Colchester Archaeological Trust

CAT Report 1296: summary

Archaeological excavation at Hammonds, land north of Elmstead Road/east of Swan Close, Colchester, Essex CO4 3BL: May 2018
by Laura Pooley (with contributions from Stephen Benfield, Lisa Gray, Ben Holloway, Emma Holloway)

Date report completed: July 2018
Location: Hammonds, land north of Elmstead Road/east of Swan Close, Colchester, Essex CO4 3BL
Map reference(s): TM 0224 2442
File size: kb
Project type: Excavation
Significance of the results:
Keywords:

Summary. An archaeological excavation (following two phases of evaluation) was carried out at Hammonds, land north of Elmstead Road/east of Swan Close, Colchester, Essex in advance of the construction of residential dwellings and associated works. The site is located close to a series of Late Iron Age and Roman ditches, pits and burials, medieval ditches and pits, and pottery spreads dated to the medieval and postmedieval periods. The 18th-century Salarybrook Farmhouse is also situated close by.

Archaeological investigation has revealed that historic activity on the development site dates to the medieval period, c late 12th to 16th century. Features included nine ditches aligned NNW/SSE and ENE/WSW, a quarry pit and several smaller pits. The ditches may form field boundaries delineating a number of agricultural fields or, together with the finds, could represent evidence for domestic occupation/settlement.

A small quantity of residual prehistoric and Roman material was also recorded along with a number of undated pits.