SWX8191 - Wytch Farm Oilfield: Horizontal Directional Drill Laydown Area, Archaeological Assessment, December 1988.

This report contains a summary of the results of an archaeological survey undertaken during February 1988 by the Trust for Wessex Archaeology. The area included in the survey is the proposed laydown area for the horizontal directional drill (Wellsite L, Furzey Island to Wellsite D, Goathorn) and is centred on NGR SZ 00758492. No finds were mad from the trial pits to aid dating either the redeposited clay layer, buried soil or features observed in the area of the stones. There can be little doubt that the clay spread and features in the area of the stones are associated with 18th or 19th century clay workings. The proximity of these features to the former mineral railway line form Norden Clay pits to Goathorn had already been observed. The function of the stones may have been to support quantities of clay held in a former settling or weathering area. The linear bank and mound observed near the proposed access point could not be further investigated during the assessment because of tree felling activities in the area. From observation alone, the mound appears to represent a mixed dump of clay.