Land East of Mursley Road, Norbury Farm, Little Horwood, Buckinghamshire

Between 21st October and 11th November 2024 Oxford Archaeology undertook a programme of archaeological trial trenching across Geophysical Survey Areas 1, 2, 4 and 6 at land to the east of Mursley Road, Norbury Farm, Little Horwood, Buckinghamshire. This followed on from a previous phase of work which evaluated Geophysical Survey Areas 3 and 5. The second phase comprised 55 trenches, some of which targeted anomalies recorded during the geophysical survey. Only a small number of archaeological features were recorded during the trial trenching, and few finds were retrieved. Most of the features comprised ditches of probable post-medieval to modern date, which corresponded to former field boundaries and the boundary of Whaddon Chase. In Area 1, multiple natural features were revealed, which most likely represent the clearing of woodland. In Area 2 a curvilinear gully was revealed, possibly the remnants of an eaves drip gully belonging to a roundhouse or agricultural building. The gully contained charcoal, burnt flint and some small fragments of fired clay. Two small pits uncovered in Areas 4 and 6 also contained charcoal and burnt flint. A definite date for the gully and small pits could not be determined due to the lack of datable finds, although their characteristics suggest a broadly prehistoric date.