6 The Street, Liddington, Wiltshire - Archaeological Excavation Report

Wessex Archaeology

Wessex Archaeology was commissioned to undertake an archaeological excavation on land at 6, The Street Liddington, Wiltshire centred on National Grid Reference (NGR) 420628 181394.

An earlier trial trench evaluation of the site identified the presence of four ditches, which comprised a substantial late prehistoric ditch, parts of a possible Romano-British coaxial ditch system and a probable medieval or later residential/property boundary ditch.

The earliest traces of activity within the site were provided by a small assemblage of worked flint of probable Neolithic or Bronze Age date, which was recovered from secondary depositional contexts.
However, the earliest significant phase of activity was evidenced by the relatively large, re-cut Iron Age ditch, which had previously been recorded during the evaluation. The excavation also revealed additional features forming the continuation of the early Romano-British coaxial field system that had also been identified during the evaluation.

The remainder of the archaeological features encountered during the excavation were shallow ditches and gullies of predominantly medieval date, many of which had not been encountered within the trial trenches. Although these features could not be precisely dated, they appeared to represent at least two phases of land division and/or drainage associated with agricultural activity on the periphery of medieval Liddington. A considerably larger medieval ditch revealed in the southern part of the site may have fulfilled some other purpose, perhaps as a boundary, rather than a drainage/field system ditch.

The programme of archaeological work has added considerably to existing knowledge regarding the nature, extent and character of activity within the local area, with a palimpsest of numerous features spanning the late prehistoric, Romano-British and medieval periods.