Archaeological Investigation of Hanson's Over/Needingworth Quarry, The Phase V Evaluation

Abstract

This report outlines the results of the latest phase of archaeological evaluation undertaken at Hanson’s Over/Needingworth Quarry. The evaluation area covered some 93ha to the north of Willingham and to the east of the River Great Ouse (centred on TL 395 728). The investigation constitutes the fifth mitigation phase of the Quarry and encompasses an area immediately to the south of the existing working quarry, which includes the site of Willingham Mere, an extinct lake that existed until the turn of the eighteenth century. The work was carried out between September and November 2018. The investigation revealed a continuation of the buried landscape recorded to the north during both the 2012 evaluation and subsequent phases of excavation. Characterised by submerged gravel terraces, this landscape saw occupation during the Neolithic and Early–Middle Bronze Age before the development of an early phase of Willingham Mere and marginal fen resulted in a drastic change to the local environment. Given the latter, palaeoenvironmental investigation and particularly detailed recording of the extensive mere deposits – relating to two major phases of its formation and spread – formed a major component of the evaluation.