ARCHAEOLOGY OF BINGHAM PARISH
WARNER'S PADDOCK
In 2012 and 2013 five test pits were dug in Warner’s Paddock and they revealed a history of occupation of the site from the Iron Age to the Black Death. We concluded that Jebb’s Lane, a hollow way along the western margin of Warner’s Paddock, might have existed as a path connecting an Iron Age site here to the one known from crop marks and pottery finds to the north on Parson’s Hill. One of the test pits yielded a particularly high content of Roman pottery and all of them yielded Late Anglo-Saxon pottery. This Late Anglo-Saxon assemblage was dominated by Torksey Ware and more of it was found here in one test pit than in the whole of the parish that was field walked. Associated with the Torksey Ware was smithy slag, but this was also found with pottery up to the 13th century and seemed to indicate that there was a site either of a peripatetic smithy or a permanent one near by for the whole of this period. Interestingly, a 12th century iron hunting arrowhead was also found with the slag. Overall the indications were that Warner’s Paddock might have been an important centre of the village at the time of the Norman Conquest and may even have been where Bynna lived.
With this background in mind, BHTA carried out a geophysical survey of the whole of Warner’s Paddock in May 2017. It revealed several interesting anomalies and in 2018 BHTA applied to the Heritage Lottery Fund for a grant to dig them. The application was unsuccessful.
This report is mainly about the geophysical survey and should be read in conjunction with the test pit reports for LA06, LA20, LA21, LA24 and LA25.
To access the test pit reports click here.
The full geophysical report can be accessed from here.