NHER 65231 (Monument record) - Roman ditches and other features, Roman or later inhumation burials and post-medieval pits

September-October 2020. Trial Trenching.
Evaluation of proposed development site.
The three trenches excavated revealed numerous linear and discrete features, the most notable of which was a truncated inhumation burial.
Although a range of finds were recovered during this work the majority of the excavated features produced pottery of Roman date, including various ditches and pits and several possible post-holes. Although the quantities recovered were mostly small, the general absence of later material suggests that most of these features were probably associated with Roman period activity, as does the relatively high average weight of the Roman sherds. These features had clearly received waste from a nearby settlement of some kind, with many containing animal bones and oyster shells. Samples taken from their fills also produced a range of plant macrofossils, including a variety of cereal grains and some limited evidence for crop processing activities. Other finds of note that were either identifiable as Roman or recovered from potentially Roman contexts include a single 3rd-century coin, a hobnail, fragments of roof and box flue tile, part of a pottery crucible and pieces of fired clay that potentially represent fragments of kiln or hearth lining. The Roman pottery assemblage dates to the later part of the period and although primarily of local manufacture, also includes some wares from other British regions, along with a small number of continental imports.
The single burial identified was aligned east-to-west and contained the skeleton of an individual that had been c.16-18 years old and possible female. The lower portion of the skeleton had been lost when the grave was truncated by a later feature. Although the disturbed portion of the grave coincided with a north-to-south aligned ditch it appeared to post-date this feature, being apparently actually truncated by a shallow pit. The ditch contained a particular large assemblage of animal bone (comprising cattle bones from a minimum of three individual animals that display evidence for only minimal butchery), although this is presumably coincidental. The date of the burial is uncertain at present as although the grave produced a small amount of Roman pottery (including some of 4th-century date), these sherds are all small and particularly abraded - which is characteristic of residual material. The pit it was truncated by also produced no dating evidence. All that can be said at present is that the dating evidence and the orientation of the grave suggest a late Roman or later date.
The only features of definite post-Roman date were a small number of shallow pits in the eastern part of the site that produced ceramic building material and pottery of post-medieval to modern date. A ditch in this part of the site also produced a single sherd of Middle Saxon pottery, although this could well have been intrusive, given that no other finds of this date were recovered.
Other evidence for post-Roman activity on or near the site was limited to a range of unstratified finds recovered during the removal of the deep topsoil and subsoil deposits present. These including small quantities of Late Saxon, medieval, post-medieval and post-medieval/modern pottery, clay tobacco pipe fragments, piece of post-medieval and post-medieval/modern bottle glass and various metal objects of predominantly post-medieval date. These metal finds include an early 7th-century silver and garnet-inlaid pyramidal sword-scabbard fitting, a medieval/post-medieval signet ring, rumbler bell and lead weight; post-medieval dress accessories, watch winder, crotal bell, thimbles, copper alloy weight, lead musket ball and lead bag seals and a number of undatable objects.
See report (S1) for further details.
The Early/Middle Saxon silver sword-scabbard mount was submitted for consideration as Treasure (Ref: 2021 T43).
P. Watkins (HES), 12 June 2021. Amended 10 February 2024.

September-October 2021. Excavation and Watching Brief.
This phase of work saw the excavation of two areas at the southern end of the site, where the footprints of three new dwellings coincided with an area shown by the preceding work to contain significant remains. Subsequent watching briefs were also maintained during excavations for a new site access to the north and during the excavation of foundation trenches for three additional new dwellings in the eastern half of the site.
This work revealed remains of predominantly Roman date, including a complex group of boundary and enclosure ditches within the main excavation areas. Two additional inhumation burials were also recorded in this part of the site, although as with the example excavated in 2020 these are currently of uncertain date (and could well be post Roman).
As during the preceding work these was little evidence for activity on the site prior to the Roman period, with a single handmade Iron Age pottery sherd the only prehistoric object found.
The Roman pottery assemblage recovered is domestic in character and spans virtually the entire period, although its composition suggests that activity probably peaked between the late 2nd and 3rd centuries AD. The majority of the features thought to have been associated with the earliest phase of Roman activity (that is, those associated with pottery of predominantly mid-1st- to mid-2nd-century date) lay in the north-west corner of the site, within the area of the new site access. This group of features comprised at least one probable ditch and a presumably related curvilinear arrangement of much shorter linear features and pits. The most notable of the latter was a pit securely dated to this phase by a large pottery assemblage that was also found to contain the partial remains of a cat. There were hints that some of these features may have had a structural function and the possible traces of a potentially associated metalled surface were also recorded, but overall this group is difficult to interpret.
