Post-medieval field system at land north of Thaxted Road, Saffron Walden (EHER 81161)

The post-medieval field system, defined by an orthogonal arrangement of NNW/SSE and ENE/WSW linear boundary ditches extending across the site, is clearly of later post-medieval date.

August to November 2019. Trial trench and excavation. The post-medieval field system, defined by an orthogonal arrangement of NNW/SSE and ENE/WSW linear boundary ditches extending across the site, is clearly of later post-medieval date. The ditches correlate with relict boundaries variously shown on historic mapping from the earlier 19th to earlier 20th centuries, with the full system of ditches as found by geophysical survey and fieldwork shown on the Saffron Walden Tithe map of 1843. Earlier mapping of the site shows the initial phase of division was formed by 1823, with the NNW/SSE boundary first seen on the Saffron Walden Enclosure Map of this date. Later mapping of 1877 shows just a smaller division of the land in the northwest corner of the site; it is possible that this was formed by new ditches, which were smaller than the parallel ditches, though the lack of distinguishable dating evidence makes it difficult to fully ascertain. This division survives in some form until the OS map of 1921, after which the site exists as a single field with no divisions. The small number of post-medieval pits found across the site are noted to generally occur adjacent to contemporary field boundaries and represent isolated activity within these agricultural fields. Predominantly relating to the layout of the later post-medieval to early modern enclosed agricultural landscape, and well evidenced by and understood from cartographic sources, these Period 3 remains are. <1>