Geophysical survey and trial trenching at New Barn Field, Green Lane, Wanborough, 2016

Year: 
2016
Borough: 
Guildford

The well-known Roman temples site at Wanborough lies north of the Hog’s Back between Farnham and Guildford. The site was first excavated in 1979, again in 1985/6 following large scale treasure hunting and most recently in 1999 when David Williams directed an excavation that revealed a second earlier circular temple (Surrey Archaeological Collections vols 75, 82 and 93 respectively).

The immediate site of the two temples is now a scheduled monument and the field in which they are partially set has been subject to geophysical surveys and test trenching. However, immediately to the west is a second field, New Barn Field, centred at SU 91845 49515 - triangular in shape, where three test trenches were excavated in 1999, two of which produced Late Iron Age and Roman pottery and, in one case, exposed a charcoal-filled pit.

In August 2016 a small team from Surrey Archaeological Society carried out a magnetometer survey of New Barn Field using equipment that was not available in 1999. This revealed an 8m-wide straight double-ditched linear feature running roughly north-south parallel to and slightly in from the eastern boundary of the field. The survey also showed numerous anomalies and signs of ridge-and-furrow ploughing.

With the kind permission of the landowners two test trenches were excavated in September that year - the first over the eastern ditch and half-way across the linear feature and the second near the top of a rise in the field and over one of an apparent group of three large geophysical anomalies

Place: