Land at Gosford, East of Kidlington, Oxfordshire Archaeological Evaluation Report

Oxford Archaeology were commissioned by Barwood Development Securities
Ltd to carry out a trial trench evaluation on the site of a proposed residential
development to the east of Kidlington, Oxfordshire (NGR SP 50233 12632).
The work comprised the excavation of 106 trenches that were located to test
the results of a geophysical survey. The fieldwork was carried out between
17th November and 7th December 2021.
A total of 42 trenches contained archaeological features. The earliest finds
discovered during the evaluation consisted of a small assemblage of worked
flint dating to the late Mesolithic/early Neolithic period. Although these were
recovered as residual finds from later features, the condition and distribution
of the flints indicates they probably derived from a single episode of activity.
Later prehistoric evidence was entirely absent from the site. The earliest
datable features were attributed to the 1st century AD. As indicated by the
geophysical survey, the central field contained a complex of ditched
enclosures which were primarily in use during the early to middle Roman
period, athough activity appears to have continued to some degree
throughout the Roman period.
Trackways led out from the enclosure complex to the northeast and southwest
and some satellite zones of contemporary activity were also revealed. These
were primarily focused on Trench 50 to the southeast and Trenches 89 and 86
in the southern tip of the site. Overall, the Roman evidence on the site is
consistent with the presence of a rural farmstead.
Medieval evidence was limited to a pit in Trench 13 which dated to the 13th -
16th centuries. There was also widespread evidence for ridge and furrow
earthworks across the site which are likely to be medieval or later in date.
Three undated pits containing the remains of unurned cremations were also
recorded along the southeastern edge of the site. Although these are likely to
have been contemporary with the Roman activity on site, a late prehistoric
date is also possible, despite an absence of any evidence on the site for activity
during this period.