Grove Airfield, Grove, Oxfordshire

Post-Excavation Assessment and Updated
Project Design
Oxford Archaeology undertook an excavation on a 1.9ha plot of land at Grove
Airfield, Oxfordshire, in advance of housing development. Five phases of
activity were encountered. A field system and possible stock enclosures were
marked by ditches dating to the middle Bronze Age. In the late Iron Age or
early Roman period, the area became used for agricultural purposes once
more with new land boundaries being dug and signs of habitation including a
possible roundhouse. The settlement was reorganised around the beginning
of the 2nd century AD and was enlarged in the 3rd century, having a moreformal
rectilinear layout and several enclosed areas. By the 4th century, the
settlement appears to have become more open and there was a shift towards
intensive arable production and processing, signified by the construction of a
large corndryer. The settlement was abandoned by the end of the 4th century.
Three inhumations all probably Roman (though one may be Bronze Age) were
buried in different parts of the site.

Excavation report
Oxford Archaeology carried out an archaeological excavation in 2018 on land at Grove Airfield, Oxfordshire, in advance of housing development. Preceding phases of trial-trench evaluation in 2006, 2010 and 2018 established the presence of numerous features of Iron Age and Romano-British date that appeared to have formed parts of a rural settlement concentrated in the south of the development site. The excavated area, totalling 1.9ha, was subsequently targeted upon these remains.
Evidence of a middle Bronze Age agricultural site included a field system and possible stock enclosures demarcated by ditches, together with some finds and charred plant remains. A seemingly isolated late Bronze Age crouched burial and distinctive perforated fired clay blocks provide limited evidence of activity at the site during this period.
In the late Iron Age/early Roman period, the site was used for agricultural purposes, with new land boundaries established and signs of habitation including a possible roundhouse that appeared to have been altered.
The settlement was reorganised around the beginning of the 2nd century AD and was enlarged in the 3rd century, having a more formal rectilinear layout with several enclosed areas and post-built structures, suggestive of different areas of activity. Two inhumation burials of possible early Roman date are indicative of rural burial practices in a non-cemetery context. The pottery assemblage is suggestive of a fairly low-status rural settlement, while the animal bone assemblage and charred plant remains highlight a mixed agricultural economy.
By the 4th century the settlement appears to have become more open, with a shift towards more intensive arable production and crop processing signified by the construction of a large corndryer and greater quantities of charred plant remains. The settlement was abandoned by the end of the 4th century.