TESCO, Hamilton, Leicester Archaeological Watching Brief

In September 2002 Oxford Archaeology (OA, formerly Oxford Archaeological Unit, OAU) carried out an archaeological watching brief at the site of the new Tesco Store at Hamilton, (Humberstone), Leicester (NGR SK 631 064). Taylor Woodrow Construction commissioned the work on behalf of Tesco Limited. The watching brief was undertaken during groundworks and surface stripping in advance of an eastward extension to the present store. The work was a continuation of the excavations carried out by OAU in 1997-8.

The watching brief revealed an extension of the archaeological activity known from previous excavations. A Bronze Age ditch and part of an enclosure of mid-late Iron Age date with ?associated gully were discovered at the south end of the site. A single pit and posthole were also recoded. The prehistoric activity decreased to the north of the site where the bases of a series of medieval or later plough furrows were noted. A small assemblage of Bronze Age and Iron Age pottery was recovered from a few features.