ESSEX

(1) Birdbrook, Westrope Haulage Yard, Sturmer Road (TL 70980 42788): excavation in advance of the construction of new light industrial units targeted an area 60 m² where a Roman pit and oven were revealed by 2016 evaluation.Footnote ⁹¹ Two Roman pits and a ditch were excavated. This cluster of Roman features is indicative of Roman period activity in the hinterland of Wixoe small Roman town (on the northern side of the river Stour).Footnote ⁹²

(2) Boxted, Hill Farm, Boxted Cross (TM 0044 3248): located close to undated cropmarks. Evaluation in 2016 had revealed prehistoric and Roman field boundary ditches.Footnote ⁹³ Excavation prior to construction of residential dwellings revealed ten Roman ditches, three pits and two small pits/post-holes. One ditch contained 26 sherds of a Dressel 20 amphora.Footnote ⁹⁴

(3) Brightlingsea, Brightlingsea Quarry, Moverons Lane (TM 0747 1797): a large site excavated prior to mineral extraction provided evidence for occupation from the early Neolithic to the late Anglo-Saxon period. A field-system was created in the late Iron Age to early Roman period; a group of nine burials clustered around one of the entrances to it. A mid-Roman trackway cut across the site, heading off beyond the excavated site, presumably to local Roman period settlements. From one of the ditches in this trackway came a leaded-bronze furniture foot in the shape of a harpy made in Campania, southern Italy, and dating to the first century a.d. There were also three Roman cremations on the southern edge of the site, probably associated with nearby settlement.Footnote ⁹⁵

(4) Colchester: (a) Abbey House, St John's Green (TL 99706 24761): the site is immediately north of the medieval St John's Abbey precinct. Excavation in advance of the construction of a new dwelling revealed four ditches and 15 third- to fourth-century pits. The ditches were probably land boundaries and the pits mostly sand quarries later used as rubbish pits. Pottery, tile, animal bone and small finds indicate the presence of an extramural Roman domestic structure, overlooking the Roman town.Footnote ⁹⁶

(b) Arena Leisure Centre (former), Circular Road East (TL 997 244): the site contains part of Colchester's Roman circus, and there are Roman burials in the vicinity. Evaluation (11 trial-trenches) prior to redevelopment revealed remains of the circus in T12–T13, at depths of 0.27–0.39 m below current ground level. Trench T12 was positioned over the spina (central barrier), revealing its robbed-out wall foundation. Trench T13 was positioned over the southern seating area (cavea). The remains of the robbed-out outer cavea wall foundation were identified along with the robbed-out and in-situ remains of two north–south wall foundations with metalling in between them. Significantly, these walls/wall foundations represent the remains of a passageway or vomitorium leading to the cavea seating area. In the other nine trenches, south of the circus, were 16 second- to third-century ditches, four possible inhumation burials and one possible pyre site or bustum.Footnote ⁹⁷

(c) Butt Road, water tower (TL 9927 2465): the site is in a Roman cemetery area on the western and south-western side of the Roman town. Evaluation in advance of new offices revealed a Roman pit, and a later watching-brief recorded the disturbed remains of a Roman burial. This was the cremation burial of an unsexed young adult of c. 20 years of age. The cremated bone was in a greyware jar of probable second- to third-century date. Heavily burnt sheep/goat remains in the assemblage may be from food placed with the person to be cremated. Also from this site was part of a pottery cantharus, a two-handled drinking cup. This was an oxidised fineware product of the late Roman Hadham potteries, dated to the late third to fourth century. The form probably copies metal vessels of the same purpose, which are associated with wine drinking and Bacchus.Footnote ⁹⁸

(d) Castle House, Castle Bailey (TL 9985 2524): Castle House lies in Insula 22 of the Roman town, and 45 m south of Colchester Castle. Previous archaeological work has established that a monumental Roman arcade crossed the site from east to west. The arcade formed the impressive south front of the large rectangular precinct within which stood the Temple of Claudius. In 2014, prior to the start of construction work, two trenches were dug in the northern part of the site. This area lay immediately to the north of the arcade and was previously largely unexcavated. Part of a Roman attached column, which must have fallen from the arcade, was uncovered in the more westerly trench. It lay in a thick deposit of demolition debris dating to the eleventh or twelfth centuries. Excavation resumed in 2015 inside the building under construction. A large stretch of the foundation platform for the arcade, including its well-defined northern edge, was revealed beneath the floor. The remains of three piers and four later Roman revetting walls were uncovered on top of the foundation. Although much of the 2015 excavated area had been examined previously in 1964, some undisturbed deposits survived over the arcade foundation. Three rectangular holes for glazed viewing panels were built into the modern concrete floor, so that the remains of the Roman arcade could be put on permanent display.Footnote ⁹⁹

