Land at Maylands Avenue, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire

In June 2020, Oxford Archaeology (OA) was commissioned by RPS Group to
undertake a field evaluation on land at Maylands Avenue, Hemel Hempstead.
Seventeen trial trenches were excavated within and around the footprint of
an old industrial factory, representing a 4% sample of the proposed
development area. The site is located near the Roman temple-mausoleum
complex at Wood Lane End and had the potential to contain important
archaeological remains.
The evaluation revealed no significant archaeological remains and the
stratigraphic sequence suggests that the site has been heavily truncated and
disturbed by the previous land-use. Areas of undisturbed ground were
extensively investigated to the east of the site, but again no archaeological
remains were identified. The presence of demolition spoil, modern building
remains and services restricted the layout of the trenching and necessitated
the relocation of several trenches from the central area to the northern part
of the site. A small number of finds of late post-medieval and modern date
were recovered during the investigation from truncated furrows. Based on the
results of the trenching, the site has been significantly truncated by modern
disturbance and is considered to have low potential for the survival of
archaeological remains.