Archaeological Investigations at Watson's Lane, Little Thetford, Ely, Cambridgeshire

Abstract

Archaeological fieldwork was carried out at Little Thetford, near Ely in the week of 15th-22nd July 1994. The evaluation was commissioned by Persimmon Homes in advance of an extensive residential development in a 3.7ha field on the west side of Watson's Lane, Little Thetford, Ely, Cambridgeshire (TL 5277/7625). This report completes the second part of a two-staged evaluation of the earthwork field and its immediate environs. An archaeological brief, prepared by the County Archaeology Office (CAO: Development Control), outlined the mitigation of the planning condition concerning the development of about 100 new houses on the west side of the village. The first part of the evaluation concerned research into the archaeological and historical background of the site and included air photographic study and an earthwork survey of ridge and furrow remains (SMR 09873). The second part involved a trial trenching programme to test any results from the background research and to determine the presence or absence of earlier archaeological remains sealed by the Medieval ridge and furrow. The archaeological features of a largely Romano-British settlement, probably a farmstead, were concentrated at the west end of the field in Trenches IV and V. Numerous ditches, aligned NW-SE and NE-SW (return angles of small enclosures, perhaps) were interspersed with occasional pits or postholes. Some of the features were partially masked by furrow or lower ridge soils.