Camp Road Heyford Park Oxfordshire

Oxford Archaeology were commissioned in May 2022 to undertake a trialtrench
evaluation on the site of a proposed residential development on land
north of Camp Road at Heyford Park in Oxfordshire. The fieldwork was
undertaken over the course of two weeks and consisted of 32 trenches across
a c 11.5ha site, representing a 2% sample of the proposed development area.
The trenches were arranged to provide good coverage of the area and to test
features identified in the geophysical survey.
Five of the trenches contained archaeological remains, which partially
correlated with the geophysical survey results. An area of archaeological
activity was identified in the north-western corner of the site where several
ditches and pits were identified, one of which was dated to the mid–late
Roman period. These ditches probably represent the edge of a small enclosure
or field system. One unfurnished, east-west grave containing human remains
was identified in the same area. Pottery recovered from the grave also
indicates a mid–late Roman date.
Several undated features were investigated across the site, associated with
anomalies identified in the geophysical survey, but were found to represent
variations in the natural geology rather than archaeological features. A former
field-boundary ditch was also identified in Trench 22 and the fills of a pond
was recorded in Trench 14.
One potential area of significant archaeology was identified during the
evaluation in the northwest of the site focused on Trenches 1–4 and 8, which
may require further archaeological mitigation. No further archaeological
remains were identified within the rest of the site.