EAA 83, 1998: Excavations to the south of Chignall Roman Villa, Essex 1977–81

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Excavations from 1977–81 within a ten hectare area south of the scheduled villa at Chignall St James, showed continuous development from a Middle Iron Age settlement into a prosperous Roman estate. Unusually high proportions of cattle bone indicate the centrality of stock-keeping in the site’s economy throughout the Roman period. It is inferred that a late Roman cemetery is the burial ground for a group of coloni. The villa, known to have had a bath-house in the late 1st century, appears to have been unenclosed until the 3rd century. This hexagonal enclosure later influenced the alignment of an early medieval narrow-rig field system.

Full reference:

Clarke, C.P., 1998, Excavations to the south of Chignall Roman Villa, Essex 1977–81, East Anglian Archaeology 83

A4, 168pp, 71fig, 14pls

ISBN 1 85281 161 7