Monument record SBN 096 - OUTLINE RECORD: prehistoric to the post-medieval occupation Testpitting 2012

A two-day community test-pitting event took place in October for the Managing a Masterpiece HLF-funded project. The pitting revealed material dating from the prehistoric to the post-medieval period. The prehistoric material consisted of a single potsherd and a small number of worked flints and indicates a low level of background activity across the village. Two sherds of Roman pottery were found on the N edge of the village, whilst Roman ceramic building material (CBM) was found in pits closer to the centre, which in addition to that recorded in the church and a nearby house suggest the presence of a Roman building in the vicinity. There was an absence of Anglo-Saxon and early Medieval finds, but gradually increasing levels of finds from the 12th century onwards. Whilst this might suggest a break in the occupation of the village until the late 12th century (when pottery appears to indicate settlement in the NW corner of the village) in fact this only reflects the limits of the finds assemblage, as it is known from documentary evidence that Stoke has Saxon origins and had a 10th century church. The largest part of the finds assemblage dated to the post-medieval period and mainly consisted of pottery and CBM. The medieval and post-medieval finds, as well as the map evidence and surviving buildings, suggest a slight shift in the focus of occupation after the 14th century from the NW to the SE of the village (S1).