The Old Rectory, Gt Linford, Milton Keynes (Bucks)

A field evaluation and earthwork survey was undertaken by the OAU on a parcel of land to the south of The Old Rectory, Gt Linford on behalf of Derek Walker Associates between 30th August and 1st September 1994. The work was carried out in accordance with a brief set by the Buckinghamshire County Archaeologist on behalf of Milton Keynes Borough Council as a requirement for planning permission to develop the land for four residential properties. four machine trenches were excavated on the sites of three of the proposed houses and through a low platform between the pond and the derelict dovecote. A large linear pond, at least 27m long, over 8m wide and 2m deep, was located to the west of the existing pond. The pond was not dated but its proportions and the deposits sealing it suggest that it may have been a fishpond of possible medieval date. A large late 17th or early 18th century square pit had been dug through the north end of the pond. Both the pond and pit had been covered by a substantial layer of redeposited building materials i the middle of the 18th century when the area may have undergone major landscaping. A stone-built 'oven' of probable medieval date was located to the west of The Old Rectory. traces of mortar around it suggest that it may originally have been contained within a small stone structure.