A Late Prehistoric Droveway, Early Romano-British and Middle Anglo-Saxon Farmsteads and a Post-Medieval Windmill North of Colchester Road, Coggeshall, Essex

Between 28th June and 3rd September 2021 Oxford Archaeology East (OA East) carried out excavation of three areas at Land North of Colchester Road, Coggeshall, Essex (Areas 1-3, totalling c.1.43ha). The excavations lay within a 17ha development area comprising four arable fields lying between the town and the A120 carriageway.
The locations of the excavation areas were based on the results of previous stages of geophysical survey and trial trenching conducted across the development area in January to February 2017 and November to December 2020 respectively. The trenching confirmed the presence of archaeological features identified by the geophysical survey, consisting of prehistoric ditches in the northern part of the site and a possible Late Iron Age or Early Romano-British farmstead to the south. Elements of a network of post-medieval field boundaries, quarry pits and the remains of a windmill – depicted on the 1777 Chapman and André map of Essex – were also uncovered.
Area 1 targeted the northern prehistoric ditches and revealed an impressive droveway which, although poorly dated, possibly traversed the slopes above the River Blackwater during the later Bronze Age and Iron Age periods. Area 3 uncovered the full extent of the enclosed farmstead in the southern part of site, which had a well-defined entranceway that led to the Roman Road of Stane Street. Pottery from its outer circuit and internal features suggest it was occupied during the Early Romano-British period. Upon excavation, Area 1 also revealed the western part of a second, unexpected, enclosed farmstead, the morphology of which strongly suggested it belonged to the Middle Anglo-Saxon period; a suspicion confirmed by two radiocarbon dates. Area 2 targeted the windmill site but did not encounter any below-ground remains. It was probably a surface laid construction, typical of the post-medieval period. Pottery and glass assemblages from the surrounding ditches provided a possible dating bracket for its operation between the 17th and 19th centuries.
The droveway is a significant find, underlining that pastoral farming probably extended from the well-researched zone of cropmarks on the lighter soils of the lower River Blackwater into its less visible clayland periphery during later prehistory. The Early Romano-British farmstead is important for future study of the local post-conquest landscape and the influence of its emerging road network on settlements. The Middle Anglo-Saxon farmstead is also a significant discovery for the region, considering the rarity of evidence for mid-7th to 9th century Anglo-Saxon settlement at a national scale.