Medieval features, former Croxley Works site, Church Street (EHER 46750)

Three evaluation trenches revealed medieval (12th to 14th century) features including a boundary ditch and a series of intercutting pits.

June-July 2007. Trial trenching and archaeological excavation. Medieval features broadly dating from the 12th to 14th century were present in Trenches 1 and 3. A number of large pits were investigated and probably represent rubbish disposal towards the rear of properties fronting onto the street. Ditch 29 in Trench 1 runs roughly parallel with Church Street and is likely to have formed a distinct boundary, which may account for the roughly 8m gap in medieval features to its immediate north. The latest medieval feature was a small pit in Trench 1 which broadly dated to the 14th to 16th century. No other late medieval features were identified, suggesting a decline in activity on the site at this time and it is possible that in the late medieval or early post-medieval the site was abandoned and perhaps only used for horticultural purposes, resulting in the considerable build-up of topsoil. Occupation appears less intense in the Late Saxon/early medieval period and may equate with a shift in settlement focus to the west, closer to the presumed site of the burh (EHER 7733), in the early 10th century. Most of the Late Saxon/early medieval features were located in the south of the site, close to Church Street, perhaps indicating that the position of the road was formalised by this time. It is likely that some of the undated post-holes in Trenches 1 and 2 are associated with structures on this frontage. Later medieval features are more widely spread across the site with the concentration of pits in Trench 1 perhaps representing rubbish disposal towards the rear of established properties. <1> <2>