Iron Age roundhouse at land north of Braintree Road, Felsted (EHER 81094)

An early Iron Age roundhouse with associated metal working.

October 2023. Excavation. The subsequent excavation after the evaluation established that the ditch (previously though to be Roman) was part of a roundhouse with an internal diameter of around 11m, that was occupied during the early Iron Age period. There was no evidence for any other features (e.g., pits, postholes etc.) or structures (e.g., four-post structures) associated with the roundhouse. Fragments of a crucible and a piece of ironworking slag within the ring ditch of this roundhouse suggests ironworking was undertaken nearby; the fill of the ring ditch also yielded tiny pieces of cast copper alloy, suggesting that other metals may have been worked. Pieces of fired clay recovered from the ring ditch, some bearing the impression of wattles, may have come from the superstructure of a small oven or metalworking furnace. Because of the position of this feature close to the southern boundary of the site and the absence of any contemporary features to the north and west of the roundhouse, it is difficult to ascertain whether this is an isolated building or if it is peripheral to more extensive settlement to the south and east, beyond the site boundary and now under Braintree Road. Given the possible association of the roundhouse with metalworking, an activity that would have posed a fire risk to other buildings nearby, a location at the edge of any settlement would be expected if the roundhouse had functioned as a metalworker’s workshop, store or smithy. During the late Iron Age a boundary ditch, probably part of a field system that continued in use into the early Roman period, was established on the site. The ditch cut though the remains of the roundhouse and extended across the site on a northeast to southwest alignment. Activity associated with this period of use of the site would have provided the source of pottery that was found as intrusive material in the early Iron Age ring ditch. Although the research questions posed for the investigation related specifically to the late Iron Age and Roman periods, there are transferable research aspects that can be applied to the early Iron Age, notably how settlements were arranged and ‘zoned’ for various activities. In the case of the site at Felsted, the apparent isolation of the roundhouse and the evidence for metalworking does hint at this particular industrial activity being kept separate from areas of habitation, although this can only be conjectural, given that no other part of the settlement has been identified to-date. <1>