Roman or Post Medieval features and field boundary at Lawford House, Grange Road (EHER 80400)

Nine features were uncovered during this evaluation: a natural feature, two ditches (both sectioned twice), two pits and a field boundary ditch (sectioned twice). A general scarcity of finds across the site meant that only one of these features – the 18th- or 19th-century field boundary ditch – could be confidently dated.

Archaeological Evaluation, 2019 Nine features were uncovered during this evaluation: a natural feature, two ditches (both sectioned twice), two pits and a field boundary ditch (sectioned twice). A general scarcity of finds across the site meant that only one of these features – the 18th- or 19th-century field boundary ditch – could be confidently dated. This feature subdivided the grounds of Lawford House and appears to be depicted on late 19th-century Ordnance Survey mapping of the area. However, there is a discrepancy between the location of the ditch on the OS map and the location of the excavated ditch. It is possible that they represent different phases of the same boundary as, although there was no trace of the plotted boundary in evaluation trenches T6, T7 or T8, it might not be visible archaeologically. Alternatively, they are the same field boundary and there is an error on the OS map. A single sherd of Roman pottery was also recovered from a ditch. While this ditch appears to represent part of an older historic landscape, this sherd may have been residual in a later context. Its presence does attest, however, to some degree of activity in the vicinity during the Roman period. Given the alignment of the adjacent ditch, it may be contemporary with the Roman ditch. <1>