Richard Shwe, Head of Culture and Community Development at St Albans City and District Council, said: “As part of the new development at Westminster Lodge, the Council has undertaken a geophysical survey of the proposed development site. Twelve trenches, including two pairs which were joined and L-shaped, have been excavated. Approximately five of the evaluation trenches produced stratified archaeological deposits.

The main features found in the trenches include a Roman building, possibly a mill, which appears to have been partially demolished in the Roman or medieval period for building materials. It may be associated with part of a building found in a previous dig on Holywell Hill in 1968 which was further excavated in 2007.

In addition, a ditch has been found close by which could be the leat to a mill. The preliminary dating of these features is 2nd to the 3rd century AD. Evidence suggests that the building may have had painted walls and a solid concrete floor.

These two features lie in an area that will be soft landscaped and will be preserved in situ. They will not be affected by the development. The trenches in which they were found have been backfilled for reasons of health and safety.

The building is of local significance but can not be defined as of national significance or of great visual interest as it is not intact. Further, the finds do not constitute treasure as defined under the Treasure Act.*

Other finds included prehistoric flints, possibly dating from the Late Mesolithic to Early Neolithic periods, circa 4,000BC.
Pits and layers of archaeological deposits from the Roman period or later have also been discovered and additional work will be carried out to investigate these further.

NOTE: Information on what constitutes treasure under the Treasure Act 1996 is set out at on the website of the Portable Antiquities Scheme at http://www.finds.org.uk/treasure/treasure_summary.php.
A definition of treasure is given at pages 5-18 of The Treasure Act 1996 Code of Practice, issued by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.