Roman Road and Railway Street, Braintree
TL 762 233; Peter Bowyer; Evaluation; 24th - 28th March 2003; BT39
Four trial trenches were opened across the site. Mid orangey yellow clay was observed at between 64.74m OD and 65.92m OD.
A N-S aligned ditch was located towards the N edge of the site and may have ran perpendicular to a Roman road. This contained a small quantity of medieval pottery dated 1150-1250 and a fragment of residual Roman tegula. The feature cut an earlier ditch which remains undated.
Extensive 19th and 20th century truncation was recorded across the site. Particularly deep truncations were caused by the construction of Victorian basements along the northern frontage of the site and their subsequent demolition and a large undated quarry in the SW of the site.
The recent levelling down of the site to the natural clay had removed any further archaeological deposits, but the lack of residual material suggests that none may have ever been present.
|
