In September 2022, homeowners and volunteers excavated 20 test pits across Carlton. Over 6,000 individual finds were recovered, ranging in date from the Bronze Age to the present day.

Overall, the test pits produced excellent results, telling a story of settlement development at Carlton from the 12th century to the present day and revealing hints of earlier Bronze Age and Roman landscapes. The distribution of pottery from the test pits suggested that the village originally formed around the parish church in the 12th century, with secondary settlement around Carlton Green emerging in the 13th century. Settlement at Carlton Gate did not emerge until the 18th century.

A slight scatter of Bronze Age flints represented a low-level ‘background noise’ of prehistoric activity in the wider landscape. Similarly, a small assemblage of Roman pottery also represented activity in the wider landscape, probably associated with a small Roman farmstead sited east of St Andrews Church.

Watch a short film about the project, produced by filmmaker Bill Newsinger.

Find Out More:

• Download the test pit report here (pdf, 12mb)