Loscar Farm, Near Sheffield, South Yorkshire. Archaeological Assessment.

Oxford Archaeology North were commissioned by NPower Renewables Ltd to undertake an archaeological assessment to inform a planning application for a small wind power scheme at Loscar Farm, near Sheffield, South Yorkshire (centred on
NGR SK 510 797). The work involved a desk-based assessment in conjunction with a walk-over survey and artefact survey. The work was undertaken in the week of 10th- 14th January 2005.
The desk-based assessment demonstrated that Mesolithic and Neolithic lithic scatters had been recorded in the area, and that there was evidence of Roman activity comprising a putative Roman road to the east, several Iron Age / Romano-British enclosures and finds of Roman coins. The land has been in agricultural use since at least the sixteenth century, and as late as 1720 the development area was a part of an open field. Honeysyke Farm is a post-medieval farm that dates back to at least 1775, and the adjacent Loscar Farm was built in the early twentieth century.
The artefact survey and walk-over survey revealed a predominantly artefact-based resource comprising artefacts that dated to the Mesolithic, Neolithic, Bronze Age,
Roman, and Medieval periods, together with larger numbers of post-medieval finds. It was clear that the plough soil was shallow, and that the deposits overlying the limestone bedrock had been disturbed by deep ploughing.