Land at Short Hazels Farm, Burton-Upon-Trent, Derbyshire (OASIS ID: cotswold2-240157)

An archaeological evaluation was undertaken by Cotswold Archaeology in October 2015 at Short Hazels Farm, burton-Upon-Trent, Derbyshire. Twelve trenches were excavated within the site. These trenches were located primarily to test possible kiln-type anomalies identified by a previous geophysical survey. The evaluation recorded the ploughed-out remains of ridge and furrow, corresponding with the geophysical survey results and indicating that the site comprised part of the open field system that surrounded the medieval settlement of Hartshome. The evaluation also recorded a series of clay-lined pits backfilled with redeposited natural. These features displayed evidence of in situ burning. Nineteenth-century pottery was recovered from two of the pits and individual pits were observed to cut furrows and a 19th-century ditch. The function of these pits is uncertain. One of the pits contained a very small amount of 19th-century pottery production waste, but this is not consistent with the large amounts of waste which would be produced by ceramic manufacture within the site boundary. Furthermore, there is no known record of post-medieval/modern industrial activity within the site. It is known that sherds were removed from factory waste dumps for use elsewhere as hardcore and in drainage, and this might amount for the small amount of pottery production waste present at the site. The evaluation results displayed a broad correspondence with the previous geophysical survey. All of the burnt pits exposed by the evaluation had been recorded by the survey, indicating that there are unlikely to be any further undated burnt pits at the site.