Monument record MLI60768 - Undated features on land off East Road

Summary

Undated features on land off East Road

Type and Period (5)

Protected Status/Designation

  • None recorded

Full Description

During an evaluation off East Road, several small undated pits, gullies and ditches were revealed. Some of these undated ditches were parallel and close to existing hedges. In consequence they probably constitute earlier, perhaps medieval or post-medieval, lines of field boundaries. {1}{2} During a watching brief, several undated features were uncovered to the east of East Road. A ditch, measuring up to 2m wide and 0.3m deep, was aligned north-west to south-east. To the south of this ditch was a possible pit or ditch, measuring 1.1m wide by 0.5m deep. Further south was a possible posthole or gully, measuring approximately 0.7m wide by 0.3m deep, with a flat level base. To the south of this feature was a north-south aligned ditch measuring 1.6m wide by 0.5m deep.{3}{4} To the west of East Road, three further ditches were uncovered. The first of these was aligned north-west to south-east, while the remaining two were aligned north-south. Also uncovered were two pits and two pit features. The first pit feature was a possible elongated pit or gully with concave sides and base, also aligned north-south. The second was a possible pit with concave sides and base, measuring 1.7m wide by 0.42m deep. {3}{4} During an evaluation, three post-holes, two ditches and a fire pit were recorded. One of the post-holes was oval, while a second was circular. One of the ditches contained eight tiny scraps of brick and tile in the secondary fill, but these could not be identified further as they were too small. The second ditch was aligned north-west/south-east, and its single fill contained one very abraded sliver of pottery, possibly Roman in date, but this is by no means certain. The fire pit contained burnt sand and an apparently charcoal rich grey brown silt. It is thought that these features could be of any date from the Roman to the post-medieval periods. {5}{6} During a watching brief, a north/south aligned probable ditch was recorded, thought to be a field boundary or roadside ditch. The ditch was below the earthworks associated with the railway bridge (PRN 61460), suggesting a pre-19th century date. {7}{8} During trial trenching centred on TF 0775 4705, several features were recorded. Two parallel north-east/south-west aligned ditches ran through four of the trenches, at a distance of circa 3m apart. Initially these ditches were thought to define a droveway or trackway for the movement of people or livestock. Environmental sampling, however, recorded only a single snail from the northernmost ditch, while the southermost ditch contained an abundance of snail shells, suggesting that the ditches were not contemporary and that the southern ditch was water-filled, while the northern ditch was dry. The parallel orientation of the ditches does however seem to suggest that perhaps one ditch was laid out while the other was still visible. Along with several other ditches, these ditches are thought to form field boundaries associated with stock control rather than arable farming, as manuring would increase the likelihood of potsherds being spread onto the fields, and the features were devoid of any finds. An undated north-west/south-east ditch was truncated by the parallel ditches, and so may belong to an earlier field system. Pits and postholes in Trenches 6, 9 and 10 were of uncertain date and function. {9}{10}

Sources/Archives (10)

  •  Report: Archaeological Project Services. 1997. Archaeological Evaluation on Land off East Road, Sleaford. ERS97.
  •  Archive: Archaeological Project Services. 1997. Archaeological Evaluation on Land off East Road, Sleaford. LCNCC 164.97.
  •  Report: Archaeological Project Services. June 2000. Archaeological Watching Brief on roadworks along East Road, Sleaford. SKR98.
  •  Archive: Archaeological Project Services. June 2000. Archaeological Watching Brief on roadworks along East Road, Sleaford. LCNCC 58.98.
  •  Report: Lindsey Archaeological Services. June 2000. Sleaford Enterprise Park, East Road, Sleaford: Archaeological Evaluation Trenching. SEP00.
  •  Archive: Lindsey Archaeological Services. June 2000. Sleaford Enterprise Park, East Road, Sleaford: Archaeological Evaluation Trenching. LCNCC 2000.126.
  •  Report: Archaeological Project Services. Oct 2000. Archaeological Watching Brief of land at East Road, Sleaford. SER98.
  •  Archive: Archaeological Project Services. Oct 2000. Archaeological Watching Brief of land at East Road, Sleaford. LCNCC 163.98.
  •  Report: Archaeological Project Services. Sept 1999. Archaeological Evaluation on land to the rear of the old rugby pitch, East Road, Sleaford. SRP98.
  •  Archive: Archaeological Project Services. Sept 1999. Archaeological Evaluation on land to the rear of the old rugby pitch, East Road, Sleaford. LCNCC 59.98.

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Location

Grid reference Centred TF 0778 4709 (251m by 250m)
Civil Parish SLEAFORD, NORTH KESTEVEN, LINCOLNSHIRE

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Record last edited

Mar 21 2021 8:35PM

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