Medieval road and post-medieval domestic finds at Pond Farmhouse, Church Road, Thorrington (EHER 80581)

2006 Test Pit 3 and 8 contained evidence of a metalled surface that indicated the presence of a medieval road or trackway. The rest of the finds from 2006 Test Pit 3 and 8, and 2007 Test Pit 3 were restricted to the 19th to 20th century.

June 2006. Test Pit 3 and 8. The majority of the pottery excavated from Test Pit 3 dates to the Victorian period and was recovered through the four contexts excavated. A range of post medieval pottery types were also identified and consist of Glazed Red Earthenware, Delft Ware and Creamware and were generally found in the bottom half of the test pit. The presence of metalled surface identified at 0.4m in depth expanded beyond the dimensions of the test pit and most probably represents either a road or yard surface that runs parallel to the present road. As only post medieval and Victorian pottery was excavated from test pit three, the surface probably dates to before the 16th century and went out of use during the post medieval and rubbish was deposited on it. All the earlier activity has been disturbed by the digging during the 19th century in which Victorian pottery and finds were deposited. The finds consist of CBM, glass, iron nails, coal and animal bone, some of which was burnt and were all recovered from the four contexts excavated. Six sherds of Essex Grey ware were excavated from contexts two and five of Test Pit 8, with a later medieval sherd of German Stoneware. A single sherd of post medieval Creamware was also recovered from context one, but the majority of the pottery excavated from test pit eight, dates to the Victorian period and was recovered from contexts two and five. The metalled surface identified in Test Pit 3 was also recorded to the south in this test pit at 0.5m in depth. However, unlike Test Pit 3, medieval pottery was excavated from this test pit, which suggests that the road or yard surface was most probably in use around the 12th to 13th century, as the 19th century disturbance could not have penetrated the surface due to the compactness of its construction. Generally, fewer finds were also recovered and include tile, oyster shell and coal, although a large amount of slag was excavated, all of which were either from context two or five and the presence of the large amounts of slag could represent industrial waste from on-site works. <1> May 2007. Test Pit 3. The vast majority of the pottery excavated from Test Pit 3 dates to the Victorian period that was also recovered from the upper five contexts. A single sherd of German Stoneware and three sherds of Glazed Red Earthenware were also identified from contexts three and four. The presence of activity on site potentially correlates to the construction of the cottage, most likely during the 16th century; the finds and pottery suggest that there was continuous activity to the present day. The peak of activity on site was during the Victorian period, although the site has quite a lot of modern disturbance based on the concrete and modern CBM excavated from the lower half of the test pit. The rest of the finds include oyster shell, slate, CBM, iron nails, coal, window and bottle glass with clay pipe and burnt stone, which were mixed through the upper half of the test pit. <1>