Roman remains at Plumb's Yard (St John's Close), Great Chesterford (EHER 4969)

Archaeological excavation in 1982 recorded two Roman ditches and a possible Roman building derined by a layer of gravel pebbles delimited by two gullies.

1982. Slvage excavation. The site had previously been two properties, a division visible in the structure of the northern boundary wall. One part contained Roman tiles, probably from the town wall. To the west of the wall a floor was covered by loamy soil containing Roman and later pottery and other finds. Pit 3 contained a few Roman pottery, bone, snails, oyster and mussel shells, pot boilers, nails and worked flint. Apparently associated post holes may indicate a fence or a covering structure. Pit 3 was cut by pit 4. This contained Roman and medieval pottery (see EHER 4970). Probably it was a cess pit. A ditch was excavated and contained Roman pottery, mainly 3rd-early 4th century, bones, oyster shells, nails, large stones. This ditch was partly cut into a 2nd ditch containing late 1st-early 2nd century pottery, bones, oysters, nails. Pit 5 contained late 1st-early 2nd century pottery. To the north of the 2nd ditch was a dark layer of Roman occupation debris, with pottery, bones, a piece of a quern, oyster shells, charcoal, ash. It did not continue across the line of ditch 2 which may have been boundary ditch. <1> 'Roman ditches were investigated and occupation levels noted in section'. <2> The majority of the Roman features were in Area 2. Ditch 1 consisted of the butt-end of an east–west ditch 3m wide and 0.6m deep, which cut Ditch 2. It contained late 3rd- to early 4th-century pot, bones, oyster shells, nails and large stones. Ditch 2 was also an east–west ditch, which had a stepped profile and central slot; the excavator suggested that it could have been a palisade trench. It contained late 1st- and early 2nd-century pottery, bones, oyster shell and nails. To the north of Ditch 2 was an oblong pit (1) 2m long, 0.9m wide and 0.7m deep. It had a black loamy fill containing pieces of late 1st- to early 2nd-century pot and oyster shells. Observation of the builder’s section adjoining the next property revealed that the ground-level within Plumb’s Yard had been reduced in the past. A second shallow gully had run parallel to Ditch 2 on its northern side, and beyond this was an occupation debris layer (4) 0.2m thick containing Roman pottery, bones, part of a lava quern, oyster shells, charcoal and ash. To the west, in Area 1, a 50mm-thick layer of large gravel pebbles (8) was excavated. This had a straight edge along its south-eastern side, delimited by two gullies (10) each with three post-holes; the gullies average 0.25m wide by 0.3m deep. This surface appears to have been a floor within a rectangular building. It was undated, but on a stratigraphic basis it must be either Roman or very early Saxon. Comparisons with building styles from other sites in Great Chesterford suggest that a Roman date is most likely. <3> <4> NRHE data transfer: no new information.