Monument record MDR13329 - Artefact scatter, Birley Barn Farm, Brampton

Prior to ploughing and re-seeding, a small area of pasture at Birley Barn Farm, Cutthorpe, was fieldwalked in spring 2010. Slightly less than 4.5kg of finds were collected, of which metal accounted for 1.25kg. The remainder comprised clay pipe fragments, a stone spindle whorl, slag, flint and chert, a single piece of bone, and 2.75kg of assorted pottery, burnt clay and tile fragments. The lithics consisted of five fragments of flint and four of chert. They were found beside what was a field boundary and is visible as a slight lynchet north-south. It was also the site of an old field drain, which had recently been replaced, suggesting that it might once have been a small spring overlooking the valley. The lithics included a flint flake of possible Mesolithic date, a later Mesolithic narrow blade flint microlith, a broken retouched flint blade (possibly a transverse arrowhead fragment of Neolithic date), a retouched flint blade of probable Neolithic date and a retouched chert blade of possible Neolithic date. Most of the pottery was 20th century; however, there were also two Romano-British sherds (a hammer headed rim of red soft ware and an everted rim of Grey Derbyshire ware), six sherds dating to between the 13th and 15th centuries, one sherd of 'Cistercian'/Ticknall ware of late 15th to early 17th century date, and five sherds of late 17th to 19th century date. Three clay pipe bowl fragments and twelve stem fragments were collected, although none showed any stamps or marks. The spindle whorl was in good condition, made of a fine-grained sandstone and measuring 35mm in diameter and 10mm thick, with a hole 9mm in diameter. However, it could not be dated. Finally, several items of slag were found, including lead, but they could all be ascribed to later activities, waste burning or household fires. (1)