It’s just a school field… or is it?
- DATE WRITTEN:
- READING TIME: 3 minutes
- AUTHORS: Candice 'Niki' Wachtel (Community Engagement Archaeologist)
A playing field at Farmor’s School in Fairford, Gloucestershire has revealed a landscape of archaeological features that could range from prehistoric through to the modern era. The exact dates are still unknown though, as this was all uncovered through geophysical survey!
The playing field sits in a landscape already known for its archaeology. With Roman urns and coins uncovered to the northwest, prehistoric barrows excavated to the southeast, and a Saxon cemetery just under a kilometre away, it is quite literally surrounded by history.
For our geophysical investigation we used a fluxgate gradiometer survey, which shows us buried materials by detecting even the smallest of variations between their magnetic properties and the Earth’s magnetic field. With these highly specialised instruments we set out to understand what could (if anything) survives beneath the school field, in order to better understand what planning in the area could look like. And the results did not disappoint.
One of the most striking discoveries was a probable ring ditch, with a central feature. Such a feature could be related to the round barrows excavated nearby. The additional two other possible ring ditches showing up in our survey could mean we’re looking at a landscape full of barrows.
Other connections within our survey are seen in the form of two parallel ditches that look like they’re forming a trackway or bridleway. These may be an early route that was potentially later continued by the historic track that is now seen on old maps. But the most intriguing information provided is that this site likely spans over multiple periods, due to the way features overlap others and exist beneath the agricultural anomalies.
Some of the features turned out to have much more recent explanations. A faint linear feature alongside a strong, distinctive “D‑shaped” anomaly initially left the team scratching their heads — what on earth could have created a shape like that? It didn’t take long to realise that these marks were most likely the remains of the school’s former high‑jump area, along with a short‑lived path that once led straight to it during its use on the old playing field.
The modern activity has also left its signature in the form of small ferrous (iron) signals, likely representing lost coins or other ferrous objects dropped on the playing field while the children played. Goalposts, services, and what may remain of a trackway to the parkland manor all contribute to the modern archaeological evidence.
When all of this information comes together, we can see a site potentially rich in archaeology. Our survey identified probable prehistoric, historic, and modern features across the area and many of these line up quite well with what has been found in the surrounding landscape.
Supported by earlier excavations, aerial imagery, LiDAR, and historical records, this new geophysical data reinforces a strong and consistent interpretation. That what now serves as a school playing field was once part of a dynamic landscape of ongoing activity from what may be prehistoric to post‑medieval, and finally transformed by the familiar bustle of modern schooling.
