Colchester Archaeological Trust

CAT Report 515: summary

An archaeological watching brief at the Royal Mail Braintree Delivery Office, Lakes Road, Braintree, Essex: April-May 2009
by Ben Holloway

Date report completed: June 2009
Location: Royal Mail Braintree Delivery Office, Lakes Road, Braintree, Essex
Map reference(s): TL 7671 2287
File size: 26,108 kb
Project type: Watching brief
Significance of the results: neg
Keywords: -

Summary. Monitoring work was conducted at the site as a result of earlier evaluation work. An area measuring approximately 23 x 15m square (Area 1) and located to the west of the earlier evaluation trenches T1-T2 (CAT Report 499), was monitored during reduction and levelling works prior to the construction of a temporary car-park (Figs 1-2). The car-park surface consisting of patchy tarmac hardtop (L1); this sealed a compacted deposit of dry mix concrete and hardcore (L2) used as bedding for the parking surface. On the eastern side of the reduced area, L2 directly sealed the natural geological horizon (boulder clay L4), but, on the western side of the reduced area, a thin deposit of accumulation material was present (L3), sealing natural. Minor archaeological features in the reduced area were concentrated along its northern edge, and consisted of pits (F14-F17) datable to the 19th/20th century. Pits F15 and F16 had been truncated by a substantial modern pit (F18). F18 contained modern glass and plastic. The site was previously occupied by warehousing and workshops, and it is likely that F18 is associated with this previous industrial activity. In addition to the reduction work, monitoring was also undertaken as contractors dug a service trench to re-route an existing sewer run outside the footprint of the proposed building. The new service trench was 1.4m deep by 500mm wide, and, as with the area reduction, was excavated through the car-park hardstanding (L1) and base layer (L2). There was no evidence of the accumulation horizon (L3) which was seen during the evaluation; this had probably been removed by modern terracing. Most of the trench was excavated through the natural boulder clay (L4). No significant archaeological features were observed in the trench, but there was a modern brick and concrete foundation similar to those found during the evaluation (CAT Report 499). As in the evaluation, all of the archaeological features contained material, including brick and peg-tile fragments, which indicates a post-medieval if not modern date for them. There was no evidence of medieval activity. If it existed, it was probably removed by modern terracing. The features observed during the watching brief, as in the earlier evaluation, were post-medieval and modern (18th or 19th century) and appear to relate to Parsonage Farm, which occupied the site into the mid 20th century.