ABINGDON ARCHAEOLOGICAL GEOPHYSICS

PENPERGWM

We were asked to survey this site by the Trostrey Excavation Group. They had already excavated remains of a medieval stone building and wished to obtain a larger picture. The excavations and spoil heaps prevented the whole area from being surveyed.

The results were, as expected, fairly poor as the site is on soil derived from old red sandstone which seldom produces good magnetometery results. They did however show three sides of an enclosure around the site, several possible pits and, presumably modern, field drains. This indicates that even on unlikely geologies magnetometery can indicate that remains exist for further investigation. This is useful in areas of pasture where field walking is unlikely to find pottery or other material to locate sites.

 Earth resistance of part of the area was also disappointing - possibly as in November the site may have been too damp for the walls to contrast with the clayey silt soil.

Photo courtesy of John Sorrell

Magnetometery.20 metre grids. North at top.