Roman burial and pit at the site of the old 'Swaine Adeney' factory, off School Street, Great Chesterford (EHER 13748)

The old Swaine Adeney factory located behind "The Old Maltings" off School Street lies in the middle of the Roman town, 100m north of the Church and 100m east of the Roman walled town, both of which had been occupied extensively in Roman times.

1993. Trial trenching. The old 'Swaine Adeney' umbrella factory was located behind 'The Old Maltings' (EHER 25394) off School Street lies in the middle of the Roman town (EHER 4915), 100m north of the Church (EHER 25353) and 100m north-east of the Roman walled town (EHER 13922), both of which had been occupied extensively in Roman times. The land was purchased for the purpose of converting it into a landscaped garden. Work involved removal of some of the maltings (EHER 15148) and factory foundations and terracing of the land. Most of the site comprised concrete floors laid over hardcore, but two areas were undisturbed. Trench 1 in the SW corner revealed the skeleton of a young person lying face down with the right forearm under the body and the pelvis and legs missing. Fragments of the skull were found over 1m away. A line of large flints screened the burial to the NE. Potsherds including Samian and a bronze pin were found close to the skeleton. A further trench (No.2) was dug parallel to 1 and half a metre to the NW. The beginnings of a Roman rubbish pit appeared in the NW section. It contained oyster shells, nails and iron slag, animal bones, small fragments of bronze and potsherds, mostly Roman. <1> <2> <3> Site Assessment: Skeleton covered in situ and area levelled and covered with stone chippings. See also <4>.