Test Pit 10 - Fieldgate Nurseries

This pit was located in a field to the rear of Fieldgate Nurseries, a family business started in 1969.


The Finds

The small assemblage of Roman pottery from this test pit, which came out of all but the first context, shows that the site was in use at that time, although it probably had a marginal function. It then appears to have been abandoned until the early medieval period, and again before the 15th century. It was then largely unused until the 19th century.

Other finds included metal tacks, a handmade square nail, brick, tile, stone, and some shell. The faunal assemblage included three unidentifiable bones of sheep-sized animals.

Both this pit and the nearby Test Pit 21, each contained seven Roman pottery sherds, suggesting a relatively consistent distribution and density of activity during this period across this area of Meldreth, and together with the Roman pottery finds from the main centre of the village they contribute towards a general scatter of Roman-era pottery that most likely corresponds to the presence of one or a couple of farms surrounded by farmed fields at this time. The area around test pit 10 then appears to have been abandoned until the medieval period when the small quantities of pottery indicate its use as fields during the 12th -14th centuries, but was then little utilised again until the post-medieval period. The pottery from test pit 21 includes further fragments from the late medieval and post-medieval periods, indicating small variations in distribution and spatial patterning across this area.

For an overview of the site and finds, please click on the image of the exhibition poster which is the first image in the gallery below.

For detailed analysis of the finds, please see the results sheet for this pit, which is available as a download at the bottom of this page.

For reports and maps relating to all of the test pits, please see the documents available on our results page.


Site Diary

Day One (this pit was dug on only one day)

Good fun – we all enjoyed it.


Photo Gallery

Please click on a photograph to display a larger image.

Downloads

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