Land adjacent to Ashton House, High Street, Ongar, Essex. Archaeological Evaluation (OASIS ID: heritage1-275538)

In order to characterise the archaeological potential of land adjacent to Ashton House, High Street, Ongar, Essex, the Heritage Network was commissioned by the developers to undertake an archaeological field evaluation. This work was a requirement of the planning consent granted by the local planning authority. An L-shaped trench was excavated across the footprint of the proposed building, revealing an earlier soil horizon below a considerable depth of overburden. Late post-medieval and modern features and services were also exposed within the trial trench. No features deposits or finds of archaeological significance were encountered during the course of the present project and it appears that the line of the town's defensive ditch runs further to the north-west. On the basis of the results of the evaluation, the risk that the proposed development might disturb significant archaeological remains may be considered to be Low for all periods.