Possible medieval homestead and farm at land east and north of Clifford Smith Drive, Watch House Green, Felsted (EHER 81095)

Agricultural features excavated indicated a possible medieval homestead that was likely abandoned around the 14th century.

June 2023. Trial trenching. Features of probable or possible medieval date were recorded in Trenches 12, 13 and 16, in the south-west of the development area and therefore nearest the medieval remains found in the adjacent 2015 investigation site, west of Clifford Smith Drive. As such, it is likely that these relate to the same occupation site. Of the two probable medieval ditches in Trench 12, one is posited to align with a ditch in the 2015 excavation area. The other extends in this direction but its continuation does not seem to have been found within the adjacent site. The ditch in Trench 13 is interpreted to be the forerunner of a clearly postmedieval boundary ditch. This may indicate that some of the later boundaries have relatively early origins, though equally the small quantity of diagnostic artefacts recovered from it may instead be residual. Another ditch in Trench 16 produced a significant quantity of mid to late 13th century pottery and is a convincing medieval feature – presumably a relatively extensive boundary that extends across this south-west part of the site and potentially constitutes part of a field system on the periphery of the settlement further west. The large pond-like feature alongside it is of uncertain, though potential, medieval date. It is possible that it is instead a substantial ditch and/or of later date. <1> July to September 2023. Excavation. The majority of archaeological remains recorded within the excavation area represent occupation of the site in the early and high medieval period, largely between the 12th and 13th centuries AD. The features revealed are fairly typical for a rural site from this period and consist of postholes, small to medium sized pits, shallow linear ditches and gullies, and large quarry-like pits. These remains are evidently a further part of the medieval occupation site previously excavated to the west, alongside Braintree Road. This has previously been posited to be an enclosed (moated?) homestead settlement located along the roadside, of a type typical across Essex and the wider east of England region. The overall type and form of the medieval settlement is difficult to discern from the results of the 2015 and 2023 excavations, primarily because little of its core appears to have been investigated. The settlement evidently developed and expanded in the 12th to 13th centuries with occupation-related features of this date being found over a wider area than the distribution of the Saxo-Normal residual pottery, including the current excavation area. The medieval settlement focus, still almost certainly located along the roadside, comprised one or more buildings with a tile roof and possibly containing a tile floor and/or hearthplace. Given the lack of masonry fragments from the excavations, it is probable that any such buildings were timber-framed. Perhaps constituting a farmstead of some substance, parts of it were likely occupied by surfaced yards and divided by fence lines, though no building remains were identified. This peripheral zone appears to have contained plots/paddocks/enclosures, possibly including horticultural garden areas, and maybe trackways leading out to the surrounding fieldscape. The interface between peripheral occupation activity areas and the agricultural fields was evidently formally defined by a boundary ditch, which continued to exert an influence on the landscape long after the demise of the medieval settlement. This said, it seems that by the start of the 14th century, the fortunes of this settlement were in decline, with its buildings being either demolished or modified and associated activities perceived to contract inwards to its roadside core. Pottery dating indicates that the settlement declined and was probably abandoned during the earlier 14th century; although there is some evidence for limited activity in the same location in the earlier post-medieval period – whether this constituted continuance or reoccupation after a hiatus is unclear. This accords with a broader picture of rural decline in Essex and the wider east of England, since the 14th century was a time when many settlements were abandoned. <2>