An archaeological evaluation by trial-trenching at Barnetson Court, 1 Braintree Road, Great Dunmow, Essex – September 2013

Six trial-trenches were excavated by the Colchester Archaeological Trust in grassed areas around the former care home Barnetson Court in Great Dunmow, Essex.
Deep deposits of modern made-ground were identified in five of the trenches. The site is located on the side of a hill and the modern make-up identified in the trial-trenches had been used to level the site prior to the construction of the care home.
A trench located near the eastern boundary of the site identified a small area of open ground which had remained largely undisturbed by the construction of Barnetson Court. Residual Roman pottery was recovered from a buried topsoil layer and from two post-medieval/ modern linear features in this trench.
In a trench to the east of the care home, a sherd of medieval pottery was recovered from the buried topsoil and a possible Roman gully was identified at a depth of 1.1m below modern ground-level.