Ipswich UAD child record record IPS 1527 - Ditch 803

A small area excavation, 4m north-south and 3m east-west, was stripped by machine in the garden of 7 Tranmere Grove to locate any evidence of the eastern part of the villa, or to define alternative Roman activity beyond its eastern side. The results showed a low level of archaeological activity. A slightly curving ditch (803), 0.45m wide and 0047 deep with steep sides and a rounded base, was revealed immediately below the topsoil. It was aligned approximately north-south, curving slightly eastwards towards the north, and was filled with mid brown silty soil containing Roman pot, tile and bone. It was cut into an underlying well sorted, moderately compact, dark brown gravely silt ploughsoil/subsoil (804) which produced Roman pot, hypocaust tile, tile and bone. This layer sealed a second ditch (806), 1m west of and parallel to ditch 803. This was 0043m wide and 0.20m deep with a similar, but shallower, profile to ditch 803 and a similar fill. It contained fragments of Roman pottery of 1st_2nd century AD date, (S1).