Archaeological Evaluation Report: Land at Railway Meadow, London Road, Spellbrook, Hertfordshire

In May 2025, KDK Archaeology Ltd undertook a five-trench archaeological evaluation of Land at Railway Meadow, London Road, Spellbrook Hertfordshire as a condition of planning permission for the development of the site. The soil profile proved to be very shallow and contained a high proportion of root interference and tree debris. Subsoils were present only to the south of the area of excavation showing that a high level of disturbance or possibly had occurred on the site. No archaeological finds, features or deposits were encountered on the site. Five trenches equating to 275 square meters were excavated on Land at Railway Meadow, London Road, Spellbrook, Hertfordshire. Although the site is situated within an area of archaeological significance with particular emphasis on the Iron Age and Roman period, no finds, features or deposits were exposed within the area of investigation. The site has historically had fairly extensive tree cover and has been used as a rubbish dump in recent years. The overburden was very shallow and subsoil was only noted in the southernmost trench. It is probable that the site stratigraphy was the result of a combination of extensive rooting and topsoil erosion from both wind and rain, though it is possible that some truncation of the site. The absence of archaeology on the site has meant the original research aims of the project could not be advanced on this occasion.