Multi-phase Roman activity including East Gate road, buildings, town walls and town gate at the Eastgate site, Crown Orchard, Great Chesterford (EHER 4964)

Archaeological excavation in 1980-1981 recorded evidence for multi-phase Roman activity in the vicinity of East Gate Road (EHER 13893), including evidence for multiple phases of the road itself. The earliest instance of the road is dated to the late 1st century-early 2nd century and was characterised as a gravel feature which was flanked by roadside ditches and a gap on the northern side. An early instance of an 'east gate' into the town is thought to be represented by two vertical-sided square pits. In the mid2nd century a building with a tessellated floor and painted wall plaster and a bone working workshop were constructed. Both structures and the gateway were destroyed by fire. The buidlings were replaced and at least one of them enlarged in the late 2nd century. At least one of the buildings, and probably both, were dismantled by the early-mid 3rd century. In the late 3rd-early 4th century a possible precursor to the town wall may have been constructed, an the area given over to ritual or votive activity, with the East Gate road continuing through a gap in the wall. The town wall (EHER 4915) was constructed in the 4th century and some form of construction, possibly a second gate was erected where the wall and associated dicthes met the road.

1980-1981. Archaeological excavation and watching brief. An excavation in advance of planning permission for development just outside the site of the east gate of the Roman town. Early accounts described the Crown Inn as standing on or near the wall of the town. Robert Brady in 1685 noted foundations of bricks and mortar and that Roman coins had been ploughed up there. The exact position of the east wall and the gate were not certain before the excavations in 1980. The earliest Roman feature was a 'V-shaped' ditch-probably Claudian or early Neronian in date. A late 1st century road was an unexpected discovery as it was on a different alignment to roads known from cropmarks. Evidence from the roads and ditches presents the possibility of an earlier defensive gateway in this position. The road was improved in the late 2nd century. Timber buildings lay to the north, possibly combined workshops and domestic accommodation (from evidence for bone-working). Other features included pits, wells, a clay oven, a hearth pit, a latrine shaft in a post-built hut with a setting (possibly for a seat). The two main 2nd century buildings were burnt down and replaced immediately. 70m of the town wall had been found on the Crown Orchard site. In the Crown Orchard much of the width of the wall was below the modern road and an 18th century wall. The gate was 11.5m wide. Details of the gate are recessed under the modern road. The defensive ditch was located and also a gully under the road. Rectangular cavities were interpreted as being for timbers of a bridge or drawbridge. Watching briefs were carried out in 1981 after excavation in 1980. <1> Two further ditches were found, of similar size to the one mentioned above. <2> In the late 3rd century, buildings were replaced by ditched enclosures. <3> See aerial photographs <4> <5>. See also <6>. Some more information on the Roman period at the Eastgate site: The Roman deposits may well correspond to those first mentioned by the antiquarian Robert Brady (1685), who recorded that the ‘foundations of a footbridge, made of Roman bricks and mortar’ could be seen close to the Crown Inn and that ‘Roman coins had been ploughed up there’. The site was then the kitchen garden of the Crown Inn. The Roman activity at the site is split into five phases from the late 1st century to 4th century AD, labelled phases 2-6 in source <7>, and with phase 3 being further split into two sub-phases (a and b). Phase 2: Late 1st century–early 2nd century AD. Phase 2 represents the beginning of the Roman period at the site. The site was bisected by a gravel road (part of EHER 13893), running from east to west into the town, and which was flanked by roadside ditches with a gap or entranceway on the northern side. Two vertical-sided square-shaped pits were located at approximately the place where the later gateway into the town was sited, and it is thought that these represented some form of gateway or boundary feature marking the entrance to the town. To the north of the road was a substantial ditched enclosure with a post-built fence along its southern side. Within the enclosed area was a pit, a post-built shelter covering a latrine, and a circular pit that may have contained a wooden tub. It is presumed that these features were associated with some form of a domestic structure, traces of which do not survive. Phase 3a: mid 2nd century AD. In Phase 3, the Phase 2 enclosure ditch was backfilled and two buildings were constructed. Building 1 was an 'L-shaped', timber framed, two-roomed structure with a tessellated floor and painted wall plaster; it was clearly domestic in function. A well was dug immediately to the east of the Phase 2 latrine. To the south and on the same alignment was Building 2, a three-roomed post-in-trench structure that was roughly rectangular in plan. There was evidence to suggest two of the rooms were merged at a later date and the floor level dropped to form a semi-basement. Embedded into the floor levels was a large quantity of split long bones. As such, the building is interpreted as a bone-working workshop or factory, with a shop or living accommodation at its northern end. The two buildings were separated by a ditch. Both buildings and the gateway structure into the town were destroyed by fire. Phase 3b: late 2nd century AD. In Phase 3b, Buildings 3 and 4 replaced Buildings 1 and 2 respectively. Building 3 was rectangular, with two rooms, and of much the same size and in much the same position as its predecessor, Building 1. The plan of Building 4 was harder to discern, but it was certainly bigger than its predecessor, whose ground-plan it overlapped. It had at least five rooms and was of timber-framed construction. A new well and an oven were dug close to the old (Phase 3a) well. Phase 4: early-mid 3rd century AD. Building 3 (and possibly Building 4 also) was dismantled by Phase 4, and a right-angled ditch cut across their footings. Phase 5: late 3rd-early 4th century AD. A new ditch was dug, with posts along its length, from the gap in the roadside ditch, at right-angles to the road and parallel to the later line of the town walls. It is postulated that it may represent a precursor of the wall delimiting the urban area. The contents of the backfill of this ditch suggest some form of ritual or votive activity: from one fill came a substantial amount of unusually complete pottery, and from the ditch terminal came an iron hoard which was clearly votive in nature. In the 4th century, the area along the western side of the site was stripped of topsoil and any earlier pits or ditches observed were emptied of their contents and backfilled with alternate layers of chalk and flint. On the very edge of the site, a compacted chalk foundation was constructed for the town wall, which was built of large flints set in lime mortar. The road (EHER 13893) continued on its original line through a gap in the wall. Two large ditches were dug: the one on the south of the road ran parallel to the line of the wall, and, in turn, two further ditches ran on the same alignment immediately adjacent to it; the second large ditch, to the north, veered away at an oblique angle from the town wall. Some form of construction, possibly a second gate, linked the two ditch terminals at the point where they met the road. It is not known when the East Gate finally went out of use. The Roman town walls remained standing in this area until the 16th century. <7> <8> NRHE data transfer: TL 507 429. A late Iron Age house gulley and Roman buildings, pits, wells, latrines and a road were excavated in crown Orchard. Medieval structures, ditches, pits and wells were also recorded. The finds are retained by the excavator A.E. Collins. <3> Additional bibliography. <9> <10>