Digging a little deeper
Before any trenches were opened, ecological surveys were carried out in each area to make sure the work wouldn’t disturb reptiles or ground-nesting birds.
These checks did their job: two skylark nests were discovered. The archaeological team moved nearby trenches, allowing the birds and their nests to remain undisturbed while the survey continued.
In total, around 220 trial trenches were excavated across the site. Each was approximately 30 metres long and 1.8 metres wide, with most reaching between half a metre and one metre in depth.
A 20-tonne excavator was used to carefully remove the upper layers of soil, giving the archaeologists an opportunity to examine, record and sample anything of interest beneath the surface.
The District Archaeologist also visited the site twice during the seven-week programme, inspecting the open trenches and signing them off before they were carefully backfilled.
So, what did we find?
Unsurprisingly for an area with such a long history, the investigations did uncover some evidence of past activity.
The features identified were mainly ditches and tracks dating from the Iron Age and post-medieval periods. However, very few archaeological artefacts were found and, importantly, nothing of particular archaeological significance was uncovered.
The team did take a number of samples, which will now be analysed more closely for any archaeological material that might not have been apparent during the initial investigation.
If something significant does turn up in the samples, archaeologists may need to return to that particular location for more detailed excavation. Based on everything found so far, that is considered unlikely.
What happens next?
The archaeological investigations are an important part of building a fuller picture of the Stamford North site before construction gets underway.
With around 220 trenches now excavated, inspected and backfilled, the main work on site is complete. The next step is for the samples to be analysed and the findings formally recorded. Assuming there are no unexpected findings, work on site will continue. If further excavation work is required, we will, of course, let you know.