Land South of Nos 1 to 7 Old School Lane, Upware: PXA and UPD

Between the 11th December 2017 and 11th July 2018 Oxford Archaeology East (OA East) carried out excavations in two phases at land south of Nos 1 to 7 Old School Lane, Upware, Cambridgeshire. In total, 0.57ha was investigated in two contiguous areas of excavation.
Few prehistoric features were recorded and few early finds were recovered, although the evidence was sufficient to suggest a background presence during the Neolithic, Bronze Age and Iron Age. Remnants of two ring gullies indicate the presence of roundhouses, which although poorly dated, were probably Iron Age.
In contrast, significant, intense and long-lived Roman activity, which peaked in the Late Roman period (AD 200-400+), occurred in the form of a ladder settlement, with related features including enclosures, boundary ditches, pits, postholes and substantial structural remains. In the north of the site excavation revealed part of a large rectangular aisled building with stone foundations, a wide entranceway and two parallel lines of post-settings. Human remains, comprising a double adult inhumation, multiple neonate burials and a cremation, were also associated with the Roman settlement.
The stone-footed structure is a rare and important building, given its location in the Cambridgeshire fens. The investment of labour required in its construction suggests that the associated settlement may have been of some local significance. Overall, the results of the project demonstrate intensive Roman occupation of the peninsula of dry land at Upware and provide an additional settlement to supplement the known Roman settlements along the River Cam.
Following abandonment of the building in the very Late Roman period, several ditches of post-Roman date demonstrate limited later use of the site.