Dewar’s Farm Quarry Extension, Ardley, Oxfordshire Archaeological Evaluation Report

Oxford Archaeology carried out an archaeological trial-trench evaluation on
the site of the proposed north-eastern extension to Dewar’s Farm Quarry,
Ardley, Oxfordshire, in September 2021. The fieldwork was commissioned by
Landgage Heritage on behalf of Smith and Sons (Bletchington) Ltd.
A total of 107 trenches were investigated across the site, some of which were
targeted on selected geophysical anomalies. Of these, 15 trenches were found
to contain archaeological remains.
The most notable remains comprised an assemblage of late Mesolithic flint
artefacts recovered from a series of natural hollows/depressions within
Trench 104 in the south of the site overlooking Trow Pools. Small quantities of
charred remains were also recovered in association with the flint artefacts.
A possible ring ditch or enclosure ditch recorded in Trench 65 in the southeast
of the site, together with a small number of undated ditches nearby, may
provide limited evidence of activity during the late Iron Age/Roman period.
Limited late post-medieval/modern remains, comprising a former field
boundary ditch and land drains crossing the site, are demonstrative of
agricultural use of the landscape during the more recent historical period