Monument record 0224504000 - Land off Main Street

Medieval settlement remains recorded during evaluation trial trenching by Hertfordshire Archaeological Trust in July 1998 and subsequent area excavations carried out in May and June 1999 by John Samuels Archaeological Consultants. 3 main phases of medieval activity were identified from the 12th to 14th centuries, although residual sherds of Anglo-Saxon pottery may indicate earlier origins of settlement in the immediate vicinity. 12th century occupation appears to comprise 2 ditched enclosures, possibly animal enclosures, 1 with evidence of internal structures, and a series of narrow gullies and ditches roughly aligned on the street frontage. In the 13th century 3 buildings were constructed along the street frontage, 2 with buttressed stone foundations and 1 probably entirely timber-built within a beam slot. All had internal features, whilst the best preserved building had evidence for internal floor layers and an external (rear) yard surface. A number of associated gullies may have defined the building plots or acted as drainage gullies. At least 2 large N-S boundary ditches, one with a marked dog-led to the rear of the buildings, were interpreted as property boundaries running at right angles from the street frontage. In the 14th century a single large N-S ditch, presumably a major property boundary was constructed at right angles to the street frontage. The lack of late 14th and 15th century pottery, noted by both the evaluation and the excavation reports suggests that the site was no longer used for settlement after the middle of the 14th century, possibly being used as pasture or orchards as indicated by later documentary evidence (B9-B10).