Roman pit and post-medieval agricultural activity at land East of Sudbury Road, Halstead (EHER 80269)

A single pit, located in the SE of the site, broadly dated to the Roman period provides limited evidence of land use pre-dating the post-medieval period and may be indicative of nearby Roman activity. Elsewhere, several ditches correspond with geophysical linear anomalies and correlate with field boundaries depicted on late 19th century and 20th century Ordnance Survey maps. A large pit recorded in the NW of the site also correlates with a pond also depicted on historic maps.

September 2018. Trial trenching. A single pit, located in the SE of the site, broadly dated to the Roman period provides limited evidence of land use pre-dating the post-medieval period. The small assemblage of ceramic building material, fired clay and charred plant remains collected from the pit is perhaps suggestive of nearby Roman occupation activity. The majority of recorded features, from which a small assemblage of ceramic building material, metalwork and glass was recovered, are dated to the post-medieval or modern period. Several of the ditches correspond with geophysical linear anomalies and correlate with field boundaries depicted on late 19th century and 20th century Ordnance Survey maps. A large pit recorded in the NW of the site also correlates with a pond depicted on historic maps. A small number of ditches appear to align with parallel linear anomalies that had been interpreted to be indicative of ploughing activities. Two pits and one ditch are undated but most likely relate to post-medieval agricultural land use. <1>