Prehistoric, Saxo-Norman and Early-High medieval activity at Scotsdales Garden Centre, Fordham

Between the 21st January and 26th April 2019 Oxford Archaeology East (OA East) carried out excavations at Scotsdales Garden Centre, Fordham, Cambridgeshire. In total c.1ha was investigated by three areas of excavation (Areas A to C).
Two minor episodes of later prehistoric activity were excavated. A Later Neolithic arrow-making event was evidenced by a small scatter of flints excavated from a buried soil contained within a natural hollow in Area C. An isolated Late Bonze Age pit was encountered in Area A which produced an assemblage of Post Deverel-Rimbury Plainware tradition pottery, flintwork and cattle bone.
Significantly, the excavation of Area C uncovered a series of enclosures centred on a network of gullies which probably represent a Saxo-Norman (c.AD1066-1150) agricultural complex. The recovery of large charred cereal grain assemblages along with fired clay fragments from this complex strongly suggests crop processing activity, specifically those activities involving heat such as corn-drying. Although there was no evidence for in situ burning, corn-drying ovens may have been constructed above ground in the rectangular plots of land defined by the gullies. This processing area and associated enclosures appear to have fallen out of use by the early medieval period.
In the northern part of the development site, Areas A and B uncovered an early medieval (c.1150-1400) boundary ditch which corresponds to the later division plotted on historical maps of Fordham between West Fen Crofts and Holders Crofts. At some point during the early to high medieval period there appears to have been a change in land use when new enclosure boundaries were cut which truncated, but also respected, the earlier boundary alignment. This reorganisation incorporated a large watering hole which suggests pastoral farming activity. Around the end of the medieval period the site lay within a zone of quarrying activity to extract the underlying chalk.
The remains uncovered by the excavation are of local and regional significance. Saxo-Norman remains related to arable agriculture have been documented that may shed some light on crop processing activities being carried out in Fordham during this period. The early to high medieval remains provide an important insight into the early medieval origins and evolution of land use within two crofts within the immediate hinterland of the village.