Evaluation at London Colney Village Club and Best Friends Childcare Centre, St Annes Road, London Colney, Hertfordshire

An archaeological field evaluation of the site consisting of a minimum of 90m2 trial trenching: equivalent to two trenches of 15m x 1.8m and a single trench of 20m x 1.8m, plus an appropriate contingency (Fig. 4). As the evaluation took place before the demolition of the extant buildings (marked in blue in Fig. 4), there is only a limited area where the trenches could be placed, particularly in the south-east of the development site. Additionally, the trench could not be placed within the shell of the building as there were remaining sub-dividing walls. The archaeological evaluation at the site, entailed the excavation of three trenches. Although the trench closest to St Anne's Road was entirely lacking in archaeological features, the other two trenches revealed likely the same a linear gully running northeast to southwest, parallel to the road. Although it contained no finds and could not be dated, it would have been at least 19m long, and may have indicated a previous property boundary. It could also have served a drainage functions, although the site is generally naturally permeable. Additionally, Trench 2 revealed a large pit-like feature at its south-southwest end. This could not be fully identified as its shape could not be fully seen in plan and it had been partially truncated by 20th century brick footings. However, its secondary fill contained post-medieval finds, including pottery dating to the 18th century. The base fill contained decomposed organic material. This may suggest that the feature was a rubbish pit or pond that underwent several phases of use. The features encountered in the evaluation trenches have a rural or semi-rural character to their function and content, to be expected in a location that would have been on the periphery or outside of the village of London Colney during the earlier post-medieval period. It is likely that the features lie outside of any occupation centre. Although post-medieval features and artefacts were discovered, the relatively small sample size means that little can be contributed to the stated research aims at this time, save to confirm that activity took place on the site prior to the 19th century. The lack of dating evidence in the gully is unfortunate, although it seems plausible that it is contemporary with the other feature in Trench 2, and may represent a post-medieval boundary.