Medieval ditches, land adjacent to St Katherine's Church, Little Bardfield (EHER 83107)

Trial trenching in 1997 recorded some medieval activity including a ditch which produced 12th-13th century pottery.

1997. Trial trenching. The archaeological evaluation by trial trenching of the land adjacent to St Katherine's Church, Little Bardfield identified the presence of some medieval activity on site. A ditch identified in Trench C was the only feature on site that produced diagnostic evidence. The good preservation of the pottery discounts residuality , suggesting that this ditch dates to the late 12th to early 13th century. Taking into account the small length of ditch exposed and the absence of contemporary features , it is impossible to decide whether the ditch represents a property or field boundary. A small ditch or gully recorded in Trench B may be of contemporary date as both features are orientated on similar alignments, but as no diagnostic dating evidence was recovered from the feature , its chronology can only be speculative. A watching brief on the groundworks of the road servicing the development was subsequently carried out after the trial trenching. This identified a large area of disturbance from the footings of a modern building, but failed to identify any further archaeological activity. <1> See also <2> <3> <4>.