Purely Plants Nursery, Land off Wantage Road, Wallingford

In July 2023 Oxford Archaeology undertook a trial trench evaluation on land
adjacent to Purely Plants, Wantage Road, Wallingford, Oxfordshire, ahead of the
submission of an outline planning application by Nicholas King Homes for a
proposed housing development. The trenches represented a 5% sample of the
undisturbed areas of site, much of which comprised a former sand and gravel
quarry in use during the first half of the 20th century, which has subsequently
been infilled with landfill.
The only archaeological remains found during the trenching were an undated
shallow curvilinear ditch and an undated north-west to south-east aligned ditch.
Both were located in the southern part of the site and neither yielded any
artefactual evidence. The curvilinear ditch has been very tentatively interpreted
as a possible Iron Age ring gully associated with a roundhouse due to the
presence of similar Iron Age features throughout the wider landscape. It was
very shallow and indistinct and may not be an archaeological feature at all. It is
possible that the undated linear ditch is related to a middle Bronze Age field
system previously excavated to the south of the site.
The remainder of site was devoid of significant archaeological remains with only
natural or modern features identified.