(e) Former Williams & Griffin, 147–151 High Street (TL 99506 25243): investigations during the redevelopment mainly involved the hand-excavation of three areas down to over 3 m below ground level. The site is in the centre of the Roman legionary fortress (Period 1). The main north–south street (via principalis) of the fortress was identified, and the floors of a military building which fronted onto its eastern side were seen in section. Based on its location within the fortress, this was the accommodation for a junior officer (tribune) in the Twentieth Legion. The military building was replaced after a.d. 49, when a colony for legionary veterans (Colonia Victricensis) was established (Period 2). The new building burnt to the ground soon after, during Boudica's assault on the town in a.d. 61 (Period 2b). Unfortunately, only one wall of the Period 2 building coincided with the excavated site, but several small floor areas survived alongside it. Lying on the floor surface was the distinctive layer of burnt debris generated when the buildings of Colchester were destroyed by Boudica.

Within the destruction debris was a variety of domestic goods indicative of a high-status Mediterranean style of living in the heart of the early colony. These finds included copper-alloy vessels, ceramic kitchen and tablewares, lamps, balls of Egyptian blue pigment and a remarkable collection of carbonised foodstuffs. Cereals, pulses, exotic culinary herbs and spices and fruits such as figs, dates and grapes were amongst the foods identified, many present in large quantities. Most of the finds were on and adjacent to the charred remains of an oak shelf in what must have been a kitchen or storeroom. In a pit dug into the floor of the same building, personal items belonging to the occupants had been placed in a bag and buried just before or during the attack on the colony. This bag contained precious metal jewellery and coins apparently belonging to both a man and a woman.Footnote ¹⁰⁰

Further evidence of the Boudican revolt was uncovered on the eastern edge of the north–south Roman street, where the remains of collapsed tiled roofs covered a timber-lined roadside drain burnt during the fire in a.d. 61. Spread over the roof-tiles was Boudican destruction debris removed from adjacent buildings during post-revolt clearance (Period 3a). This debris contained fragments of human bone from people who died as Boudica and her forces overran the town. Isotope analysis has revealed that a mandible recovered belonged to a man who may have grown up in eastern France or northern Germany. He was most likely to have been one of the small number of troops in the town, or one of the veteran soldiers who had settled there after his discharge from the army. The same mandible, along with part of a tibia, exhibits damage which could have been caused by wounds sustained during fighting. Substantial areas of Boudican debris have been investigated during previous excavations in Colchester, but fragments of human bone have only been recovered from two other locations. The discoveries from this site indicate that some of the inhabitants of Colchester were not killed in the sacred groves, or did not take shelter in the Temple of Claudius (as stated by Tacitus), but probably fought to the death in this central area of the town.

On the western side of the north–south Roman street, the remains of a sizeable Roman building were identified, lying mostly beyond the excavated site. However, two substantial foundations, a fragment of wall and a thick sequence of mortar floors were in the excavated area. Part of the building appears to have been constructed during the military period, before being significantly altered. Based on its location, it is possible that the remains belong to a covered walkway along the eastern edge of a public building.

A hand-excavated section through the Roman street identified five phases of street metalling. The uppermost and latest phase was cut by numerous medieval and post-medieval pits, but in between the pits it was well preserved. The remains of a fourth-century Roman water-pipe were found, cut into the uppermost surface of the street. The pipe would have been part of the town's water-supply system providing fresh water to the properties fronting onto the north–south street.Footnote ¹⁰¹

(f) Greytown House, 138–140 High Street (TL 9955 2523): the site is in Insula 19 of the Roman town, in the core of the medieval town. Excavations in 1973–4, after the demolition of the Cups Hotel, revealed significant modern disturbance caused by cellars.Footnote ¹⁰² However, building remains from both the Roman and medieval periods survived between cellars. Cleaning of the exposed section on the northern site edge, standing 1.5–2 m higher than the car park, revealed Roman and post-medieval/modern remains. Significantly, the Roman remains included early Roman floors sealed by Boudican destruction debris, and, higher up the sequence, second-century strata. Monitoring along St Runwald's Street, north of Greytown House, also revealed Roman deposits.Footnote ¹⁰³

