10th-11th century enclosures, site of former Buxted Chicken Factory, Boreham (EHER 14596)

Trial trenching and archaeological excavation in 1992 and 1993 recorded early medieval property boundaries, dated by the pottery in their fills to the 10th to 11th centuries. The excavation determined the boundaries to represent three enclosures, A, B, and C, with two having evidence for probable buildings within their footprint.

1992. Trial trenching. An archaeological evaluation was carried out by trial trenching prior to development. Early medieval property boundaries were located by the excavation, dated by the pottery in their fills to the 10th to 11th centuries. <1> <2> <3> 1993. Archaeological excavation. The excavated area included part of a row of early medieval rectilinear enclosures, set out along the south side of the main road from London to Colchester. The enclosures were defined by shallow ditches, ranging from 0.1m to 0 .49m in depth, laid out perpendicular to one another. It is uncertain whether the ditches represent property boundaries separating small, individual building plots, or whether they are sub-divisions of one or more larger tofts (a toft is defined as 'a rectilinear enclosure which contained a dwelling and associated out-buildings'). The three rectangular plots within the excavated area will be referred to as Enclosures A, B and C respectively. A small hearth was observed in the north-east corner of Enclosure A. It comprised a shallow, circular cut containing burnt reddish brown silty clay. It can be seen as substantial evidence for a building occupying Enclosure A. There was no indication of a floor surface within Enclosure A, but the site had suffered severe post-medieval plough damage, and even if flooring was present originally, it would be unlikely to have survived under such conditions. The absence of even truncated structural features indicates that the postulated building may have been founded on shallowly embedded sleeper beams. The full 8.75m width of Enclosure B was within the excavated area. It had a minimum length of 13.5m and a probable maximum length of 21.5m (measured to the edge of the modern road line). He boundary ditches were significantly shallower than that of Enclosure A and this may indicate they were laid out at different times, though it was noted that both contained similar fill deposits. Two narrow parallel gullies were recorded, aligned perpendicular to the main road, and may have been drainage for a pathway giving access to the enclosure from Main Street. A group of very shallow features, comprising two post-holes and two sections of a severely truncated, irregular linear gully, were observed towards the western side of Enclosure B. The gully sections produced early medieval body sherds from the same pot, indicating that they were open at the same time. They may in fact be truncated remnants of a single feature. The two post-holes were very close together and appeared to be in alignment on a north-south axis with one of the gullies. Although their orientation is different from the main site alignment, it is possible that this group of features represents the traces of a building within Enclosure B. Only a small portion of Enclosure C was within the excavated area. It contained a single feature, which was a shallow, circular cut, approximately 0.68m in diameter, whose edges were defined by a dense charcoal deposit. The feature contained no finds but is probably of early medieval date. It may be the truncated remains of a substantial post-hole. This is insufficient evidence to indicate the layout or function of Enclosure C. <4>