EDO5500 - Martin's Down Main Replacement, Long Bredy; observations and recording 2001

The pipeline route goes through seven fields, numbered 1-7 going from east to west. The replacement main runs for 1.1km and was laid in an open cut trench 0.5m wide and 1.1m deep. The new trench was dug approximately 0.7m adjacent to the existing pipeline, inside a 10m wide corridor of stripped soil. Topsoil was stripped using a tracked excavator with a toothed bucket. Any areas not directly observed by an archaeologist were later walked over in order to ascertain their archaeological potential. The pipeline trench itself was dug by a toothed-bucket excavator, and inspected for archaeology. After topsoil stripping, a field by field surface collection was carried out. Archaeological features consisted of a lynchet between fields 1 and 2, and a linear anomaly oriented east/west in Field 3 comprising of a roughly 1.2m wide shallow strip of yellowish brown clay about 0.2 metres deep. It is not known however if this feature is archaeological or geological. Large amounts of Bronze Age and some prehistoric flint were recovered during topsoil stripping. Roman and medieval pottery was found near Long Barrow Farmhouse.