Possible Roman villa at former Felsted Railway Station (EHER 1247)

The probable site of a Roman villa was originally uncovered during the construction of Felsted railway station in 1877. Excavations in 1948-9 uncovered a polygonal palisaded enclosure containing a rectangular feature, a wooden water pipe and a pit or soakaway. Roman roof tiles, brick and tesserae are still visible on the site. Finds of Late Iron Age pottery suggest pre-Roman occupation of the site. The site is possibly of late 1st/2nd century AD date.

Original HER entry merged with NRHE data import: Roman Coins and Pottery found AD 1948 (NAT). <1> In the vicinity of Felsted Railway station much Roman material has been found. Pottery was discovered when the railway was built in 1865 and when the siding and goods shed were erected in 1877 pottery including 2nd century decorated Samian fragments, two silver coins of Antoninus Pius and Vespasian, tiles, nails bones etc were found. In 1948-9, the Felsted School Archaeological Society explored an area disturbed by the siding to the north of the railway, and found a Roman level at about 3ft 6ins below ground level. A polygonal occupation area bounded by what appeared to be a palisade trench was found. Within it was a large rectangular area, and a pit or soak away fill of stones fed by a wooden water pipe. Large quantities of pottery, much of which was I/A 'C', suggested "native huts", but roof tile and tesserae, a coin of Magnentius, together with finds such as bronze manicure instruments, pieces of glassware, a hinge and numerous bronze and iron artifacts suggest a substantial Roman building yet to be located. <2> In 1887 the Vicar of Felsted recorded finds of Roman pottery when the railway line was being built at Felsted Station. Soil to a depth of 8' was removed from a large area. At depths varying from 3-5ft a quantity of broken pottery, brickbats, oxidised nails, charcoal, bones, a few fragments of Samian, tegulae, several copper coins and 2 silver coins of Antoninus Pius and Vespasian were found. A quantity of pottery was found when the line was first built, pits containing charcoal and bones were cut through whilst draining north of the station. A few fragments of coarse grey native ware were found in a field north of the area. A coin of Constantine I was found at Felsted Station in 1926. In 1948 Felsted School Archaeological Society excavated, as near as possible to the original site. Dwellings of the first four centuries AD were recorded, probably part of a large Romano-British village in the area covered by the station and the railway line. The dwellings seemed to be of wattle and daub, plastered on the outside with yellow stucco, with tiled roofs, ditches being round the outside of the huts. Finds included much Belgic, pre Belgic and RB native wares. Clear association of Claudian pottery with surviving early forms of native ware. Coin of Magentius found. Odd tesserae and tiles found. OS card 62SE10 says no structure was excavated in situ. Much of the Belgic ware was found in a ditch and a rubbish pit. A few fragments of Samian were found, some bronze manicure instruments, pieces of glass ware, many nails, a hinge, file, axe, many bronze knick-knacks e.g. pins, spoons, keys. Ironwork found on site, including knife blade, key and an arrowhead, appeared to be local in origin. 1948-1949 finds were deposited in Colchester Museum in 1949 by Major J.G.S. Brinson. <3> - <7> April 1975. Field visit. There is no trace of Roman material at the site of the 1948 excavations, but a light scatter of brick and tile is apparent in the field to the N centred at TL 664213. During perambulation the side of a low bank in the disused railway yard at TL 66402123 was examined, and a point about 0.8m below ground level a Roman occupation layer produced heavy concentrations of brick, tegulae and tesserae, animal bones as well as RB grey ware, colour-coated ware and two portions of Samian platters. The quantity and quality of the remains found during perambulation and before indicate a substantial Roman building of some importance was probably centred on Felsted station yard which occurs in a low cutting. <8> - <10> 1990. Watching brief. Revealed only a built surface of clinker overlying a clay subsoil which had lost its topsoil. <11> 1994. Survey. The finds on this site clearly represent the location of a villa possibly with an earlier associated settlement. As yet the exact location of the Roman building is unknown but the artefacts including brick, tegulae, water pipes and tesserae indicate the status of the building to be expected. Prior to any groundworks being undertaken in the region of Felstead station there should be consultation with the Archaeology section to determine the best technique to record any archaeological deposits located. No large-scale groundworks should be undertaken on the site prior to detailed archaeological evaluation. <12> 1995. Evaluation. This disproved the interpretation made as a result of the evaluation, that masonry structures of roman date were present; stone and concrete foundations can now be shown to be of modern origin located within areas of deep disturbance. The investigation did establish the presence of a network of small enclosures - to be interpreted as infields, yards or horticultural plots - extending over an area of some 0.5ha. These are of Roman date, principally AD 1st to 2nd century, although later activity is also represented. A large buried Roman wooden structure (probably a cistern or vat with a wooden pipe leading from it) was also examined and recorded, but left in situ in an area where proposed development will involve only superficial landscaping works not affecting this feature. Substantial quantities of building material, principally flue and hypocaust tile imply that a sophisticated building lay close by, almost certainly under the site of the former Felsted railway station immediately to the north where earlier finds of both artefacts and structural remains have been made. <13> Listed as a villa. <14> Listed as the probable site of a Roman villa. <15> Aerial photographs. <16> - <18>