Water Lane, Steeple Bumpstead, Essex

Between the 6th and 15th April 2020, Oxford Archaeology East (OA East) carried out a 12-trench evaluation on behalf of Enterprise Property Group Ltd at the site of Water Lane, Steeple Bumpstead, Essex (TL 67680 41094, Fig. 1). The site was located on the south-east facing slope of the valley in which the village is located. Archaeological remains were fairy dispersed, with most found in the eastern half of the site closer to Water Lane and Bumpstead Brook. Trenches in the north-eastern part of the site revealed ditches forming a probable field system aligned with the road/brook; the pottery assemblage from which is predominantly Early Roman (AD50-100). A single posthole was also revealed, with a surviving post-pipe, suggesting the possibility of structural remains from this period. Roman remains have been recorded previously in excavations immediately to the south-east. One of the trenches (Trench 10), in this area positioned close to the Water Lane frontage, contained a number of features that were overlain by a dark deposit from which an assemblage of mixed Early-Mid Roman and medieval pottery and ceramic building material (CBM) was recovered. This deposit lay within a broadly linear depression which may represent a silted-up trackway or hollow way. Several ditches were also revealed across the site (Trenches 1, 9, 11 and 12), which contained finds dating from the medieval to post-medieval periods. In the south-eastern corner of the site, within a bowl-like depression visible on the surface, Trench 1 revealed evidence of probable post-medieval quarrying activity. The evaluation produced a moderately large assemblage of Roman pottery (2091g; mostly from a single ditch), along with smaller assemblages of medieval, post-medieval and modern pottery, CBM and clay tobacco-pipe. A small collection of animal bone was recovered which includes some evidence of butchery and/or possible bone/horn working. Environmental samples generally produced few plant remains other than charcoal, although charred grain, chaff, legumes and weed seeds were recovered from contexts in Trenches 10 and 11 in the north-eastern part of the site.