Late Iron Age to Early Roman activity at Hammonds Farm (EHER 80757)

Evaluation recorded two concentrations of Late Iron Age to Early Roman features. The first, a group of rectilinear ditched enclosures and extensive boundaries/trackways across the West half of the site, confirm the archaeological validity of a series of cropmarks recorded in EHER 5754 and 5769. The second, a circular ditched enclosure associated with a small ?square enclosure, are not informed by the cropmark survey undertaken in the area.

August 2016. Trial trenching. Evaluation recorded two concentrations of Late Iron Age to Early Roman features. The first, a group of rectilinear ditched enclosures and extensive boundaries/trackways across the West half of the site, confirm the archaeological validity of a series of cropmarks recorded in EHER 5754 and 5769. The second, a circular ditched enclosure associated with a possible small square enclosure, are not informed by the cropmark survey undertaken in the area. The first group: In the area West of Hammonds Road, the only identified Roman feature is a single small pit in Trench 2. The two cropmarks of rectilinear enclosures plotted along the East side of Hammonds Road (investigated by Trenches 6, 8, 9, 10, 13, 15) correspond to relatively substantial ditch remains containing moderately complex fill sequences that contain small quantities of pottery, most of which is dated 50-100 AD. The lack of other artefacts makes it difficult to conclude whether or not these enclosures are of purely Early Roman date. It is possible that the enclosures have a Late Iron Age origin with continued use, and/or disuse, post-conquest. Trench 7, placed to investigate the content of the Northern enclosure interior, suggests it to be empty. The sweeping linear cropmark investigated by Trenches 18 and 20 (and the West end of Trench 13?), where it was recorded as a ditch, is tentatively included as a possible Late Iron Age/Roman feature only on its positioning in relation to the rectilinear enclosures considered above. No dating evidence was retrieved from any of the excavated segments of this boundary. The extensive linear cropmark targeted by Trenches 11, 14, 16, 19, 21 is also speculated to be related to this Late Iron Age/Roman period land use. However, it is conceded that the evaluation did not recover any dating evidence from its below-ground remains to support this. In the SW of the site, this boundary runs parallel with that of Trenches 18 and 20, before splaying Eastwards away from it as it continues North. It has been previously noted that its Northern portion is parallel with a field boundary shown on the historic OS mapping. Whether this is coincidence, an enduring influence of the local topography, or an indication that at least the Northern part of the extensive cropmark boundary is post-medieval, is unclear. The parallel cropmarks investigated by Trenches 22 and 23 in the SE of the site were found to broadly correspond with the ditched boundary remains. However, no dating evidence was retrieved from any of the excavated segments of the ditches and the association of this putative trackway with the Late Iron Age/Roman period land use depends solely upon its perpendicular alignment to the two long SW/NE linear cropmarks. However, it remains possible that these were in fact natural features. The second group: In the East of the site, the circular cropmark enclosure targeted by Trenches 29, 30, 31 and 32 was demonstrated to be defined by relatively substantial ditches containing pottery of Early Roman date. As with the Western rectilinear enclosures, it is not clear whether or not the enclosure has an Iron Age origin. Approximately 80-90m in diameter, its interior appears to contain other curving (concentric?) ditches as well as a possible pit. Immediately North of the circular enclosure, rectilinear ditch-like cropmarks investigated by Trenches 28 and 29 are demonstrated to be of similarly Early Roman date. It is conjectured that their corresponding below-ground remains define a small enclosure possibly around 30m square. The investigation of the circular enclosure and adjacent square enclosure has produced the greatest range and quantity of finds from anywhere on the site. The vast majority of the Roman pottery assemblage derives from here, along with virtually all the diagnostic tile and animal bone recovered. Although still modest, the nature of the artefact assemblage from these features perhaps suggests occupation activity in the second half of the 1st century AD and perhaps into the 2nd century. None of the linear cropmarks in the surrounding vicinity of the site appear to be of contemporary date. <1>