Between the 14th January and the 6th February 2019 Oxford Archaeology East (OA East) undertook a c. 0.5ha open area excavation on land (Field G) to the north of Cam Drive, Ely, north-west of the historic core of the city (TL 53762 81569). The site lies in a larger parcel of land designated for development as part of the Ely Masterplan. Previous archaeological works across the whole development area, in the form of a geophysical survey and trial trench evaluation, had identified, in Field G, linear features presumed to be Roman cultivation rows and two large curvilinear ditches, the finds assemblage from which suggested a 16th century date. The excavation found that the linear features formed a rectilinear Roman field system, whilst the large curvilinear ditches formed an enclosure around a cross-shaped beam slot associated with a windmill. The pottery and ceramic building material (CBM) assemblage from these ditches indicated a continuity of use stretching across the late medieval to post-medieval periods. Also revealed were a large prehistoric pit and ditches forming a probable post-medieval enclosure. Within the enclosure were the remains of a wall and well probably associated with a structure present on first edition OS mapping. Several early modern drainage and boundary ditches completed the sequence. As well as a large assemblage of medieval and post-medieval pottery and CBM from the windmill enclosure ditches, finds of note included nine rare examples of worked cattle and horse bone identified as windmill spindle raps.
Neal Mason (Tue,) studied this question.