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In May 2007 an archaeological evaluation was undertaken by Channel 4’s ‘Time Team’ at the site of Blackhills Farm and The Hollys in Wickenby, Lincolnshire (NGR 509500 383400). An evaluation comprising eight trenches confirmed the density of Iron Age and Romano-British activity on the Site. Geophysical evidence suggested three main phases of use on three separate alignments.
The earliest activity appeared to comprise a number of penannular ditch structures and a north-west – south-east alignment of linear boundaries, thought to be Late Iron Age or early Romano-British in date. Two further alignments of rectangular enclosures and possible trackways, thought to be Romano-British in date, although of uncertain chronological relationship to each other, were also seen. As the area of the Site was extensive much was unexcavated, but interventions were placed into a number of ditches and pits and dating from the Romano-British period.
Traces of medieval ridge and furrow ploughing were visible in several trenches, cutting across the Iron Age and Romano-British alignments and in many cases obscuring the earlier archaeology.
Only a small area of the site was excavated, and the quantity of finds recovered was small; the chronological sequence, therefore, remains somewhat tentative.
