Description

Wessex Archaeology was commissioned by Videotext Communications Ltd to carry out archaeological recording and post-excavation analysis on an archaeological evaluation by Channel 4’s ‘Time Team’ at Friars Wash, Hertfordshire, centred on NGR 510100 214580. The Site lies in the hinterland of the important Romano-British town of Verulamium (St. Albans) and is located close to the assumed line of Watling Street, an important road running from London to Wroxeter.
The presence of archaeological remains on the Site was first noted in 1965 when building foundations were ploughed up. An aerial photograph taken in 1976 shows an apparently multi-period site including ditched enclosures. A large triple ditch/dyke system is also apparent, next to two rectangular structures which were considered to be Romano-British temples, and other possible features.
The fieldwork comprised geophysical survey and four evaluation trenches.
Geophysical survey identified several anomalies that coincided with the features visible on the aerial photograph, and the four evaluation trenches were targeted on the various possible masonry structures and ditches identified.
The earliest deposits encountered comprise possible buried soils recorded in Trenches 1 and 2, both of which pre-dated the construction of the masonry structures. Although no dating evidence was recovered from either of these deposits, finds recovered from the metalled surface (108) directly overlying the possible buried soil in Trench 1 suggest a late 1st or 2nd century AD construction date for structure (109), and presumably also the surrounding ambulatory walls, with activity on the site continuing into the late 4th century AD.