Colchester Archaeological Trust

CAT Report 2060: summary

Archaeological excavation at The Crown Inn, Church Street, Fordham, Ely, Cambridgeshire, CB7 5NJ: May-June 2024
by Laura Pooley

Date report completed: June 2024
Location: The Crown Inn, Church Street, Fordham, Ely, Cambridgeshire, CB7 5NJ
Map reference(s): TL 63280 70810 (centre)
File size: 5,950 Kb kb
Project type: Archaeological excavation
Significance of the results:
Keywords:

Summary. An archaeological excavation was carried out in the carpark of The Crown Inn, 14 Church Street, Fordham, Ely, Cambridgeshire in advance of the construction of new residential dwellings. Located within an archaeologically sensitive area in the historic core of the settlement of Fordham, archaeological evaluation in 2023 identified 13 pits and post-holes, eight of postmedieval/ modern date with the rest likely to be contemporary. This current excavation revealed 18 pits, a gully and linear features likely associated with the southern boundary of the development site. Analysis has revealed that none of the features need date to before the 19th to 20th centuries, with finds including brick, roof tile, pottery, glass, clay pipe and iron objects. The uniformity of the finds assemblage could suggest that it is associated with a single event, perhaps the demolition of a structure on or close to the development site or alterations to The Crown Inn itself. Residual 16th-18th century brick and a single piece of medieval pottery were also recovered from these later features.