Roman and Medieval Boundary Ditches along Ermine Street, Godmanchester

The Archaeological Field Unit of Cambridgeshire County Council was commissioned to monitor groundworks adjacent to 22 Earning Street, Godmanchester Cambridgeshire. Machine excavation included soil stripping and the digging of foundation trenches prior to the construction of a house with attached garage. The development area lies on the eastern side of the first and second century Roman town, and within the town walls which are presently bordered by Earning Street. As well as the likely presence of Roman finds including walls, there was also the potential for the survival of Saxon and medieval settlement evidence within the development area. Four features were recognised during monitoring. These included one Roman ditch and one post-medieval ditch. There were also two probable quarry pits for the extraction of sand which were likely to be from the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries. No occupation evidence, construction or destruction deposits were encountered.