Neolithic, medieval and post-medieval remains at Eight Ash Green, Colchester

Between the 1st and the 18th of March 2021 Oxford Archaeology East (OA East) carried out an excavation at land north of Halstead Road, Eight Ash Green, Essex. An open area excavation of approximately 0.85ha targeted prehistoric and medieval – post-medieval features first revealed during an evaluation carried out in November 2020.
The south-western corner of the site contained a group of 14 small, sub-circular pits/post holes, one of which contained pottery dated tentatively to the Late Neolithic period. No obvious structure was formed by these features, although it is possible that some of them may have formed a fence line or wind break. They were probably the result of a low-level, transient presence at the site during the Late Neolithic period.
In the south-eastern corner of the excavation area, close to the current line of Halstead Road, a small rectilinear ditch system was revealed, from which a small medieval ceramic assemblage was recovered. It is probable that this network of ditches belonged to a system of small plots associated with road-side dwellings or cultivation. To the north of this, two broadly parallel boundaries were revealed, possibly belonging to an open field system on the periphery of the village during the medieval period.
The final phase of activity at the site comprised two boundary ditches probably associated with post-medieval field arrangements, the latter of which was present on the 1837 Fordham Parish Tithe Map. A small assemblage of assorted post-medieval finds was recovered from the two ditches.