Library

The excavations were commissioned by Beazer Homes, as an assessment prior to development of land adjacent to Cromwell Terrace, Stukeley Road, Huntingdon (TL2372). The proposed development entails the construction of 12 dwellings with ancillary works. The site occupies an area of about one hectare situated on the west side of Stukeley Road. The area has been used for allotments and, in part, residential land and surrounds a small row of cottages fronting onto Stukeley Road (Shakespeare Place). The excavations took place between the 15th and the 22nd of November 1996, following on from the initial phase of the assessment, the Desk-Top study.

Following an initial Desktop study, and subsequent archaeological field survey of proposed engineering works along rivers in South Cambridgeshire, watching brief monitoring took place during September and October 1996 during the machining of seven Cattle Drinking Points (CDPs) at sites along the Great Ouse, Ely Ouse, Cam and the Ten Mile River.

Little Thetford is a small village located approximately 4km to the south of Ely on the west bank of the River Great Ouse. The village is irregularly bounded on its south and east sides by the Thetford Catchwater drain separating the meres and commons on the south and east sides of Little Thetford and Stretham. The old core of the Medieval village is centred around St. George's Church. Dwellings on the north side of Main Street still exhibit the long narrow tofts, stretching northward to Thetford Catchwater. Housing development in the 1960s at New Close Road - which borders the development area to the north - will have substantially removed much of the known, and presently conjectured, archaeological sites in this location. Between July and September 1995 archaeological excavations were carried out in advance of residential development by Persimmon Homes in a field to the west of Watson's Lane in Little Thetford (TL 5277 7625). The field had well-preserved ridge and furrow earthworks from a Medieval and Post-Medieval agricultural system (SMR 09873) and was situated at an elevation of c. 6m OD, on the eastern slope of a small knoll - part of the broken, narrow peninsula of high land extending northwards toward Ely at the junction of Jurassic Kimmeridge and Boulder clays. Prior to this, two earlier phases of archaeological work had been completed: a preliminary desk-top assessment and a field evaluation. The first phase collated documentary and aerial photographic evidence, supplemented by an earthwork survey of the ridge-and-furrow and found that although no archaeology was known from the site, its potential presence and more significantly, survival (due to the protective cover of a well-preserved former ploughsoil) was high. The subsequent Phase 2 field evaluation proved this to be the case when trial trenching turned up a concentration of features in the western part of the field indicating a substantial settlement dating to the later Iron Age and continuing into the Roman period. In accordance with the CAO brief and CAU's project design specification, a geophysical survey was undertaken in February 1995 in order to clarify the extent of the settlement (fig.3). The results of the survey indicated dense archaeological remains across the northern part of the development area, the core of which - an area approximately 4000 square metres - was machine stripped prior to excavation. The exposed area revealed a considerable quantity of archaeological features including ring-gullies, ditches, pits and post-holes as well as a kiln and inhumation burials.

This report is part of a larger project of archaeological investigations carried out between 1992 and 1995 in an area demarcated for gravel extraction just south of the River Ouse. The total area investigated (61 acres/25 hectares), is immediately northwest of Fen Drayton village, centred TL333/690. It lies on the edge of the alluvial terraces of the River Great Ouse just west of the point where the river empties into the Fen and is presently under scrub pasture; parts have apparently been pasture for many years, the remainder have occasionally been cropped. The investigation, required by the local planning authority as a condition of planning permission for the extraction of gravel, was funded by ARC Central.

Assessment excavations were carried-out at Girton Road in order to clarify the nature and extent of previously recorded archaeological features and to determine whether other remains existed within the proposed development area. The fieldwork provided further useful information concerning known crop-marked features. However, the absence of significant archaeological features other than those indicated by cropmarks, the very low density of finds associated with these features, and sparsity of any other material recovered during machining suggests that activity in this area during the Iron Age, Roman or indeed other periods was small-scale. The focus of Late Iron Age and Roman occupation and probably lay to the south, although Early/Middle Iron Age activity, of which there were slight indications, may have been centred elsewhere. The results indicate that a number of the more prominent crop-marked features are of natural origin.

This report presents the initial desk-top phase of an evaluation of the Tower Works Site, Fengate on behalf of Scott Wilson Kirkpatrick & Co Ltd and in conformity with the Brief set by the County Archaeology Office (CAO 30.10.96; �2.6). The 7.6 hectare site is proposed for redevelopment by the Commission for the New Towns (CNT) in conjunction with the National Freight Company (NFC) for non-food retail warehousing and services and lies in the southern part of the Eastern Industrial Area (TL 206 987);

This report details the results of the archaeological evaluation that took place at Homerton College between the 16th and 20th December 1996, prior to the second phase of the Homerton College development scheme (TL 460562). The work was undertaken by the Cambridge Archaeological Unit and commissioned by Gale Bryan, Bursar and Clerk to the trustees of Homerton College.

