ENN110988 - Land south of the Retreat, 2023 (Trial trench)

The evaluation established the former presence of a building with a compacted cobble and earth floor; possibly an outbuilding, although its function and date of origin could not be ascertained. The building is considered to have been timber-framed structure upon stone-built sill-beam/ plinth wall foundations. The pottery assemblage suggests that it was in use in the late 17th / early 18th century through to the early 19th century. There were no earlier features or deposits and no evidence for an earlier ground surface earlier than the late 17th / early 18th century. The geological strata, partly composed of limestone bedrock was evidently exposed, probably as stone source, prior to the erection of the building. Two worn sherds of Anglo-Norman pottery from the floor make-up of the building were considered to be residual.