Monument record 15779 - Curvilinear enclosure ditch of possible Roman date, Crown Farm Quarry

<1> Wardell Armstrong LLP, 2022, Land at Crown Farm Quarry, Oakmere, Cheshire: Archaeological Watching Brief Report, R4669 (Client Report). SCH9362.

An archaeological watching brief was undertaken in 2022 at Crown Farm Quarry, Oakmere, in advance of extension of the quarry. A large enclosure ditch was recorded to the south of the Western Extension Area. The form of the ditch suggests it may be later prehistoric or, more likely, Roman in origin. A single sherd of samian pottery was recovered from a re-cut of the ditch which, based on the level of abrasion, is likely to be residual so only tentatively suggests the ditch was in use during the Romano-British period.

A series of five excavtion slots were positioned over the curvilinear ditch [4067] which measured 101m in length and up to 2.9m in width and extended roughly west/south-west to east/north-east, turning to the south-east. It was roughly V-shaped in profile, becoming shallower in gradient to the west, with up to two re-cuts during its use. The earlier re-cut appears broadly similar in profile though not to the same depth, with later a much shallower re-cut with a rounded profile.

Eight environmental samples were taken across the ditch; two of these were taken from primary fills, three from primary silting fills of the earlier re-cut, and two from fills of the later re-cut. Five of the samples did not yield any material. One sample from a ditch recut presented poorly presented bromes. Another sample from a primary fill presented very poorly preserved individual seeds of grass (Poaceae), barley, and an indeterminate cereal/Poaceae. Charcoal was present only in one sample from the fill of a ditch recut which contained a single species of willow/poplar (Salix/Populus).