Land at Bond's Mill, Stonehouse, Gloucestershire

The Oxford Archaeological Unit (OAU) undertook an archaeological field evaluation in advance of development on an area of land north of Bond's Mill, Stonehouse, Gloucestershire. The evaluation was carried out in August 1997. Fifteen trenches were archaeologically excavated. The majority of the trenches contained no archaeological features, although a number of treeholes were recorded in some of these trenches. All trenches revealed that the site had been cultivated since the medieval period using the technique of ridge and furrow. Cut features containing bricks of 18th to 19th century date were observed in one trench, and a field boundary of comparable date recorded in the north-west corner of the site. Modern postholes were observed in one trench. A large gravel extraction pit which had been infilled in the late post-medieval period, was located towards the centre of the site. Few artefacts of any date were recovered from the evaluation trenches and the overall lack of archaeological features suggests that the site has been historically used for agricultural purposes rather than for settlement. This report describes the results of the fieldwork.