Cox 2015) and geophysical survey (Masters 2015).
A total of 14 trenches were excavated across the site (3.88 ha). These revealed parts of an extensive north-south and east-west aligned system of ditches and furrows relating to the post-medieval and possibly medieval agricultural use of the site. A small number of undated, probably modern, postholes were also excavated in the centre and the west parts of the site.
Finds recovered from the evaluation included included fragments of post-medieval and modern pottery, dating from the 16th-19th centuries, a clay pipe stem and a Jetton dated c.1500-1650. A residual Mesolithic flint blade and four small abraded sherds of of Late Iron Age and Roman were also recovered.