Early Anglo-Saxon settlement, North of Marsh Road (EHER 49643)

Trial trenching and excavation recorded considerable evidence for Early Anglo-Saxon occupation: a large quantity of features spread across the entire site, some directly dated and others phased by association. Features comprise at least one sunken-featured building (SFB) and a number of pits in Area 1, a posthole group in Area 2, pits and postholes indicating structural remains in Area 3, a possible cooking/industrial hearth/oven-type feature in Area 4, and streamside activity in Area 5. An open landscape with distinct use areas, rather than physical boundaries, is suggested.

November 2020. Trial trenching. A large pit containing domestic debris of early Anglo-Saxon date was identified in the far NE corner of the site and may indicate settlement activity alongside the Pannel’s Brook watercourse. <1> February-March 2021. Archaeological excavation. Contrary to the results of the evaluation, the majority of the dated remains encountered within the excavation areas were demonstrated to be of Early Medieval (Anglo-Saxon) date, broadly dating to the 5th to 7th century AD. The remains of at least three buildings, two post-built and one sunken-featured, were recorded along with pits, a few fencelines and a possible hearth/oven. The possible pit found by the evaluation alongside the brook was found to be a sequence of deposits occupying a probable hollow – perhaps constituting a working area alongside, or crossing point of, the watercourse. These features define the remains of an unenclosed, dispersed Early Saxon settlement and produced a domestic assemblage of pottery, animal bone, fired clay, metalwork and worked bone objects that is typical of such sites of this period. Some of the features were pits/postholes of uncertain purpose; however, the majority indicate structures such as fences and buildings. Most of the identified structural remains were post-built; however, one sunken-featured building was also present. No boundary features were encountered, therefore an open landscape is suggested for the whole site area. However, the landscape might have had intangible divisions of use rather than physical boundaries. At the North end of Area 3 was a cluster of thirty postholes and three pits. They form a rectangle that appears to represent a structure which may have been a square or rectangular building, 5m wide and at least 8m long. Its North, East, and South sides were comparable, with frequent postholes positioned somewhat haphazardly but generally aligned, but its West side only had a single central posthole, suggesting this may have been an open/more open wall. The haphazard arrangement of postholes might suggest a longevity of use with replacement or supporting posts added during use. A number of postholes occur within the building interior, but these display no meaningful patterning. A second rectangular arrangement of postholes was exposed in the SE corner of Area 3. It comprised sixteen postholes of varying dimensions, unevenly spaced but arranged in a discernible rectangle. The Eastern side appears to be open, or at least undefined by postholes. The structure was 3.3m wide and at least 6m long. The sunken feature building (SFB) in Area 1 comprised a regular sub-rectangular cut orientated E-W through its long axis, measuring 4m by 2.5m, together with six postholes cutting it. The SFB contained an alignment of three postholes along its long axis, interpreted as contemporary and likely to be the principle supports for an overlying structure. The finds collected from the SFB contexts include the site’s largest assemblages of early medieval pottery, plus animal bone from several species. <2>