Archaeological Evaluation and Watching Brief at Scarlett's Farm, West Wratting, Cambridgeshire

Two stages of archaeological investigation have been carried out at Scarlett's Farm, West Wratting; a trench evaluation followed by a watching brief on the foundation trenches of a new private house. The Farm occupies a moated site, of uncertain date, the north and western sides of which are extant, the southern and eastern infilled. The new building almost directly overlies its predecessor, a 17th or 18th century farmhouse recently demolished. The old building was presumed to have been constructed directly over the backfilled southern side of the moat, major cracks in its fabric having been caused by subsidence. While the trench evaluation did not uncover the infilled moat, it revealed a narrow early ditch, parallel and to the north of it. In the watching brief both the latest, infilled moat and an earlier linear bank and ditch, possibly part of a pre-moat enclosure, were recorded. It was also clear that within the footprint of the new building, between its western and eastern walls, the moat altered greatly, halving in both width and depth. This may be suggestive of a former entranceway. Using both cartographic sources and excavation, it is now known that this southern side of the moat has been infilled in stages. While these stages are not clearly dated they probably span the 17th to early 20th centuries.