Colchester Archaeological Trust

CAT Report 1289: summary

Archaeological evaluation on land at Warren Lane, Stanway, Colchester, Essex CO3 0NW: June 2018
by Dr Elliott Hicks (with contributions from Stephen Benfield, Lisa Gray, Chris Lister, Emma Holloway)

Date report completed: July 2018
Location: Warren Lane, Stanway, Colchester, Essex CO3 0NW
Map reference(s): TL 9469 2221
File size: kb
Project type: Evaluation
Significance of the results:
Keywords:

Summary. An archaeological evaluation by trial-trenching (eleven trenches) was undertaken on land at Warren Lane, Stanway, Colchester, Essex in advance of the construction of a new agricultural building and greenhouses for growing soft fruit. It is located in an area of significant Middle Iron Age, Late Iron Age and Roman activity, with cropmarks crossing the far eastern side of the site.

A small quantity of finds meant that few features could be firmly dated. However, three possible prehistoric features, a ?Bronze Age pit, ?Iron Age ditch and ?prehistoric pit, were excavated as well as two ditches and a pit of Roman date. Undated features consisted of five ditches, three pits, a posthole, a ditch/pit, two pits/tree-throws and three tree-throws/natural features. Both Roman ditches may be aligned with cropmarks extending across the eastern side of the site.

Located within a multi-period historic landscape, this site is probably on the periphery of a farming community/farmstead during the Iron Age (and perhaps earlier), which continued to be utilised for agricultural purposes into the Roman period.