Colchester Archaeological Trust

CAT Report 1767: summary

Archaeological strip, map and excavate of Areas 2 and 3, Martell’s Quarry, Slough Lane, Ardleigh, Essex, CO7 7RU:June 2019 – November 2021
by Sarah Veasey (with contributions from Dr Matthew Loughton, Laura Pooley and Adam Wightman)

Date report completed: January 2022
Location: Martell’s Quarry, Slough Lane, Ardleigh, Essex, CO7 7RU
Map reference(s): TM 0506 2767 (centre)
File size: 4802 kb
Project type: Strip Map and Excavation
Significance of the results:
Keywords: Martell’s Quarry Ardleigh

Summary. An archaeological excavation was carried out at Martell’s Quarry, Slough Lane, Ardleigh, Essex in advance of gravel extraction. A number of cropmarks and former boundaries are located within the development area, which is also surrounded by a large number of Bronze Age, Iron Age and Roman sites.

A total of 71 features were identified over two areas: 41 pits, nine ditches, a gully, three pit/postholes, five post-holes, two pit/tree-throws, eight tree-throws, a metalled surface and a natural feature, most of which were undated. The site did, however, reveal evidence of a probable nearby low-status Roman settlement with some sort of relationship to the Roman pottery kilns previously identified to the north-east, the closest roughly 850m away.