Archaeological evaluation on land north of Beth Chatto's Gardens, Elmstead Market, Essex, CO7 7DB: March 2024

Archaeological evaluation was carried out as per the brief and WSI. An archaeological evaluation (forty-four trial-trenches) was carried out on land north of Beth Chatto's Gardens, Essex, in advance of the construction of a new residential development. Previous excavations to the south-east of the site at Lanswood Park uncovered a large number of Late Bronze Age or Early Iron Age pits lying near a ring-ditch containing a cremation burial, which also probably dated to this period, as well as a Late Iron Age/early Roman enclosure containing further cremation burials. The primary phase of activity occurred from the late 1st into the 3rd century, when a farmed estate stood at the site. A subsequent excavation to the north-east of the site, north of Clacton Road, similarly revealed evidence of Late Bronze Age or Early Iron Age activity, as well evidence of a pottery industry operating here during the early Roman period. Excavations at the present site revealed evidence of sporadic occupation at the site during the Late Neolithic or Early Bronze Age, and the Middle or Late Bronze Age. A further phase of activity occurred during the early Roman period, with evidence of occupation and of animal husbandry and crop processing. An urned Roman cremation burial may belong to this phase of activity. A droveway associated with the farmstead at Lanswood Park was further excavated, along with Roman ditches which might represent the remains of a field system located to the west of this settlement. Further phases extended through the post-medieval and modern periods. These features were likely related to agricultural activity and included several field boundary ditches depicted on mid 19th-century tithe mapping of the area.