(g) Queen Street, former bus depot (TL 99949 25044): the site is in Insula 39 in the south-eastern angle of the Roman walled town, immediately north of the Roman town wall. Evaluation (five test-pits) revealed significant Roman remains beneath modern and post-medieval strata. Roman remains included two phases of Roman street metalling, a small section of the Roman rampart and a mid-to-late Roman ditch cut through an earlier pit and post-hole. Interestingly Hull's 1931 trench was seen in Test-pits 4 and 5. Test-pit 4 revealed a tile-lined Roman drain aligned NNW–SSE which probably branched-off from Hull's east–west tile-lined drainFootnote ¹⁰⁴ immediately south of the test-pit. One of the Roman wall foundations identified by Hull was also seen in Test-pit 5.Footnote ¹⁰⁵

(5) Great Chesterford: (a) land south of Walden Road (TL 5127 4278): excavation uncovered a pair of roadside ditches on a WNW–ESE alignment, along with boundary ditches relating to a field-system extending to the south of the site. A small cremation cemetery of seven individuals and one infant burial was located adjacent to the southern roadside ditch, dating to the early Roman period. The route of the road can be followed from the Roman small town of Great Chesterford to the WNW of the site, running towards Radwinter, a Roman roadside settlement, and probably continuing to Colchester.Footnote ¹⁰⁶

(b) The Playing Fields, Newmarket Road (TL 50431 43159): the site is within the walled circuit of the scheduled fourth-century Roman town. Previous archaeological work shows that the Roman town wall and a Roman road should cross this site.Footnote ¹⁰⁷ Evaluation did not find any trace of the wall. However, metalling in two of the trial-trenches confirmed the presence of the Roman road. The absence of the wall may mean it is slightly farther north-west than currently projected, or it may have been removed by post-medieval pits and a large modern quarry pit which had destroyed all archaeological remains in the south-western corner of the site. A Roman ditch may indicate internal sub-divisions within Insula 4 of the town.Footnote ¹⁰⁸

NORFOLK

(1) Holme Hale: a hoard deposited c. a.d. 277‒9 or later. Contents: 93 radiates: Gallienus (joint reign with Valerian), 1; Gallienus (sole reign), 17; Gallienus (joint or sole reign), 1; Claudius II, 11; Tacitus, 1; Probus, 1; Postumus, 4; Victorinus, 16; Tetricus I, 5; Tetricus II, 1; uncertain emperor, 28; irregular, 7.Footnote ¹⁰⁹

(2) Middleton, Marham Resilience Scheme (TF 67266 17390): excavation revealed several pits and the remnants of a collapsed plastered wall dated to the Roman period. The presence of the Roman wall and wall-plaster is significant in identifying the nearby location of a previously unknown high-status Roman building. Pottery and animal bone were recovered from these features and an assemblage of metal-working slag was found within one of the ditches, indicative of industrial activity taking place nearby.Footnote ¹¹⁰

(3) Pulham St Mary: a hoard deposited c. a.d. 14‒37 or later. Contents: 27 denarii: Republic, 15; Mark Antony, 1; Augustus, 5; Tiberius, 5; illegible, 1.Footnote ¹¹¹

(4) West Norfolk: hoard deposited c. a.d. 364‒7 or later. Contents: 3 solidi and 49 siliquae. Solidi: a.d. 347‒55, 1 (Antioch); a.d. 360‒3, 1 (Lyon); a.d. 364‒6, 1 (Nicomedia). Siliquae: a.d. 353‒5, 1 (Lyon); a.d. 355‒60, 6 (Arles, 5; uncertain, 1); a.d. 360‒3, 36 (Trier, 7; Lyon, 15; Arles 14); a.d. 364‒7, 1 (Lyon, 1); irregular, 5.Footnote ¹¹²

SUFFOLK

(1) Bawdsey, land off Ferry Road (TM 34 39; BAW 212): Site 50 on the East Anglia ONE cable route revealed numerous pits, a well and several small ring-ditches, that may be the remnants of roundhouses, along with vast amounts of pottery and animal bone. The remains indicate the presence of a late Iron Age/early Romano-British period settlement, with evidence for contemporary intensive agricultural activity in the form of enclosure and field boundary ditches.Footnote ¹¹³

(2) Belstead, land off Grove Hill (TM 13 41; BSD 028): excavation of 2,256 m² was undertaken in advance of the construction of new dwellings after trenched evaluation had revealed features of Iron Age to early Roman date. Excavation uncovered ditches and gullies representing landscape management, probably for arable fields and stock control, and pits, dating from the earlier/middle Iron Age to the second century. A possible Iron Age roundhouse was recorded at the northern end of the site. The artefactual assemblage, particularly the ceramics and Roman ceramic building material, suggests that the site lies within the wider area of a Roman farmstead, but marginally away from its main focus of occupation.Footnote ¹¹⁴

