Middle Bronze Age to Roman features at NE Chelmsford Bypass site TT21, SE of A131 (EHER 80782)

Trial trenching in area TT21 investigated a circular cropmark of 10m diameter and proved it to be of archaeological origin, perhaps associated with a dwelling or the ploughed out remains of a barrow. The ditches produced a small amount of Bronze Age pottery and nearby pits also contain Middle Bronze Age-Early Iron Age pottery. The Northern half of area TT21 was dominated by linear cropmarks found to be predominantly Roman in origin, and produced a small assemblage of Iron Age, Roman and post-medieval pottery as well as flint and ceramic building material.

August 2021. Trial trenching. A circular cropmark was targeted by Trench 487 and proven to be archaeological in origin. At roughly 10m in diameter it is not impossible for this circular feature to be associated with a dwelling such as a roundhouse. However, its location, near the top of a South facing rise, looking over the slightly lower lying land to the South gives it a degree of prominence and offers the potential interpretation that this may have been a barrow, the upstanding element of which has been ploughed out. The ditches produced a small amount of Bronze Age pottery and nearby pits also contain Middle Bronze Age-Early Iron Age pottery as well as a small assemblage of flint. The Northern half of area TT21 was dominated by linear cropmarks found to be predominantly Roman in origin, and produced a small assemblage of Iron Age, Roman and post-medieval pottery as well as flint and ceramic building material. Overall, a surprisingly low volume of Roman archaeology was recorded in this area, especially owing to its close proximity to the route of the Roman Road from Chelmsford to Braintree (EHER 6057). <1>