Magdalene College, Chesterton Road Development, Cambridge: An Archaeological Desk-top Assessment

Abstract

The site is located immediately outside the defences of the 4th century Roman town of Cambridge, but some projections of the circuit suggest it may cut across the north- western corner of the site. Other Roman finds have been made in the vicinity, including a substantial bank immediately to the south. The proximity of the site to the Cambridge Watercourse and the finds of a late Saxon waterfront on the opposite bank of the Cam may indicate activity of that period is found. There was little activity in the site area during the Medieval period, with the site still fields in 1688. Between 1688 and 1798 a Toll House was built on or close to the south-west corner of the site. Nineteenth century extraction for brick making means that there will be no archaeological remains on the eastern part of the site