Romano-British enclosures, West of Mistley Hall (EHER 3225)

Two sub-rectangular enclosures, one complete enclosure by Long Road, incomplete enclosure cut by the Clacton Road. Trial trenching in 2020 identified these features as representing a phase of Romano-British activity.

Two sub-rectangular enclosures: one complete enclosure by Long Road, and an incomplete enclosure cut by the Clacton Road. (Rodwell compared this with Little Waltham period III enclosure, late 2nd century - early 1st century BC <1>). Possible ring ditch outside the enclosure, and possible hut circle within, linear features (part of a field system?) and pits. <1> <2> <3> For aerial photos, see <4>-<16>. March 2015. Geophysical survey. The assessment site exhibits a series of crop marks that represent potential evidence for occupation on the site as early as the Iron Age. Despite a general absence of Roman settlement in the immediate area, a further set of crop marks demarcates the likely position of a Roman road running across the site (EHER 2770). Following the Roman period, there is little evidence for human activity until the post-medieval period with cartographic sources depicting a road traversing the site in 1777. Cartographic depictions of the site in 1880 indicate the relocation of the road, after which the site is given over to arable farmland until the present day. The geophysical survey identified numerous anomalies which appear to be of archaeological origin. Several features can be related to the EHER: part of a sub-rectangular enclosure (1) corresponding with EHER 3225; a series of linear anomalies (3) which correspond with the line of the Roman road from Colchester to Manningtree (EHER 2770); weakly positive linear anomalies (4 and 6) which may correspond with a track way noted in the EHER South of EHER 3225; a negative anomaly (9) which is likely to represent the 18th century road from Mistley Hall (EHER 7482). Other archaeological features were an apparent intermittent linear anomaly (2), possibly associated with the rectangular enclosure (1); four positive linear anomalies (5) which may represent agricultural boundaries or a further enclosure; dispersed positive linear anomalies (7 and 8) approximately parallel to the Roman road; further linear negative anomalies (10 and 11) of possible archaeological origin and a number of discrete anomalies consistent with the remains of pits of likely archaeological origin. Overall, the spread of weak positive anomalies throughout the survey area suggests that there is high potential for archaeological remains across the site. The complex outlines visible in aerial photographs of the site were not fully recognised in the geophysical data. This is most likely the result of the reduced natural magnetic enhancement of topsoil developing over London clay, leading in turn to reduced feature contrasts. It is also possible the prolonged ploughing has resulted in the truncation of features, reducing their overall magnetic response. It is therefore likely that other weak anomalies have not been recorded in the geophysical data. <17> August 2020. Trial trenching. Evidence for the Iron Age within the surrounding landscape is scarce, except for a series of crop marks interpreted as representing a possible Iron Age settlement in the Northern area of the site (HER 3225). The present evaluation has disproven the interpretation of these cropmarks as originating from the Iron Age and the features investigated during the excavation contained material assemblages consistent with a Romano-British date, suggesting that the cropmarks represent Romano-British activity. Numerous undated features were also encountered. Some features that did not yield diagnostic material were phased based on their stratigraphic or spatial relationships with dated features. The positions and orientations of many of these features suggest that they can be traced from trench to trench. Undated features in Trenches 36, 40, and 50 potentially represent the same ditch traversing the central Southern part of the site. Similarly, undated features recorded in Trenches 13, 22, and 25 appear represent a single feature running parallel to the potentially Roman road. Many of these features had correlations with some of the cropmarks identified during the aerial photograph survey. <18> Information from NRHE (two NRHE records). TM 104310. Crop mark of sub rectangular enclosure. <19> <20> TM 103310. Enclosure with single entrance, facing north-west at Mistley, contained a probable house with entrance facing south-east. Rodwell tentatively compared the enclosure with Little Waltham (Period III - later 2nd/early 1st century BC) settlement (TL 71 SW18). Plan. <1> TM 105308. Crop mark of a sub rectangular enclosure partly destroyed by the Clacton Road. <4> <20>