ENN110384 - Land adjacent 34 Church Road, Piddington, 2021 (Strip, map & sample)

The results of the investigation at Church Road offer a rare and intriguing window into the Roman and medieval landscape at Piddington, where very few archaeological discoveries have been made to date within village itself. The Romano-British period With regard to the Romano-British landscape at Piddington, research, has for many decades, been concentrated to the southwest of the village, with the excavation of a Roman villa at its focus. The evidence from Church Road appears to be the first indication of a pattern of Romano-British agrarian land-use in the villa’s north-eastern hinterland. The archaeological window afforded by the investigation at Church Road will undoubtedly enhance identification of even the most ephemeral traces of the Romano-British landscape in other parts of Piddington village. In this context even the most smallest development plots in the village are worthy of exploration in order to expand knowledge of Romano-British land-use. The Early Medieval period Evidence of the Anglo-Saxon village was elusive – consigned to four sherds of St Neots-type pottery (9th – 11th century) which were found in three features of later medieval date. But nonetheless it is the first archaeological evidence of an Anglo-Saxon presence. The High Medieval Period Site status: The evidence suggests that this part of the village was a tenement (a croft) or a part of the manorial demesne throughout the 12th to 14th centuries. The excavation results provide the first tangible evidence of routine existence at medieval Piddington, adding a new dimension to what is only a cursory knowledge of the medieval settlement known from historical documents. Former property alignments: one of the earliest medieval features was a substantial boundary ditch on the west side of the site, which became redundant sometime in the 12th / 13th century. Interestingly, its alignment bears no resemblance to the broad grid pattern of existing streets and paths within the historic core of Piddington (and likewise to none shown on historic mapping), that is claimed to have been created during the medieval period. This is an area for further local research. Diet & long-distance trade: the presence of imported marine foodstuffs (sea-herring and oysters) is of note, pointing to a long distance trade network in operation the latter half of the 13th century / 14th century.