Monument record 1556300000 - Green Pastures, Water Stratford

Evaluation trial trenching and excavation carried out by Network Archaeology from May to July 2018 in advance of residential development identified the remains of several structures including at least three phases of later medieval buildings, from the 13th to 16th centuries. The final building was abandoned or demolished by the 17th century, when the site appears to have reverted to agricultural use. To the northeast of the buildings a natural hollow appeared to have been used in the medieval and early post-medieval periods as a pond or watering hole, with a small number of associated ditches, interpretted as field boundary ditches.
Evidence for Saxo-Norman activity comprised 11th to 12th century pottery in the lower fills of the pond found in Trench 1, as well as a small number of residual sherds incorporated into later deposits. This suggests that the pond was an open feature in this period and that agricultural activity took place within the site, although the focus of the Saxon and Norman settlement was presumably nearby.
The main focus of domestic activity on the site was in the 13th-16th centuries, with building construction. The earliest features appear to be an undated oval oven and flue (Structure IV) and an adjacent ditch found in Trench 3; any associated building appears to have been truncated by construction of a later building. The earliest building (Structure V) is represented by the foundations of an undated NW-SE limestone wall at least 1.05m long and 0.9m wide with an oval oven or hearth (Structure III). The remainder of this building is absent but is likely to have been removed in the 13th or 14th century demolition and construction of a later overlying building.
The next phase of construction was a relatively large rectangular building about 12m by 10m aligned NW-SE with limestone wall foundations, two internal dividing walls and a fragment of surviving brick floor which had been repaired (Structure I). Finds from the fills of the foundation trenches suggest the building was constructed in the 14th or 15th century, whilst the floor bricks are typical late medieval and early post-medieval forms and suggest either a 15th-16th century date for the building, or that it was still in use at that time. This building appears to have been demolished with several robber cuts recorded, particularly on the western side, one of which appears to have been backfilled in the 16th century.
The final building (Structure II) may have re-used some of the robbed stone from Structure I. Only the SW end of the building was excavated but the very substantial limestone wall foundations suggest it was at least equal in size to Structure I. The excavated remains were about 5m by 3.5m with an internal dividing wall 0.6-0.8m wide. Finds from the foundations suggest the building was constructed in the 15th–16th century, but is probably later than Structure I. Pottery from the demolition rubble overlying Structures I and II had very few sherds later than the 16th century suggesting the buildings were either abandoned or demolished by the 17th century and the site had returned to agriculture or pasture. See report for detail (B1).