Site Event/Activity record ECH6118 - Lea Manor Farm, Aldford: Report on Archaeological Investigation associated with the Re-development of Lea Manor Farm (2013)

A programme of archaeological investigation, following production of a desk-based assessment, undertaken by Prof. Nick Higham in 2013 in advance of re-development works at Lea Manor Farm, Aldford. The investigative work included field walking and metal detecting, monitoring of areas of topsoil stripping and excavation of test pits/trenches. It seems likely that by the later Middle Ages the main occupation at Lea Manor Farm was already sited at or close to the early 19th century farm complex. The land investigated was farmland, in particular ridged arable, from at least the later Middle Ages. Extensive modern ploughing has mostly destroyed the ridge and furrow. Small quantities of Medieval material (13th-15th centuries) was retrieved over the area of the watching brief, this probably reflects material discarded within the settlement and then spread across the fields through manuring. A single sherd of Saintonge ware came from a test pit and the presence of this imported pottery may indicate that the site was of some status in the 13th century. There is a possibility that this was the site of a small manor named in Domesday Book. The presence of Roman ceramic building material is also potentially significant. This mostly consisted of fragments of roof tile, including some imported to the site possibly from the legionary works at Holt. In terms of Roman pottery, a limited range of material was recovered and the majority of vessels are locally-produced Cheshire Plain wares. The pottery assemblage suggests that Roman activity at the site was concentrated in the late first and second centuries, with occupation or activity continuing into the mid-third to fourth centuries. Occupants had access to a range of pottery, comprising both fine tablewares and coarse domestic and kitchen wares. Fine tablewares, in the form of samian ware from Central Gaul, represent the only continental imports present at the site.Also recovered were two sherds of mortarium and various coarse wares probably relating to kitchen use. Two small pieces of samian, one with traces of riveting which implies mending after damage, derive from table ware of a type widely distributed in the military zone of Roman Britain. The nature of Roman settlement is unclear but could have been a farm or small villa. The precise location of Roman settlement at Lea Manor Farm is also not clear, however, features 1 and 12 were almost certainly Roman in date, with the possibility of 2, 4, 5, 6 and 11 as well. The large cobbles encountered in the fills of features 6 and 12 were probably imported to the site, given that such stones do not occur in the subsoil here. Their original function is unclear before deposition in these ditch sumps, but they may have served as rubble to support buildings or as yard surfacing, to reduce the problem of miring on the clay soil. The concentration of Roman features on the south side of the development may suggest that settlement was focused close by. Certainly, there was a fairly consistent but low-level presence of Roman-period building material across much of this area. Alternatively, it would make sense topographically for the Roman-period site to be within the footprint of the medieval and modern farm, on the top of the rise, in which case the located features were peripheral to the main settlement area. (1)