Monument record 0932700000 - Former cement works, 150m south of Vicarage Road

Trial trenching carried out by Albion Archaeology in July 2000 and subsequent excavation in April to June 2002 in advance of redevelopment of site for housing identified 4 parallel Romano-British ditches all aligned roughly NE-SW and interpreted as the remains of a field system. A substantial flat-based boundary ditch 3.2m wide and 0.44m deep had been recut later in the period as a steep-side ditch 2.1m wide and 0.44m deep. Molluscan samples from the fills are dominated by open-country species, suggesting a cleared landscape throughout the life of the ditch. The other ditches were much slighter, measuring 0.56m -1m wide and 0.15m - 0.4m deep. An irregular linear feature, 0.98m wide and 0.08m deep, interpreted as the base of a possible pathway, was also tentatively dated to the Roman phase on stratigraphic grounds. Finds of pottery, animal bone, flint, coins and metalwork were recovered, some of which were residual within later features (B2). No trace was found of the Roman road (CAS 2991) which the Viatores group suggested crossed the site (B1). NGR to centre of excavated area.