ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the archaeological evidence for the earliest activity on the site, the bulk of which concerns the excavation of four peasant houses. The church dedicated to St Mary Magdalene stands in a small rectangular churchyard less than half an acre in extent. Exposed masonry on the outside of the church indicates that there were two principal periods of construction, which may be differentiated by two types of building materials. There were nine villeins, four cottars, and a priest living at Caldecote in 1086. The four excavated houses stood back between 30.5 and 45.7m from the ancient road, the Ashwell Street. Three slightly curved ditches, dug at different times during this period, led downhill towards the south corner of the site, where they continued beyond the area of excavation. The western ditch was the earliest, and was about 1.20m wide and up to 0.25m deep.
