#ThrowbackThursday Rectory Road

This #ThrowbackThursday we’re taking a look at our work at Rectory Road, Stisted.

Our work at Rectory Road was carried out in February 2021. This site is located within the historic village of Stisted, which is likely of medieval origin. The centre of its village, about 400m southeast of the site, contains several listed buildings dating from the 15th century onwards.

This archaeological evaluation revealed interesting activity, with finds that indicated a probable date back to the Bronze Age! Trench T1, north of the site, consisted of two prehistoric pits which had contained quantities of heat-altered (burnt) stone along with pottery and fired clay. The second phase was believed to belong to the later medieval period, with three ditches, a plough scar and pit that contained evidence dating from the 12th and 14thcenturies. It is believed that the ditches on the site were likely field boundaries when used for agricultural purposes

We also returned to the site for a small excavation in July 2021, during which we uncovered a small number of Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age pits, pits/ditches and postholes/stakeholes.

To learn more about this site, check out CAT Reports 1636 and 1666 at cat.essex.ac.uk.

Written by work experience student Keely.