Colchester Archaeological Trust

CAT Report 1339: summary

Archaeological monitoring and excavation at Wickham Hall, Hadham Road, Bishop’s Stortford, Hertfordshire, CM23 1JG: October 2018
by Dr Elliott Hicks (with contributions from Dr Matthew Loughton, Alec Wade, Laura Pooley, Adam Wightman, Julie Curl, Chris Lister, Ben Holloway, Emma Holloway)

Date report completed: April 2019
Location: Wickham Hall, Hadham Road, Bishop’s Stortford, Hertfordshire, CM23 1JG
Map reference(s): TL 47452 22985
File size: kb
Project type: Monitoring and excavation
Significance of the results:
Keywords:

Summary. An archaeological excavation was carried out at Wickham Hall, Hadham Road, Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire in advance of the change of use of a barn from agriculture to B1 (Office) and the erection of one no. B1 (Office) building and one A3 (Cafe/Restaurant) to include parking.

The site is located within the grounds of a 16th- or 17th-century farmstead with purported medieval origins, much of which has been converted for commercial purposes. Excavations uncovered a metalled surface, multiple pits and ditches and considerable Roman building materials and domestic waste which together evidence the existence of a Roman villa which stood on this site during the 3rd and 4th centuries. Other features and material found during the course of the excavation also demonstrate periodic activity at this site from the Neolithic period to the 1st or 2nd centuries AD.

Finally, in spite of the purported medieval origins of Wickham Hall Farm and the fact that the farmstead was constructed during the post-medieval period, the only evidence of activity at the site during the medieval period consisted of a single sherd of pottery, while no features dating to the post-medieval period were encountered.