Multi-period remains at NE Chelmsford Bypass sites TT09-TT12, North of Leighs Road (EHER 80778)

Trial trenching in area TT09 recorded an unurned cremation which yielded three sherds of Late Bronze Age pottery, and a large assemblage of Late Bronze Age to Early Iron Age pottery was also recovered from a possible well in area TT12. Two concentrations of Roman pottery were recorded from areas TT09 and TT11 respectively and both contain imported fabric types, with the later material also containing mis-shaped rims and over fired sherds which may indicate the presence of a nearby kiln. A single sherd of heavily abraded medieval pottery was recovered from a ditch in area TT09, and post-medieval to modern activity was recorded in areas TT10 and TT11.

August 2021. Trial trenching. A Bronze Age unurned cremation burial was recorded in the North of area TT09. This feature also yielded three sherds of Late Bronze Age pottery, and a large assemblage of Early Bronze Age Beaker pottery was also recovered from features in this area. Other Late Bronze Age unurned cremation burials have also been recorded in this landscape by this programme of evaluation in areas TT05, TT06, TT07 and further North at TT16 (see EHER 80776, EHER 80777 and EHER 80780), and by trial trenching in 2014 at EHER 49015. They may represent a local practice of separate groups in the Late Bronze Age, some conducting isolated unurned cremations and others conducting urned cremations in closer proximity to their habitation site, as seen at the present day Bulls Lodge quarry site (see EHER 46881, EHER 46213 and EHER 46463). Alternatively, they might reflect stratification of one population/group with higher status individuals being cremated and deposited in vessels, while lower status burials were positioned more remotely and were unurned. A single pit in area TT12 also produced a large assemblage of Late Bronze Age-Early Iron Age pottery as well as small amounts of flint and animal bone. The pit is thought to be suggestive of a well, with an elongated tail to the North hinting that it could have had a tapered, shallow slope at one end to allow people and livestock to have easy access to the water source. The volume of pottery is such that it is unlikely to have accrued from stray losses away from areas of habitation. It is curious that no other features were found in the same field and suggests that occupation may have focussed to the West, in Stonage Wood. The Southern half of area TT11 produced two sherds of Iron Age pottery as well as a large, localised, assemblage of Late Roman pottery and a few fragments of CBM. This assemblage dates to the late 3rd to 4th century and is dominated by Rettendon-type ware and sandy greyware. The presence of mis-shaped rims and potentially over fired sherds is indicative of this being a dump of kiln waste from the production of pottery nearby. The presence of fragments of box flue tile and other Roman CBM has been suggested as evidence for a building with a hypocaust in the wider landscape, although may be the re-use of similar materials in the construction and lining of kilns. Area TT09 also produced a large Early-Middle Roman assemblage in the SW of the field, focussed on Trench 215. It is fairly isolated and does not have a nearby parallel, the deposit also lacks other indicators of occupation such as animal bone or other detritus. While the pottery is generally domestic in nature and contains imported wares such as Central Gaulish Samian ware and Baetican amphora it is possible this assemblage represents a single dumped deposit of waste rather than an indication of nearby settlement type activity. A single sherd of heavily abraded medieval pottery was recovered from a ditch in area TT09. This ditch is located opposite Alsteads Farm, near the field entrance, in an area likely to have been metalled at some point, it is possible this sherd is a remnant of discarded material used in this process. Similarly, post-medieval and modern activity was recorded in the North of area T11 and finds from this area include iron and lead objects as well as ceramic building material. This ditch is roughly perpendicular to the current field boundary, shown on 19th century maps - suggesting this ditch is a possible earlier division of the land which has been abandoned and gathered refuse sometime in the late 18th-19th century. The only archaeological feature encountered in area TT10, as suggested by cropmark evidence, was a ditch of relatively modern date from which a small quantity of modern glass was recovered (see EHER 47731). <1>