Post-medieval backfill deposits, finds assemblage and path or driveway at the Country Club Site (GC21), Great Chesterford (EHER 17431)

Excavations undertaken to locate the Roman wall foundations of the Second Walled Enclosure (EHER 13922) recorded many mixed post-medieval and Roman (EHER 83288) backfill deposits, containing a post-medieval finds assemblage. Also of note was the discovery of a Victorian gravel path or driveway.

May-July 1996. Trial trenching. Excavations by the Great Chesterford Archaeology group undertaken to try to locate Roman wall foundations recorded post-medieval decorated floor tiles and a large quantity of loose mortar. <1> Trench 1 was sited close to the boundary wall with Mill House and Collins’ trench 3a. Context 1 was topsoil 0.5m thick, and contained a mix of Roman (see EHER 83288) and post-medieval material. Context 2 was a layer of dark grey soil, and contained mainly Roman pottery (EHER 83288) but also some post-medieval material. Excavation stopped at a depth of 0.9m. Trench 2 was at right-angles to the River Cam. Context 1 was a layer of stony grey soil containing largely post-medieval materials. At the southern end was context 1a, a 0.1m-wide strip of light grey ash also present in the southern ends of trenches 1, 3 and 4. Context 2 was the foundations of a Victorian drive or pathway, comprising gravel over compacted chalk (context 3). Alongside this was a narrow gully, context 5, backfilled with Roman (EHER 83288) and post-medieval material. Between context 5 and the southern end of the trench was context 4, a backfill of loose mortar, tiles and Roman (EHER 83288) and post-medieval material. Context 6 was a layer of mortar beneath contexts 4 and 5 which contained peg tiles lying on top of the subsoil. Trench 3 contained post-medieval backfill to a depth of 0.9m, very similar in make-up to that in Trench 2. Trench 4 was sited to the east of Trench 2; it was 2m north–south and 1m wide. At the north of the trench was the Victorian drive or pathway. Loose mortar, some attached to flint, was found at a depth of up to 0.6m. <2>