Medieval ditches, Activity Area 5, land West of Little Wood, Tolleshunt Major (EHER 80984)

Trial trenching recorded two medieval ditches in Trench 335, forming a ditched trackway. Other ditches in Activity Area 5 are of probable medieval date.

July 2023. Trial trenching. In Trench 335, medieval pottery was recovered from two N-S aligned ditches. They were set 7m apart, and appear to have formed either side of a trackway (or perhaps a hedgerow/vegetation boundary). Both ditches had U-shaped profiles and were at most 0.42m deep and 1.06m wide. To the South, a ditch identified in Trench 336 is probably a continuation of the Western ditch in Trench 335 and therefore may also be of medieval date. This concentration of features (along with EHER 80985 and EHER 80986) appears to represent a small area of activity, perhaps agricultural boundaries/drainage alongside a trackway or hedgerow. One of the ditches identified in Trench 335 appeared to continue into Trench 336, and the second terminated within trench. Neither ditch continued to the North in Trench 334. It is possible that these ditches had some relationship with Bowstead Brook (18m to the north), as they would meet it at a right-angle, potentially draining into the brook, forming a boundary against it, or defining an access route heading towards a watercourse crossing point. <1>