Lea Hall, Dunmow Road, Hatfield Heath, Essex: An Archaeological Evaluation

Trial Trench Evaluation 2 x 16m long, 1.8m wide archaeological trenches Despite the archaeological potential of the site, no features or deposits of archaeological interest were encountered by the evaluation and there were no archaeologically significant finds in the excavated deposits. These results broadly accord with those of the evaluation of the area immediately north of the site of the proposed new bungalows, carried out by PCA in August 2022, which similarly encountered no archaeologically significant remains, other than a post-medieval ditch. The combined findings of these two evaluations suggests that the area to the east and north-east of the Scheduled moated site was probably used as farmland, possibly infields or paddocks, throughout the history of Lea Hall from the medieval through to the post-medieval periods. In the 20th century, this area was then used for leisure purposes, with the creation of a tennis court on the current site and an equestrian menage on the land to the north.