Test Pit 18:         Leighton Road

31st May 2014

By Martin Cuthbert

Test Pit 18 was located on the north side of Leighton Road, opposite the recreation ground. The test pit was located in the rear garden of a 19th century property.

This property is approximately 250 metres east south-east from the medieval core of the village and just south of ridge and furrow earthworks depicting medieval agriculture in Jubilee Green, so we weren’t expecting to find Saxon or Medieval finds, but perhaps evidence of prehistoric or Roman activity.

Topsoil overlay a deposit of subsoil which in turn overlay the natural. Finds included pottery, animal bone, glass and nails all of which did not predate the current property. We also found a partial dog skeleton, most likely a buried pet. The nicest find was an Egyptian coin dated to 1917. Was someone billeted here who had fought in Egypt?

A single small sherd of Roman pottery was found in the topsoil layer, its worn condition suggests it may have been moved from its original place of deposition.

A huge thank you to Barbara for supervising the test pit, all our volunteers, Paul Blinkhorn for his pottery analysis and of course Michael for allowing us to dig a hole in his garden.