Manor Farm, Stretham, Cambridgeshire. An Archaeological Evaluation.

Abstract

Fourteen trenches totalling 513.7m combined with geophysical survey identified two areas of archaeology represented in the first by linears oriented north-south and comprising a small system of cultivation beds possibly adjacent to enclosed pasture, and, second, by either small postholes or the bases of truncated pits with a medium-sized pit containing a small quantity of burnt quartz and flint. No datable finds were recovered from these features, although Romano-British and Medieval pottery was collected from within the subsoil of three trenches near to the linears. Geophysical anomalies show the possibility that the pits/postholes may be part of a larger cluster. A post-Medieval pond was also identified, and a second of these is indicated by the geophysics and cartographic evidence. Trenches in the south and east of the development area, situated along the lower contour of the southerly landfall, confirmed the presence of a moderately thick colluvium with absent or very low-level archaeology.