Report on a watching brief on the Anglian Water Castle Hedingham to Halstead pipeline: December 1999-May 2000

A watching brief on the laying of a 4km-long water-pipe revealed a Roman ditch and pit at Castle Hedingham, close to the site previously excavated at the sourceworks in 1992 (Lavender 1996). The pit produced over 8kg of Roman brick and tile, reinforcing previous ideas that a demolished Roman building with a hypocaust lies upslope of the site. The ditch broadly followed the alignment of the 1992 features. There were other undated features, recent drain lines, and other features connected with the now-dismantled railway line. Loose surface finds included Roman, medieval and post-medieval pottery, and a few struck prehistoric flints. Although no subsoil features were seen, a large group of burnt flints and a quantity of Roman pottery were found in the ploughsoil at TL 7915 3421; this may be on the periphery of a prehistoric and Roman site lying upslope of this spot.