Excavation at Land at 13 Trap Road, Guilden Morden, Cambridgeshire: An Archaeological Excavation Archive Report

The excavation comprised two roughly rectangular areas of 112sq.m and 236 sq.m respectively, where the trial trench evaluation had identified possible remains of roman roadside ditches. The excavation areas were constrained by the presence of an underground electric cable. Ground reduction during the excavation was carried out under archaeological supervision using an 8 ton 360� tracked mechanical excavator fitted with a 2m wide toothless ditching bucket. Topsoil and subsoil deposits were removed in spits down to the level of the undisturbed natural geological deposits where potential archaeological features could be observed and recorded. Exposed surfaces were cleaned by trowel and hoe as appropriate, and all further excavation was undertaken manually using hand tools. The excavation confirmed the presence of a rural roman road identified in Margary's Roman Roads in Britain (Margary 1973) as no.176 between Little Brickhill in Buckinghamshire and Arrington Bridge in Cambridgeshire. No agger or surface were identified during the excavations, with the route marked by two parallel ditches. Pottery evidence indicated that these ditches had largely infilled by 400AD. Aligned to the trackway were three parallel ditches, one of which contained an assemblage of Southern Maxey-type ware pottery dating it between the mid-7th and mid-9th century AD. These ditches likely represented the remains of a roadside settlement. This is indicative that the roman routeway remained a feature in the landscape, likely as a routeway bounded by hedgerows. The route of the roman track was still present as a trackway or footpath on the 1888-1913 OS map within the excavation area and this was reflected by a hedgerow re-cutting the top of one of the roadside ditches on the same alignment. This hedgerow and the roman ditch underneath were subsequently truncated away by a much larger hedgerow which is also present as a trackway or footpath on the 1888-1913 OS map. An extant footpath parallel to this later hedgerow remains in use along the southern boundary of the site and may reflect a shift of said trackway.