Land North of Abingdon Road, Kingston Bagpuize, Oxfordshire

In October 2017 Oxford Archaeology (OA) undertook an archaeological trial trench
evaluation of the site of a proposed new residential development within three fields
on land to the north of Abingdon Road, on the eastern side of Kingston Bagpuize,
Oxfordshire (NGR SU 413 981). The work was commissioned by the Environmental
Dimension Partnership Ltd (EDP) on behalf of Lioncourt Strategic Land.
A barrow previously identified by geophysical survey was confirmed in the central field
and an additional ditch identified by the evaluation may represent an outer ring ditch
or an associated enclosure, potentially of Bronze Age date. A small number of early
prehistoric struck flints, mostly in later features may represent knapping activity in this
landscape.
Trenches in the northern field revealed large ditches and a small number of pits, along
with a fairly large pottery assemblage of early to middle Iron Age date. A triangular
hearth/oven brick and a worked bone point suggest domestic activity in the vicinity.
An animal burial was poorly dated and may represent structured deposition of a young
sheep in the vicinity of the barrow but may equally represent the deposition of dead
stock at any time from the Roman period onwards.
Land drains in the southern field attest to the drainage associated with the WWII
airfield that occupied the site.