An article by Isobel Woolhouse has just been published in Current Archaeology, exploring the traces of Little End, a small hamlet that once stood on the edge of Eaton Socon, Cambridgeshire. Though long lost beneath modern development, the community has re-emerged through PCA’s recent excavations.
The work reveals a cluster of modest cottages from the 18th and 19th centuries, the homes of farm labourers, laundresses, and shopkeepers. These were ordinary people living ordinary lives, yet the combination of archaeological evidence, historic records, and local memories turns the site into something unexpectedly vivid. Broken ceramics, reused bricks, a small shop, a pair of sisters earning a living through laundry work: each thread helps rebuild the character of a place otherwise almost forgotten.
Rather than focusing on grand houses or elite stories, the article highlights the quiet, everyday world that shaped the rural landscape. It’s a thoughtful look at how small settlements functioned, changed, and ultimately disappeared, and why they still matter.
Click here to read Isobel’s article
