Roman settlement at Turpin's Farm, Walton Road, Frinton-on-Sea (EHER 80465)

Excavations revealed features dating to the Roman period which lay clustered along the eastern end of the evaluated area, evidencing the existence of a low-status Roman settlement which stood here from at least the 2nd century until the late 3rd or early 4th century. The remaining datable features had their origins in the post-medieval or modern periods, and were likely the product of agricultural activity.

Evaluation, 2022 Two periods of activity were excavated on this site; prehistoric and Roman, the Roman features are detailed here. Numerous Roman features were excavated along the western edge of the site. A particular cluster of features was uncovered in trench 15, including one which might have formed the remains of a structure. Most of the Roman features did not yield any closely-datable artefactual evidence, but two ditches dated to the 2nd century, while a ditch trench 15 dated from the late 3rd to the early 4th century, indicating that Roman activity here extended over a considerable period of time. The bias towards coarsewares and rarity of finewares in the pottery assemblages recovered from these features indicated that this was a relatively low-status settlement. <1>