NHER 68304 (Monument record) - Late medieval to early post-medieval and undated remains

June 2022. Trial Trenching.
Evaluation of proposed development site (Trenches 3 and 4).
The two trenches excavated at this location revealed a number of ditches and pits, the majority of which appear to have been of late medieval to early post-medieval date.
Evidence for earlier activity was limited to two handmade pottery sherds of possible Iron Age date (one unstratified and the other residual within a later feature).
Although five sherds of early medieval pottery were found these were all residual within later contexts. A small assemblage of medieval coarseware sherds and a single high medieval glazed sherd were also mostly recovered from contexts that also produced late medieval sherds.
The features of likely late medieval or later date included two east-to-west aligned ditches in the northern trench that both produced pottery suggestive of a 14th- to 15th-century date. An adjacent pit contained the largest single assemblage of pottery, with the presence of sherds of imported Dutch-type redware and Raeren stoneware indicative of a slightly later, 15th- to 16th-century date. Pottery suggestive of a 15th-century or later date was also recovered from a north-to-south aligned ditch in the southern trench, along with fragments of post-medieval brick. Samples taken from these four features all contained charred plant macrofossils, with cereal grains dominant but significant numbers of pea/bean seeds also present, along with various arable weed seeds. The range of cereal crops represented is typical of the medieval period, with the amount of charred grain potentially representing bulk handling associated with agricultural production, rather than just domestic consumption. These features also contained fragments of iron slag (including some probable smelting waste), although the small size of the assemblage means it wasn't necessarily derived from activity at this particular location.
Other features of less certain date included two small pits in the northern trench that contained iron slag and a single medieval pottery sherd. Two undated ditches were also recorded in the southern trench.
Other unstratified finds included medieval and medieval/post-medieval pottery sherds; a medieval glazed roof tile fragment; a possible post-medieval drainpipe fragment; a large piece of lava stone (probably part of a medieval millstone); fragments of roughly worked limestone (possibly from a stone trough for feeding or watering livestock); animal bone; additional pieces of iron slag; a late medieval coin (silver Venetian soldino) and a number of other, undated and medieval to post-medieval metal objects. These metal finds include a medieval iron sickle blade; a medieval/post-medieval lead window came and an undated copper alloy sheet object, iron nail and lead waste.
See report (S1) for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 29 April 2024.