TVAS News: Itchen Farm Park and Ride, Winchester

Archaeological works carried out at Itchen Farm, Winchester on behalf of Hampshire County Council during autumn 2008 and winter 2009 have revealed evidence of activity from the middle Iron Age through to the Romano-British period. Most of this activity occurred during the late Iron Age and early Romano-British period. The Iron Age features took the form of a large enclosure defined by a V-shaped ditch which, in some places, was 2.5m deep. Parts of this enclosure was quarried and then later re-cut during the 1st and 2nd centuries AD, the Romano-British period. A number of field boundary ditches dating to the Iron Age were also excavated and many of these were, again, re-cut during the 1st and 2nd centuries AD.

The Roman activity on the site was represented by a number of ditches and pits which yielded a considerable amount of pottery, tile and several quern stones, used for grinding grain. One of these querns had a phallus carved into it. A Roman trackway complete with wheel ruts was also discovered cutting across part of the Iron Age field system. In addition to this, two graves, possibly dating from the Saxon period, were excavated and more human remains were found in the Iron Age enclosure.