Roman wall (NE corner of Second Walled Enclosure) at the gateway to All Saints Churchyard (GC25), Great Chesterford (EHER 18906)

A section of Roman wall was recorded below the present churchyard wall at All Saints Churchyard, Great Chesterford in 1999. It comprised a flint and mortar wall, sitting on a flint and mortar foundation, and had been truncated by the construction of the existing 18th century churchyard wall. The original width of the wall is postulated to be approximately 1.4m, evidenced by the presence of flint remains in the wall plate of an adjacent building (EHER X) and a subsequent watching brief on the removal of a section of the churchyard wall which proved it did not extend into Church Street.

May 1999. Archaeological excavation and watching brief. The trench revealed the remains of a flint and mortar wall, sitting on a flint and mortar foundation, which covered the entire extent of the trench. The flint wall consisted of four courses of large flint nodules mortared with a mid brownish-grey chalk, tile fleck and sand mixture. The visible extent of the wall measured 0.45m in height by 0.35m in width and was 0.6m long. It was rendered with mortar on the south-western face. The north-eastern side of the wall was truncated by the foundation trench of the existing 18th century church wall. The foundation consisted of mortar that appeared to be the samme as that used in the wall, but its construction differed in that smaller flints were used in a more dispersed pattern. A section of similar flint and mortar was observed in the bottom of the wall of an adjacent building (see EHER X). The original width of the Roman wall could not be established in this excavation, however it can be hypothesised from the presence of the flint remains in the wall plate as being at least one metre wide. <1> The construction of the present churchyard wall removed the other exposed face of the Roman wall, so its true width remains uncertain. <2> No date. Watching brief. A subsequent watching brief on the removal of approximately 3m of the churchyard wall revealed that the Roman foundations did not extend north beyond the wall into Church Street, and may well have been not more than about 1.4m wide. In addition two trial trenches excavated against the property wall between the Old Vicarage and the churchyard revealed further flint foundations in a mortar matrix, see EHER 83287 for more. The interpretation is that the eastern side of the churchyard may mark the eastern extent of the walled enclosure. <2> See also <3>.