Archaeologists discover a prehistoric and post-medieval past at Dove Valley Park

Clowes Developments have been working alongside archaeologists, Orion Heritage Ltd and Pre-Construct Archaeology in order to progress with Dove Valley Park’s expansion plans. Pre-Construct Archaeology have explained their findings:

“Staff from our Newark office have unearthed some exciting archaeology at a new industrial development at Dove Valley Park in Derbyshire, working on behalf of Orion Heritage and Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd. Cropmarks recorded on aerial photographs indicate the presence of several ring ditches on and close to the site; one of these was excavated in the 1990s and found to be Bronze Age. Linear ditches are also shown on the aerial photographs. Following trial trench evaluation which confirmed the presence of archaeological features equating to the cropmarks, a programme of strip, map and sample excavation was undertaken to more fully reveal and investigate the remains.

This work exposed a complete ring ditch and a substantial linear ditch. There was at least one re-cutting of the ring ditch, suggesting maintenance and possible longevity of use. One or two gaps, perhaps entrances, were identified in the ring ditch. It is currently thought that the ring ditch is prehistoric but, although substantially excavated, no artefacts were recovered from the feature. This may imply the ring ditch served a non-habitation function, possible as a stock enclosure. Soil samples were retained from the excavation of the ring ditch for the purposes of recovery of small artefacts, environmental evidence, and material for potential radiocarbon dating. The long linear ditch appeared to be a boundary. This was of uncertain date but yielded a hone that is likely to be post-medieval.”