Colchester Archaeological Trust

CAT Report 1070: summary

Middle Iron Age farmsteads: Archaeological excavation on land at Fiveways Fruit Farm, Dyers Road, Stanway, Essex, CO3 0QR: May-December 2015
by Pip Parmenter, Adam Wightman and Laura Pooley (with contributions from Stephen Benfield, David Dungworth, Lisa Gray, Anthony Krus, Sarah Carter, Emma Holloway)

Date report completed: February 2019
Location: Fiveways Fruit Farm, Dyers Road, Stanway, Essex, CO3 0QR
Map reference(s): TL 9564 2311
File size: kb
Project type: Excavation
Significance of the results:
Keywords:

Summary. Archaeological excavations were carried out at Fiveways Fruit Farm, Colchester, Essex. The excavations were conducted in advance of development of the site for mineral extraction, as an extension to the Stanway Quarry operated by Lafarge Tarmac. The site was located on the edge of the Iron Age oppidum of Camulodunum and is close to the Gosbecks complex, which was occupied extensively throughout the Late Iron Age and Roman periods.

The excavations revealed an extensive Middle Iron Age settlement (mid 4th to late 1st century BC) comprising two interlinked enclosed farmsteads and associated field system with stock control enclosures.

Small-scale Neolithic, Bronze Age and Early Iron Age activity was evident in the form of worked flints and pottery sherds recovered from tree-throws and pits. Field boundary ditches, pits and tree-throws representing medieval, post-medieval and modern agricultural activity were also found across the site.