Land South-West of Mill Cottage, Gidding Road, Sawtry, Cambridgeshire

Between the 24th April and 4th May 2017, Oxford Archaeology East (OA East) conducted an archaeological evaluation at land south-west of Mill Cottage, Gidding Road, Sawtry (centred TL 1623 8329). Previous archaeological work carried out to the north and west of the site have identified enclosures and field systems dating to the later Iron Age and Early Roman periods.
A total of 36 evaluation trenches totalling 1800 linear metres were excavated, targeting geophysical anomalies across the site, 24 of which contained ditches and pits. Whilst the southern half of the site contained furrows, modern boundary ditches and field drains, field systems and enclosures dating to the later Iron Age and continuing through into the Early Roman period were found in the northern half of the development area, following the higher ground and better drained geology.
In general, the evaluation results correspond well with the anomalies shown on the geophysical survey. This evidence, combined with features identified by previous excavations and geophysical surveys to the east and north of the site, indicates the presence of an extensive later Iron Age and Early Roman settlement in this location.