Monument record HAD 015 - Possible Roman villa site at Aldham Mill (Rom)

Possible Roman Villa site.
1979: Rectangular enclosure; two ditches including C1 pottery. Corn drying kiln and C4 pottery.
1982: An area within a large rectangular enclosure, identified from air photographs and previously trial-trenched in 1979, was excavated in advance of construction work in the Hadleigh Bypass. Over much of the site the Romano-British features were covered by a silty clay loam, the result of a period of increased soil erosion from the surrounding higher ground. This was probably due to a change in the agriculurual use of the land, such as woodland clearance or conversion from pasture to arable fields. Sections across the two parallel ditches forming the east side of the enclosure showed that they were finally filled in the C4 and excavation of the lower fills was hampered by frequent flooding of this part of the site. A probable buried soil horizon between the ditches produced handmade IA potsherds.
Within the enclosure there were a number of shallow, recut ditches, some containing C1 and C2 pottery and a natural depression containing Roman debris.
There is no indication of any building in the excavated area, but fragments of roof tile were common.
To the east of the enclosure further Roman occupation was found in a new drainage trench; traces of features in this area contained a large amount of carbonised cereal grain. Other features visible in the drainage trench contained burnt clay and ash (S1).
1998: Aerial photographic assessment identified and mapped a large rectlinear enclosure of possible Roman date and possibly relating to a villa. (S4)
1999: Evaluation identied ditches associated with the enclosure. See HAD 059 (S3).
See also Un and HAD 002.