Land on the South Side of Town Street, Hayton
SE 8208 4580; (Jennifer Proctor): evaluation; November 26th-30th 2001; HAY01
Two trenches were investigated and natural deposits were recorded in both. The earliest natural sub-stratum, recorded in Trenches 1 and 2, comprised fine and medium sub-angular to well rounded gravel with light grey brown medium sand. The maximum surviving height of the natural sand and gravel in Trench 1 was 20.41m AOD and to the north, in Trench 2, it was 20.53m AOD. In Trench 1, the natural sub-stratum was overlain by a sandy clay deposit, interpreted as being of glacial origin.
A curvilinear gully was recorded in the north-east corner of Trench 1, along with a stakehole and a posthole. These were interpreted as a segment of a probable round house ring gully of late Iron Age date, along with possibly associated structural features. Four E-W aligned linear features and a substantial pit - possibly a quarry pit - of Roman date were recorded in Trench 1, demonstrating occupation of the site throughout the Romano-British period. The earliest Roman features broadly indicate that the area to the north-east of the Roman road was being utilised, probably as part of a farmstead, during the Flavian period when the fort was constructed and in use. The later Roman evidence broadly fits in with the findings of the earlier fieldwork in the Burnby Lane area, which suggest a series of farmsteads along the Beck and a roadside field system.
A ditch of probable 13th century date and three postholes, possibly contemporary with the ditch, were also recorded in Trench 1. The ditch could represent a property boundary or a stock enclosure. This part of the site would have occupied a back-lot situation in relation to properties along Town Street in the medieval period and other buildings could have been sited along a back lane that originally skirted the site's rear boundary. The main croft boundaries within the settlement would have had rectilinear stock enclosures set out against them or formed by sub-divisions within them.
A topsoil horizon sealed all archaeological remains in Trench 1.
The earliest features encountered in Trench 2 comprised a series of pits of varying size and depth, all cutting into natural gravel within the southern half of the trench. A small amount of dating evidence was recovered to suggest that these features were of early post-medieval date. The northern half of the trench was dominated by a massive intrusion of post-medieval, probably late 19th century, date. The insertion of this feature had almost certainly destroyed primary structural remains relating to medieval street frontage properties and associated features. Evidence of modern activity was also recorded in Trench 2, cutting through a topsoil horizon that sealed all earlier archaeological remains.
The evaluation demonstrated that the site was a focus of activity during several archaeological eras, from the Iron Age through to the medieval period. Important artefactual and palaeoenvironmental evidence was recovered from within the features.
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