More information : SP 907541. Rectangular enclosure. (1,2)
No significant features or finds in a field under plough. From K Field's AP the approximate centre of the enclosure is at SP 9079 5412. (3)
Faint cropmark traces of two possible conjoined rectilinear enclosures of probable Iron Age or Roman date are visible on aerial photographs centred at approximately SP 9074 5413. These probably correspond to the cropmarks described by the above authority. The north-western rectilinear enclosure is irregular in form and is attached to the second enclosure at the south-western corner. Immediately south-east of these features further enclosures and linear boundaries have been recorded at UID 346970. These features are visible on aerial photographs taken by English Heritage in 2006. (4)
Aerial photographs taken in June 2011, as part of English Heritage's annual reconnaissance programme, show this feature clearly as a single elongated sub-rectangular enclosure with an internal near-square enclosure. Orientated broadly NW-SE, the long NE-facing side is markedly more irregular than the other sides (resembling linear ditches rather than enclosure sides), and appears to continue a short distance beyond the corners of the enclosure at both ends. It features one probable entrance gap, outside which are two faint parallel ditches which appear to define an approach into the large enclosure. There is another gap in this same side towards the enclosure's NE corner. The only other apparent gap coincides with vehicle tracks in the crop, so is probably not an original feature. This enclosure is clearly distinct - spatially - from those to the east (uid 346970) but may well be contemporary with components of that complex. (5)
The cropmarks of the sub-rectangular enclosure described above (Sources 4-5) were mapped from aerial photographs as part of the Bedford Borough NMP project. Small excavations took place immediately to the east of the enclosure, as part of the Lavendon By-Pass assessment in 1993, and identified Iron Age to Roman settlement activity. This enclosure is likely to date to the Iron Age period, with the Roman occupation concentrated to the southeast and east, of this enclosure. (6-7) |