The main focus for subsequent mid- to late-Roman activity appears to have lain to the south, with the main excavation areas revealing numerous ditches of probable later Roman date. The earlier ditches in this group were mostly aligned east-north-east to west-south-west, although how many were actually open at the same time is inevitably uncertain. A final phase of what appears to have been mid- to late-Roman activity saw the excavation of a number of additional, similarly-aligned ditches, although these were associated with several north-to-south aligned ditches that clear truncated the earlier features. These later ditches appear to have defined a series of adjacent rectilinear enclosures and clearly represented a reorganisation of this part of the site. The small number of later Roman discrete features included two post-holes and a small number of probable pits.
It is notable that several of the mid- to late-Roman ditches contained fragments of Roman ceramic building material, including fragments of flue tile, a floor brick and a number of other tile fragments – which must represent debris from the repair or demolition of a building of some status. Such a building may well have lain to the west of this site as flue tiles are amongst material recovered from the garden of a property on the opposite side of back lane, where a possible Roman wall has also apparently been encountered (see NHER 39979). Other finds from Roman features included animal bones and oyster shells. A ditch of probable Roman date at the eastern edge of the site was also found to contain a femur from a human infant. The remains of Roman neonates and infants are often found to have been deposited with little apparent ceremony within such contexts – suggesting that children may have generally only received a formal burial once they had reached a certain age.
Samples taken from features of probable Roman date produced small assemblages of charred plant macrofossils, with only limited numbers of generally poorly-preserved grains and seeds noted. General wheat was the most commonly occurring cereal and chaff was only noted in small quantities in one sample.
The alignments of the ditches revealed at this site suggests that they were closely associated with the Roman field system revealed by much more extensive excavations that took place immediately to the north, at the former allotments site in 1997-1998 (NHER 32791). Here there was considerable evidence for repeated reworking and redigging of the principal boundaries and it is possible that the numerous east-north-east to west-south-west aligned ditches at this site represent another such boundary. It is though also suggested that at least some of these features may have been planting trenches rather than boundary ditches.
There was only limited evidence for post-Roman activity on the site. Although a small number of Middle Saxon and Saxo-Norman pottery sherds were recovered the majority came from features of probable Roman date (it was noted at the allotment site that later agricultural activity had introduced many later finds into what were clearly earlier features). This small assemblage is though of some interest due to the presence of several sherds that potentially represent Middle Saxon imports. Later material was similarly limited, with an unstratified annular brooch the only find of definite medieval date recovered. Several post-medieval pottery sherds were also found, along with a small number of undiagnostic but potentially medieval to post-medieval ceramic building material fragments, the bowl from a post-medieval clay tobacco pipe, a post-medieval jetton and pieces of modern window glass. Much of this material was recovered from unstratified contexts. Features identified as potentially post-Roman included two pits, one of which produced a post-medieval pottery sherd and the other modern pottery. A north-to-south aligned ditch at the western edge of the site is also thought to have been post-Roman in date.
This lack of evidence for more recent activity is in stark contrast with the allotments site, where significant quantities of Middle Saxon, Late Saxon and medieval material were recovered and the Roman field system appeared to have formed the basic structure for subsequent systems of land division. This would suggest that the site in question lay further away from the post-Roman settlement foci and/or was not subject to the same agricultural practices.
The two extended east-to-west aligned inhumations burials recorded during this phase of work were both encountered in one of the southern excavation areas, relatively close to the one exposed during the preceding evaluation. Another feature of similar size in this part of the site was also suspected to be a grave but no bone was encountered during its excavation. Neither of the burials appears to have had any associated grave goods and there was nothing to suggest the presence of coffins. No convincing dating evidence was recovered from the graves (finds being limited to three potentially residual Roman pottery sherds) although both appeared to cut features of probable Roman date. Although the skeletons were poorly preserved and incomplete it was possible to identify them as the remains of a child of indeterminate sex aged between approximately 9 and 10.5 years and a middle age or adult male. It is intended that these remains will be subject to radiocarbon dating.
See assessment report (S2) for further details. Final reports awaited.
P. Watkins (HES), 15 March 2023.