BROMBOROUGH COURTHOUSE: Interim Excavation Report 2016 (original) (raw)

Archaeological excavations at Ridley Hall, Cambridge, 2012

In 2012 a small archaeological excavation was undertaken in the grounds of Ridley Hall Theological College by a number of volunteers, including sixth-form students and members of a local archaeology group, who were supervised and directed by Access Cambridge Archaeology at the University of Cambridge in collaboration with Ridley Hall. The aim of the excavation was to identify, record and analyse any archaeological evidence surviving on the site of a proposed new building while also providing the opportunity for volunteers to learn new skills and experience aspects of life and learning at Cambridge University. The excavations revealed residual evidence for intermittent prehistoric activity spanning the Mesolithic to late Iron Age and in situ features and finds pertaining to rural settlement dating to the 1st-2nd century AD and the 5th – 6th century AD. The 1st – 2nd century AD Romano-British evidence may extend back into the pre-Roman period and included a ditch likely to relate to domestic settlement in the immediate vicinity. Activity here appears to pre-date later Romano-British (2nd – 4th century) ditches previously recorded c. 200m to the west at Newnham College. Excavated evidence dating to the early Anglo-Saxon period included spread deposits of 5th – 6th century date which appear to be derived from domestic settlement on or immediately adjacent to the excavated site. This lies less than 120m from a previously excavated area of 6th – 7th century AD domestic settlement, and it seems likely that these together form part of the same Anglo-Saxon settlement. This site is thus shown to extend over a much larger area than was previously known, although its apparent size may be due in part to settlement shift, with the site focus possibly moving gradually north over the course of a century or so. The excavations in 2012 thus support recent suggestions that the intensity of settlement along this part of the Cam Valley in the 5th – 7th century AD was very high, and raises the likelihood that this area may have been of some importance in this period. By the 8th century, however, the area appears to have been abandoned and was thereafter used for arable, meadow or pasture until the existing college was built in the late 19th century. The 2012 excavations at Ridley Hall indicate it is highly probable that further in situ archaeological evidence of 1st – 6th century AD date survives beyond the area excavated in 2012, and may include a range of features, possibly including structural features associated with domestic settlement.