Iron Age rectilinear enclosure, North of Burnham Wick (EHER 16031)

An Iron Age rectilinear enclosure which was first identified as a cropmark and subsequently investigated by evaluation trenches in 2006. It was recorded as measuring 72m N-S by 85m E-W and may have had a defensive bank. A linear feature identified to the West as a cropmark was also suggested to be indicative of a prehistoric trackway and was given a possible Bronze Age date. A second linear feature to the SW of the enclosure could not be dated.

Cropmarks of a rectilinear enclosure, measuring about 70m N-S. The entrances appear to the North and West, and the corners are rounded. <1> <2> <3> March-April 2006. Archaeological evaluation. The cropmark anomaly is considered to be that of a rectilinear Iron Age defended enclosure and was examined by eight trenches. The enclosure itself measures some 72 metres wide (N-S) by 85 metres in 'visible' length (E-W) and is unusual in its size and regular shape. The actual E-W dimension has yet to be determined as it appears to continue under the adjacent modern track way and possibly into the adjoining field. The uppermost fill of all ditches consisted of a fine silty material in which was found flecks of charcoal and all of the potsherds. This raises the question as to the possible existence of a defensive bank alongside the ditch which either weathered naturally, or was pushed back into the ditch. In Trench E, the hardened surface between the ditch terminals may indicate a hollow way originally led into the enclosure. <4> July-August 2013. Watching brief. The Middlewick Cable route crossed this site and an Iron Age ditch that was excavated in two separate segments. The ditch lay on a N-S alignment along the cable route and was recorded for a distance of 9.3m. It produced single sherds of likely late Bronze Age or Iron Age pottery, one of which had characteristics associated with an Iron Age rather than Bronze Age date. <5>