Late Iron Age to Roman ditch and ceramic assemblage, on land at Westbarrow Hall Farm (EHER 17441)

A fieldwalking survey in 1996 recovered 137 sherds of Romano-British pottery and 23 pieces of Romano-British brick, predominantly from the north-east corner of the survey area. Subsequent trial trenching recovered more material of the same date, though in lesser quantity than the fieldwalking survey. The material was interpreted as evidence of a Roman occupation site to the immediate north of the area of the evaluation.

1996. Fieldwalking survey. The fieldwalking demonstrated that the Romano-British (and prehistoric, see EHER 17440) finds showed a very clear concentration in the north-east corner of the survey area. 137 sherds of Romano-British pottery (Wt. 1.10kg) were collected with a massive concentration in the north-east sector. They date from the 1st century into the later Roman period. 23 pieces of Romano-British brick and tile were collected (Wt. 1.6Kg); fragments included both structural brick fragments and roof tiles (Regular). <1> 1997. Trial trenching. The main concentration of Roman material was in the north-eastern quarter of the evaluation area with the pottery recovered from Trench 41 being the sole Roman find from the southern half. No Roman artefacts were recovered further west than Trenches 5 and 7, and no further east than Trench 31. There was less Roman tile and brick recovered from the excavated features than there was from the field-walking, which placed the main Roman activity to the north-east of the evaluation area. (Much of the pottery came form upper layers within earlier features e.g. ditches). This was to be expected as the trenches were placed to test the periphery of the field-walking spread, and not its centre, since the centre was not under threat. It is apparent that only the periphery of the Roman activity lay within the area of the evaluation, as expected. Nevertheless, the large quantity of Roman brick and tile recovered from the field-walking indicates the presence of a Roman occupation site outside the area of the evaluation. There is no evidence of any significant level of Roman activity in the south site. <2> <3>