The earliest evidence for settled occupation within Bradgate Park, Leicestershire: survey and evaluative excavation of an Iron Age enclosure

We present the results of evaluative excavation of an upstanding earthwork enclosure located within Bradgate Park, first identified by aerial survey and confirmed through geophysical survey. Four evaluation trenches across different parts of the enclosure were excavated in 2017. Although the enclosure remains undated, a spatial association between a roundhouse drip gully and the entranceway into the enclosure implies that the two features are contemporaneous. The combined results of the evaluation indicates that the earthwork represents the visible remains of a large Middle to Late Iron Age enclosure, and provides the earliest confirmed evidence for settled occupation within Bradgate Park.