Programme of Archaeological Work at Land off Crookbarrow Road (OASIS ID: cotswold2-281349)

A programme of archaeological work was undertaken by Cotswold Archaeology in October 2011 prior to groundworks associated with a residential development at land off Crookbarrow Road, Norton, Worcestershire. Four ditches were identified (A-D), expanding on the results of the evaluation and providing a chronology for three phases of archaeological activity at the site from the mid to late Iron Age to the Roman period. Ditch A/B contained pottery dating to the mid to late Iron Age and was orientated north-east/south-west, returning to the north-west towards Crookbarrow Road and possibly defining the north-east corner of an enclosure. It had been re-cut by Ditch D, which extended beyond Ditch A/B to the north-east and contained Roman pottery broadly dating from the 1st to the 4th-centuries AD. The third phase of activity was marked by the addition of Ditch C, which provided three sides of a small, square paddock, using Ditch D as the final boundary to the north-west. The characterisation and dating of discreet features was hampered by two phases of post-Roman ridge and furrow and poor ground conditions. Four undated pits and three areas of animal poaching were recorded within the site.