(3) Capel St Mary, land west of Pine Dell and Ashcroft, London Road (TM 09 42; CSM 045): evaluation trenching for a residential development adjacent to the Old London Road, which is on the line of a major Roman period road, identified an area of burnt clay indicative of an oven-type feature. Later excavation work at the site revealed a double pottery kiln of mid-to-late first century a.d. date which produced mainly oxidised, primarily buff coloured, wares with a large proportion being flagons, beakers and jars. In this case only the base of the double kiln could be recorded due to previous ground truncation. In addition, small ditches of early Roman date were found.Footnote ¹¹⁵

(4) Elmswell, land adjoining Wetherden Road (TL 99405 63220): an evaluation identified an enclosure containing a probable kiln of early Roman date which yielded a substantial finds assemblage dating to the first to second centuries, including ‘wasters’ suggesting the presence of a small early Roman rural industrial complex.Footnote ¹¹⁶

(5) Flixton, Flixton Park Quarry (TM 30 86; FLN 091): principal archaeological deposits uncovered related to the late Iron Age and Roman periods, effectively continuing the occupation area previously excavated immediately to the south-west.Footnote ¹¹⁷ The deposits were dominated by pits with occasional ditches. One concentration of pits was associated with curving ditches/gullies which demarcated an area of c. 13 m in diameter, possibly representing the position of a structure or designated working area. A clay-lined oven was also recorded, cut into the top of a large, broadly contemporary pit.Footnote ¹¹⁸

(6) Great Bealings, land to south-east of Great Bealings: (a) (TM 62 24; BEG 057): Site 21 on the East Anglia ONE cable route contained the remains of late Iron Age/Romano-British occupation. Evidence consisted of pits, post-holes and a ring-ditch. The ring-ditch had a diameter of 12 m and contained associated post-holes within its alignment, suggesting that it represents the remains of a large roundhouse. A possible settlement area defining ditch was recorded to the west of the site respecting another earlier ditch on the same alignment. Artefacts were few but included fragments of black burnished ware and black surfaced Romanising ware. A late Iron Age to early Romano-British period date for the settlement activity seems most likely. This activity may be associated with a probable fortified enclosure observable on the Environment Agency's LiDAR coverage to the north of Cherry Tree Farm.Footnote ¹¹⁹

(b) (TM 62 24; BEG 058): Site 22 on the East Anglia ONE cable route was partially excavated across a steep slope running south towards the A12 west of Woodbridge. Excavations revealed a series of shallow pits along with several elongated pits of likely Bronze Age date later cut by Iron Age/Romano-British post-holes. A further series of pits and post-holes, dating to the late Iron Age/Romano-British period, was focused towards the south-east of the site. Interpreted as occupation on the edge of a possible settlement; modern ploughing heavily affected the site. The majority of the assemblage dated to the late Iron Age/Roman transition period and the occupation activity may be associated with a possible fortified prehistoric enclosure surviving as an earthwork to the immediate east of the site.Footnote ¹²⁰

(7) Great Cornard, land east of Carsons Drive (TL 66 59; COG 029): excavation recorded evidence for Romano-British and Saxon activity. A large natural hollow filled by multiple layers, possibly including ploughsoils and midden deposits, was discovered. Artefactual evidence from the hollow ranged from first to eighth century in date, including: domestic ungulate bones; Roman pottery, including a samian ware inkwell, a mould-decorated bowl and the base of a cup with a maker's stamp; grass-tempered Saxon pottery; iron rivets; and a large volume of carbonised cereal remains, notably glume wheat and chaff elements. The Roman evidence corresponds with a significant scatter of Roman coins previously recorded across the local area, including the site, but the nature of activity/occupation remains undefined. Although no structural evidence was recorded on the site, the finds assemblage suggests that settlement of some description (both Roman and Saxon) was located in the immediate vicinity.Footnote ¹²¹

(8) Haughley, Chilton Leys, Stowmarket (TM 03 59; HGH 055): archaeological investigations recorded an extensive spread of multi-phase remains situated on the crest of the valley overlooking the river Gipping. A significant proportion of the remains could be assigned to the early Roman period, probably within the mid-first to early second centuries, with activity appearing to be focused on pottery production and agro-industry. At least two pottery kilns were recorded, including one example with an intact perforated floor, which produced sandy greywares that included jars, platters and beakers. Several ovens with substantive lining were also recorded and may have been related to pottery production or corn-drying, with one oven also containing a child burial. The kilns and ovens are contained in wider enclosures, and typically closely associated with arrangements of post-holes, with one kiln seemingly within a small shelter or workshop, while another has a post-built structure adjacent to it. Also recorded were five parallel gullies with clay lining, potentially associated with the processing of raw clay. One Roman enclosure was subsequently reused to define a middle Saxon cemetery of 42 graves.Footnote ¹²²

