The archaeology to the north of the Brills Farm farmstead
Brills Farm’s archaeology has been documented over the years.
The first record of archaeology was back in 1960 when cropmarks were observed on the fields opposite the Brills Farm farmstead. These were subsequently documented on a wider cropmark map of the Potter Hill area of Norton Disney as part of the National Mapping Programme.
Cropmark map
Later in the 1980s the Brills Farm farmstead was visited by Mike Parker Pearson, now of University College London. Mike today is recognised for his outstanding work on Stonehenge. The now defunct Trust For Lincolnshire Archaeology documented the visit in the quarterly magazine and revisited the aerial photos from 1960. The conclusion reached was that Brills might be a defended enclosure. It also documented Romano British pottery finds in the field to the north of the farmstead. This is the planned area of excavation in the summer of 2023.
Trust For Lincolnshire Archaeology magazine
In 2018 an excavation in the same field as the cropmarks for the foundation for the Bomber County Gateway Trust sculpture was being observed by a supervising archaeologist. This revealed further evidence of the periods of the site. Sherds from a quartz sandgritted handmade bead rimmed jar and was similar to other course Iron Age and Roman pottery found in the area. Other Iron Age pottery was noted to have been found close by on Villa Farm and Gallows Nooking Common, dated to the late Iron Age.
Pottery found during the Bomber County Gateway Trust Excavation
In 2019 the Norton Disney History and Archaeology Group commissioned a geophysical survey on the field to the north of the Brills Farm farmstead. This further confirmed the area is rich in potential targets for excavation, particularly in the three paddock areas closest to the Iron Age enclosure feature.
Geophysical survey
More recent discoveries of Roman brooches also gives hints that about the periods of archaeology present.
Finds of iron smelting slag also give a suggestion that may have be an industrial site at some point.
You can read more about this archaeology on Lincolnshire’s Historic Environment Records entry for this area of Norton Disney. It can be viewed here
This area of Norton Disney offers the potential for many other discoveries. Based on what is known so far, the likelihood of both Iron Age and Roman archaeology is high when excavation takes place by the Norton Disney History and Archaeology Group this summer