Nunton Farm, Nunton, Wiltshire (OASIS ID: wessexar1-83280)

Wessex Archaeology was commissioned by Mr. C. Burrows, of Damen Associates Ltd. to undertake an archaeological watching brief during construction at Nunton Farm, Nunton, Wiltshire. The watching brief was required as a condition of the planning permission granted by Wiltshire Council for the construction of a dirty water lagoon. Two negative lynchets, former probable prehistoric field boundaries, were identified, which indicated the site lies within an extensive, former chequer-board field system that is known from the area. Similar features have been plotted from aerial photographs but have not previously been traced across the area of the site. The field system is likely to relate to Iron Age and Romano-British settlement activity that is known from the area. A chalk quarry pit was located within one of the negative lynchets, suggesting that they were directly related and possibly contemporary. The quarry pit, indicative of an episode of small scale chalk extraction, possibly for building work or track repairs, was backfilled with material that indicates an initial period of weathering and stabilisation followed by activity associated with Romano-British arable farming with associated field clearance (stone picking) debris that contained Romano-British tile and pottery. The sequence was concluded by a change of land use to pasture, suggested by a developed possibly post-Roman/medieval turf line, and final reversion to arable agriculture, itself preceded by levelling of banks around the quarry.