Spitfire Road/ Abberds Lane, Calne, Wiltshire: Archaeological Evaluation Report

In February and March 2023, Oxford Archaeology carried out a 48-trench
evaluation for RPS Consulting Limited on behalf of Robert Hitchins Limited at Land
North of Spitfire Road/Abberds Lane, Calne, Wiltshire.
The evaluation revealed a localised focus of Roman archaeology in the southwestern
part of the site in Trenches 39 and 40, possibly a trackway junction or
the corner of an enclosure system extending beyond the development boundary
to the north-west. The evidence found in these two trenches could possibly
represent the eastern edge of a rural settlement located on top of Penn Hill. This
new site adds to slight existing evidence for a Roman settlement somewhere in
Calne, although no clear focus has been identified to date. The associated Roman
artefact assemble is very small, with an early to mid-Roman emphasis. Animal
bone was recovered from several of the Roman contexts and has some potential
to shed light on the settlement’s economy.
The site lies well outside the core of Calne Anglo-Saxon and medieval settlement,
in the surrounding agricultural hinterland. The medieval/post-medieval ridgeand-
furrow and field boundaries are poorly preserved, poorly dated and do not
provide much new evidence for the origins and development of the historic
landscape.
A single fragment of human bone, from an adult or adolescent jawbone of
unknown sex, was recovered from the secondary fill of a field boundary ditch,
along with fragments of post-medieval pottery, brick and animal bone. The origin
of the bone is unknown. The site does not lie close to any existing burial grounds.