Roman ditches at East Street (EHER 8730)

Roman ditches were excavated at the East Street site in 1985. The ditch defines the south side of a Romano-British enclosure, the east side of which was excavated at St Peter's School. There was a considerable amount of building material associated with the ditch. Further excavations in Coggeshall indicate that this area was within a large rectilinear enclosure. Dating evidence suggests initial occupation in the 1st to mid 2nd centuries with a hiatus until the 4th century. The earliest post-Roman occupation does not occur until the 13th century, but only pits were encountered.

Original HER entry merged with NRHE data import: Excavations in the supposed south-east corner of the Roman settlement revealed two Roman ditches running parallel to Stane Street. The smaller of these, some 1.5 wide and 1m deep, had silted up by the early 2nd century. The larger, 2.5 wide and 1.8 deep, was backfilled late in the 4th century, the fill containing building debris. The larger ditch is provisionally interpreted as the south edge of the Roman settlement. The area was disturbed by numerous medieval and post medieval pits and post holes. <1> The phase 1 (50-150) boundary ditch from the St Peter's School site was located in the north part of the East Street site also. The large ditch parallel to Stane Street belongs to phase 4 (350-390+ ). It may represent the south boundary of the settlement but could merely be a roadside ditch. No artefacts were visible in the north part of the East Street site during building work. <2> See also: <3>