Marlborough School, St Albans, Hertfordshire

Between the 12th and the 15th September 2016 Oxford Archaeology East carried out an archaeological excavation on land at Marlborough School, Watling Street, St Albans, Hertfordshire (TL 1414 0581). The excavation, covering c. 200 sqm in the south-east part of the proposed development site, was divided into two areas due to the presence of live buried services and a number of trees.
The excavation, which was in part targeted on remains identified during a previous evaluation, revealed ditches, pits, postholes and a well spanning the prehistoric to post-medieval and modern periods, although many of the features remain undated.
In general the pottery recovered from feature fills was small and abraded, with most of the Roman sherds being found as residual elements in later features. Other finds include small quantities of Roman and later ceramic building material, in addition to animal bone and two Bronze Age or Iron Age flints.
Despite the proximity to Watling Street, the features predominantly appear to be of post-Roman date, although the presence of tegula and other Roman tile fragments indicates that a building of some status was located in the vicinity.