A Ring-Ditch at the East of England Showground, Orton Waterville, Peterborough: An Archaeological evaluation

Between 15th September and 1st of October 1999, an archaeological evaluation was undertaken on 18 hectares of land at the East of England show ground near Alwalton, Peterborough, by staff of the Cambridgeshire County Council Archaeological Field Unit. The work was carried out in connection with a planning application for the site involving the construction of a large number of dwellings, associated access roads and services.

Eighteen 100x2m evaluation trenches were excavated across the site. Archaeological remains were uncovered in only one area, where a trench crossed the central part of a probable ring ditch about 24m in diameter. Finds from the ring ditch were not inconsistent with a prehistoric date, but close dating evidence was lacking. The surviving depth of the ring ditch was shallow, and it had probably been truncated by medieval or earlier ploughing. No evidence of human remains was uncovered.

The lack of finds from elsewhere on the site can probably be taken to indicate low level of activity here in the Roman and medieval periods. Since there seems, however, to have been activity in at least one area in the prehistoric period, the absence of prehistoric finds over most of the site should be interpreted with caution.