Late Saxon to Post-Medieval Quarrying at Offord Cluny, Cambridgeshire

During the second half of October 2001 the Archaeological Field Unit (AFU) of Cambridge County Council conducted an archaeological excavation of 0.33ha of land at 177 High Street, Offord Cluny, Cambridgeshire (TL 2200/6720). This work was carried out in advance of a proposed housing development.
The excavations indicated the presence of prehistoric activity on the site in the form of a ground of residual but relatively un-abraded flint tools largely dating from the neolithic, along with a scraper of probably palaeolithic date.
Roman finds were also residual but, as with the prehistoric material, are the only finds of this date yet recorded from the parish. The small assemblage included a sherd of pottery and two pieces of tile (one from a hypocaust system), as well as a hearth bottom and ferrous slags of possible Roman date.
The Late Saxon/Saxo-Norman period was represented by gravel extraction, and a quantity of pottery from this period was recovered from other features. The early medieval period was largely represented by ditches, one particular boundary to the east of the site being re-cut numerous times. This boundary remained in use into the later medieval period. A pit of this date was also recorded. Gravel extraction continued and an enclosure was formed by three ditches.
In the post-medieval period gravel quarrying continued on a larger scale that previously and a farmyard outbuilding was built, with an associated wee/watering hole. From the post-medieval period onwards the site was used for agriculture of horticulture, when it was levelled and divided by modern fence lines.