The excavation revealed the presence of two (possibly 3) truncated Saxo-Norman pits, reflecting domestic activity in the immediate area. From the 13th to the 16th century the land to the east of the existing Bursary Range of Trinity College has been extensively utilised as gardens or open plots these periodically cut through to extract the underlying natural gravels.

On the 13th and 14th January 1997 an archaeological evaluation was carried out by Cambridge Archaeological Unit at a site on the corner of Willow Walk and Fair Street in Cambridge (TL 455 586). This work was undertaken on behalf of Roger Lynn Associates in accordance with a brief issued by Cambridgeshire County Council (C/96/0554/FP), in advance of the building of four town houses and four residential apartments on an area of 920sqm

Limited excavations were carried-out during 1994 to the rear of the Bath Hotel, Bene't Street in advance of the construction of new facilities for Corpus Christi College. The scale of excavations was limited, investigating only areas likely to be disturbed during construction work, while unexpectedly deep and extensive late intrusions had truncated most of the post-medieval levels The earliest deposits encountered confirm the presence of medieval structures over at least the east side of the site, the western edge possibly falling within open garden areas. The very limited dating evidence suggests a possibly fourteenth century date for this occupation, with earlier medieval deposits remaining unexcavated. No coherent pattern emerged for subsequent use of the site before the construction of a series of small pits or tanks, some timber-lined. No conclusive evidence was found for how they were used and their function at present remains uncertain, although tanning remains a possibility.
Their construction in at least two phases left little horizontal stratigraphy intact and dating evidence was sparse, although their use during the fifteenth century and abandonment by the mid-sixteenth century may be suggested. Finds of pottery, bone and other artefacts were very limited, but dumps associated with the abandonment and infilling of the latest tanks produced small but useful collection of complete or near complete pottery, dateable to the second quarter of the sixteenth century. The very similar character of this pottery to dumps found during the Bene't Court excavations, just to the northwest, suggests some possible connection. In view of the date and known history of properties in this part of the town, some association with changes in ownership and the use of the site during the mid-sixteenth century may be suggested.During the period of the excavation, refurbishment work at the Bath Hotel provided an opportunity to record much of the original seventeenth century timber frame of the building, and a brief report on this separate project, carried out by the CAU in collaboration with the Cambridge Historic Buildings Group, is included here.

In accordance with the conditions of the planning consent for an extension to 29 Petty Cury (�The Sock Shop': TL4500 5845) an archaeological watching brief was carried out by Cambridge Archaeological Unit on behalf of the architects, The Fitzroy Robinson Partnership. A series of site visits were made during the contractor's excavation of two foundation trenches across the northern and southern ends of the site. The exposed deposits were examined and sketch sections drawn of the exposed faces. No artefactual evidence was recovered.

An archaeological evaluation was undertaken at Numbers 75, 83 and 85 Castle Street, Cambridge (TL 444 593), by the Cambridge Archaeological Unit on behalf of Granta Housing Society in accordance with a Brief set by the Archaeological Office of Cambridge County Council. Previous archaeological and historical research within the Roman town suggested the likelihood of archaeological remains surviving in the development area. The watching brief and limited excavation confirmed the survival of more than 0.8 metre thickness of archaeological stratigraphy predating the 19th century. The primary phase of limited activity consisted of the survival of the former buried soil which was sampled for micromorphological analysis and comparison against the recent nearby excavations at New Hall College. A second phase was indicated by a shallow pit and stakeholes probably of the 1st century AD. A third phase indicated the presence of a probable 1st-2nd century AD wooden building, associated with a possible rammed earthen floor, which was later abandoned and sealed by domestic rubbish spreads and garden soil. A possible Romano-British gully and pit were also identified. These features correlate with the excavation results in the immediate area, and to the west in Ridgeon�s Gardens. A medieval phase was tentatively identified consisting of pits and a 4.0 metre deep north-south ditch probably forming the western extent of the 12-13th century outer bailey ditch of Cambridge Castle. The evaluation confirmed the presence of medieval inhumations, which were identified as probably surviving in the area of the excavations in 1988 associated with the Church of All Saints by the Castle. Further evidence suggests that the cemetery was partially encroached upon, possibly by an apparently short-lived building which was later demolished. The demolition probably coincided with the clearance of buildings, gardens and the remodelling of the outer bailey ditch during the Civil War c.1643. Subsequently the area appears to have seen limited activity, culminating in the construction of 75, 83, and 85 Castle Street during the 17th-18th centuries, with associated yards and gardens. The survival of more than 0.8 metre thickness of archaeological stratigraphy was minimized by the reduction of services trenches for the proposed development, with archaeology being preserved under geo-tex matting and hardcore.