Land between East Cowes Road and Fairlee Road, Newport, Isle of Wight - Archaeological Evaluation

Wessex Archaeology

Wessex Archaeology was commissioned to undertake an archaeological evaluation of a 1.5 ha parcel of land located in Land off East Cowes Road, East Cowes, Isle of Wight, PO32 6NH. The evaluation area is centred on NGR 452060 91860.

A total of 13 trenches measuring 30 m in length, 1.90 m wide and approximately 0.35 m deep were excavated, revealing natural clays and gravels beneath a modern topsoil. A single archaeological feature was recorded during the evaluation, while the topsoil finds were limited to modern pottery, fragments of ceramic land drains and lumps of chalk.

The only recorded feature was a post-medieval ditch found in the north-east corner of site, located in trenches 4 and 5. Investigative slots were excavated through the ditch in both trench 4 and 5, with fragments of ceramic building material present in both slots 403 and 503. A small fragment of glass was also noted near the surface of the ditch in trench 4. This artefactual evidence is further corroborated by the presence of a similar feature seen in historic mapping by the Archaeological officer for The Isle of Wight County Archaeological and Historic Environment Service.