Archaeological monitoring and excavation carried out during the construction of a new pipeline in July 2015 found evidence of early Roman field boundaries and wall footings, possibly related to the nearby Eccles Roman villa.

Field boundaries were represented by two large ditches. Ditch 2016 measured approximately 1.05m in width with a depth of 0.4m and contained fragment of Roman floor tile, Roman roof tile (tegula) and 1st century pottery sherds. The upper fill of this ditch contained fragments of tegula and imbrex roof tiles along with five fragments of pottery which dated to the mid/late first century AD. The eastern extent of this feature had been truncated by a steep sided gully which contained very thick fragments of tegula
within the single fill.

Truncating these ditches (and therefore chronologically later) were four possible wall foundations. The foundations consisted of both mortared and un-mortared gravel and flint nodules. Despite none of these features containing any dateable material the similar nature of the fills suggest a Roman date. Elsewhere on site four post holes and three shallow gullies were also investigated. Two of these at least were earlier than the walls
(1)

<1> Wessex Archaeology, 2015, Burham to Hythe and Ditton Mains Water Scheme, Interim Report and Statement of Significance for Ongoing Archaeological Investigation (Unpublished document). SKE31368.