Medieval field boundaries, furrows and the former Clay's Farm buildings on land at Green Farm, Wix (EHER 80392)

A magnetic susceptibility survey identified two probable earlier medieval field boundaries. The former site of Clay's Farm is also evident close to the Southern boundary as an area of strong magnetic variation.

August 2015. Geophysical survey. A magnetic susceptibility survey identified two linear trends which may be remnants of earlier medieval field boundaries, although this interpretation is not certain. The former site of Clay's Farm is also evident close to the Southern boundary as an area of strong magnetic variation, probably caused by a spread of brick, tile and other demolition debris. <1> September 2015. Trial trenching. Evaluation took place only in the Western half of the area previously investigated by geophysical survey. The Northern part of the site (Trenches 1 to 7) contained no archaeological remains. The archaeology exposed in the remaining trenches included seven ditches and three pits. The alignment of the ditches suggests that most relate to medieval/post-medieval furrows, which can be seen in aerial photography and in the geophysical survey results. The slightly curvilinear form of the ditches in Trenches 19 and 20 appears to correspond to the preceding geophysics results. These features are thought to be contemporary with the furrows seen on site and might relate to possible headland features. A single sherd of residual Early Roman pottery was recovered from one of the ditches and some small pieces of daub were found another, both in Trench 20. The daub is not diagnostic and could date anywhere from the Iron Age through to the post-medieval period. Furthermore, the pieces were not attributable to oven/kiln or structural waste. A small quantity of daub was also found in a ditch in Trench 8. Cumulatively, although the daub is not diagnostic, it suggests some potential settlement or light industrial activity in the vicinity, likely to the West of the site although the date of this potential activity is unclear. <2>