(9) Hemley, land west of All Saint's Church (TM 28 42; HMY 044): excavations on Site 37, of the East Anglia ONE cable route, revealed a network of intercutting linear features and a sub-rectangular enclosure. The site revealed multi-phase Iron Age and Roman occupation associated with settlement activity and pastoral land usage. An extensive network of ditch systems articulated with several phases of north–south-aligned droveways. There is a suggestion that the enclosures were coaxial and had developed organically in a manner sympathetic to land form and not as part of a pre-planned land-use strategy. A pattern of lengthy occupation is suggested by periodic re-establishment of field boundaries, repeated throughout the late Iron Age, which stands in contrast to an apparent re-organisation during the second century when a sub-rectangular enclosure (HMY 001) bordered by a smaller, similarly aligned, field-system was created. Ample evidence of occupation is additionally represented by clusters of refuse pits, though the focus of domestic activity seems to be immediately to the east of the excavation area.Footnote ¹²³

(10) Little Bealings, East Anglia ONE cable route (TM 2281 4833; BEL 058): archaeological investigations recorded Roman activity represented by a large post-built barn, a corn-drying oven, two small post-built structures with working surfaces, and enclosure ditches. The barn is c. 13 m long and 6 m wide, with a rectangular arrangement of eight major structural posts. The associated Roman pottery is highly fragmented but predominantly of late third- to fourth-century date, including reduced East Anglian mortaria and colour-coated beakers and bowls, supported by a low number of late Roman coins; however, a limited component of the pottery assemblage suggests activity may have commenced in the late first/early second century.Footnote ¹²⁴

(11) Mildenhall, West Row Primary School (TL 67 76; MNL 784): excavation in advance of the construction of a school extension investigated a further small area of the Roman settlement known to underlie much of the current primary school complex. Previous fieldwork projectsFootnote ¹²⁵ have shown the main phase of occupation to belong to a period dated after the second century until the end of the Roman period, with some more limited activity during the late Iron Age and early Roman transition. The current excavation exposed ditches, pits and post-holes containing artefacts indicative of Roman settlement and agricultural activity. The remains are characteristic of a small farmstead, with evidence for a system of possible stock enclosures, animal husbandry, crop processing, butchery and food preparation. As with previous fieldwork projects at the school and adjacent land, there is evidence for a substantial building with a tiled roof and possible hypocaust in the vicinity, but as yet no firm evidence for the location of such a structure. Certain features, such as two beam-slots and scattered post-holes, hinted at the presence of smaller structures such as animal shelters, but no building layouts could be defined.Footnote ¹²⁶

(12) Rougham, Eastlow Hill (TL 90 89; RGH 009): ongoing research project around the barrow group and villa complex first identified during the nineteenth century. Topographic and geophysical survey located the degraded remnants of two of the line of three barrows containing cremation burials that lay south of the large Eastlow Hill mound; the latter contained an inhumation burial in a mausoleum structure. Trenches on the south-west side of Eastlow Hill located the access area and tunnel cut into the mound by John Stevens Henslow in 1844 when the mausoleum was discovered; this tunnel was recorded as still partially open until the mid-twentieth century, but the excavation illustrated the process of complete infill and contingent damage to the original mound. The nearby villa complex was also examined by cleaning areas in modern field ditches, opening three small trenches to test and date features identified in previous geophysical surveys and carrying out a systematic metal-detecting survey over the whole area. This confirmed a Roman date for an extensive rectilinear enclosure system and showed that the remains of buildings survive in reasonable condition below both an area of long-term pasture and an area of former arable cultivation. Within redeposited layers of building debris there is evidence for a phase of good quality provincial painted wall-plaster of Flavian–Trajanic date and for a chimney. Pottery and metal finds, particularly coins, suggest a date range from the mid-first century to the fourth century, perhaps with a reduction of activity in the later fourth (c. a.d. 370s onwards). The establishment of a villa-type building by the early second century is relatively unusual in East Anglia but correlates well with the Trajanic cremation group recovered in 1843 from one of the smaller barrows in the group.Footnote ¹²⁷