Roman Ditches at Norton Low Wood, Norton Disney, Lincolnshire: An Archaeological Evaluation

Between the 14th and 18th November 2005, Cambridgeshire County Council Archaeological Field Unit (CCC AFU) conducted an archaeological evaluation at Norton Low Wood quarry, Norton Disney, Lincolnshire (SK 8880 6040). The work was commissioned by Cotswold Archaeology on behalf of Cemex with Cotswold Archaeology acting as the consultants.
Eighteen trenches were excavated (a total of 1856cm, c.2% of the total site) using a 360-degree mechanical excavator with a 2.2m wide ditching bucket. In the south-eastern corner of the site, the evaluation identified two ditches possibly forming part of a short-lived Roman settlement dating from the later 1st century AD to early 2nd century. The ditches were a continuation of enclosure ditches encountered immediately to the east of the site during an excavation in 2003 (McDaid et al 2004). One ditch was butt ended, mirroring a ditch recorded in the 2003 excavation and probably representing a c.3m wide entranceway into the northern part of the enclosure. An interesting collection of pottery was recovered from the end of the ditch, consisting of fragments of fourteen vessels, many of which were conjoining sherds representing a single deposit of domestic pottery.
Within the remainder of the site post-medieval field boundaries were represented by a few scattered ditches. Most of the ditches were dated through map evidence as well as by 18th- or 19th-century pottery.