Archaeological landscapes of east London: six multi-period sites excavated in advance of gravel quarrying in the London Borough of Havering

Museum of London Archaeology, 2013. https://doi.org/10.5284/1020237. How to cite using this DOI

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Museum of London Archaeology (2013) Archaeological landscapes of east London: six multi-period sites excavated in advance of gravel quarrying in the London Borough of Havering [data-set]. York: Archaeology Data Service [distributor] https://doi.org/10.5284/1020237

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Digital Object Identifiers

Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs) are persistent identifiers which can be used to consistently and accurately reference digital objects and/or content. The DOIs provide a way for the ADS resources to be cited in a similar fashion to traditional scholarly materials. More information on DOIs at the ADS can be found on our help page.

Citing this DOI

The updated Crossref DOI Display guidelines recommend that DOIs should be displayed in the following format:

https://doi.org/10.5284/1020237
Sample Citation for this DOI

Museum of London Archaeology (2013) Archaeological landscapes of east London: six multi-period sites excavated in advance of gravel quarrying in the London Borough of Havering [data-set]. York: Archaeology Data Service [distributor] https://doi.org/10.5284/1020237

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Introduction

Roundhouse excavation, Uphall Camp

This project assessed analysed and published six multi-period archaeological sites, which were investigated between 1963 and 1997 in advance of quarrying of various areas of the lower Thames Pleistocene gravel terraces within the Rainham and Upminster area of the London Borough of Havering. Five of these sites were investigated by the staff of Passmore Edwards Museum, later Newham Museums Archaeology Service. These sites lie within the context of a geographical zone (30km²) or study area.

The terrace gravels within the study area contain residual Lower Palaeolithic (c 500,000-c 36,000 BC) handaxes. The earliest evidence of human settlement from the study area consists of residual Mesolithic (c 8000-c 4000 BC) flints recovered from Great Arnold's Field and several other sites. The earliest substantial monument in the study area was an Early Neolithic (c 3600-c 3300 BC) ring ditch at Great Arnold's Farm. The fills of this ring ditch produced a large amount of pottery and flint work (including knapping debris). Within the ring ditch was a central pit containing Beaker pottery (c 2400-c 1700 BC), implying that the monument remained in use for over a millennium. Contemporary with this central pit were a group of features at Moor Hall Farm, which also contained Beaker pottery. Neolithic (c 4000-c 2000 BC) activity was also represented by residual finds of flint work at Hunt's Hill Farm and Manor Farm.

During the Bronze Age (c 2000-c 800 BC) the landscape was transformed by extensive woodland clearance and creation of a network of rectilinear ditched fields at Whitehall Wood and elsewhere. This agrarian landscape was to persist for centuries in one form or another. During the Late Bronze Age (c 1500-c 800 BC) several round houses were constructed at Hunt's Hill Farm and a series of ring forts were established in the locality including two at Mucking and probably another example at Hacton.

During the earlier Iron Age (c 800-c 400 BC) it is apparent that the landscape was becoming more intensively utilised and settled. An enclosure ditch and a number of round houses and waterholes were constructed at Hunt's Hill Farm; this site is interpreted as several pastoral farmsteads surrounded by ditched fields. Other earlier Iron Age farmsteads at Great Sunnings Farm, Manor Farm and Moor Hall Farm were represented by round houses and enclosures interpreted as stock pens. All these farmsteads (except Manor Farm) were also occupied during the later Iron Age (c 400 BC-AD 43), and the settlements at Hunt's Hill Farm and Moor Hall Farm were both continuously occupied from the Iron Age until the late Roman period (c AD 200-400).

At Moor Hall Farm during c AD 40-60 a defensive enclosure was constructed around the Iron Age farmstead, but it was quickly replaced by a more substantial double-ditched enclosure. The contemporary farmstead at Hunt's Hill Farm was also defended by a ditched enclosure during c AD 40-70. Possibly these defences were erected in response to the threat of the Roman invasion. A well inside the Moor Hall Farm enclosure was backfilled with a vast amount of ceramics looking like a household clearance event in c AD 60-70. Interestingly, this assemblage is largely in the 'native' not Roman tradition, which raises questions about the speed of Romanisation. Evidence of Roman-style material culture apart from pottery included coinage, glass jewellery and glass bottles. These Roman period enclosed farmsteads were surrounded by a network of ditched fields. Structural features apart from wells and waterholes at these farmsteads were few in number due to the truncation caused by post-medieval cultivation. Finds from these enclosures include a coin of Cunobelin (c AD 10-42) and various fired clay bars and Belgic bricks of uncertain function. The presence of stock watering holes, and their associated assemblages of plant and animal remains confirm a pattern of mixed farming. Roman period field systems were found at Great Sunnings Farm, Hunt's Hill Farm, Moor Hall Farm, Manor Farm and Whitehall Wood. The new network of Roman roads and presence of nearby urban centres of Chelmsford (Essex) and London would have stimulated commercial agricultural production. There were small early Roman cremation cemeteries at both Hunt's Hill Farm and Manor Farm, plus one late Roman inhumation burial at Moor Hall Farm.

During c AD 120-260, there was apparently an increased emphasis on pastoral farming. From c AD 260 until the later 4th century AD, it appears there was a phase of agricultural intensification within the study area. New field systems were laid out at both Hunt's Hill Farm and Moor Hall Farm during the late Roman period, while the existing field system at Manor Farm was modified and continued in use until c AD 360-400. At Hunt's Hill Farm and Moor Hall Farm the latest Roman activity is dated to c AD 370-420, as Early Saxon pottery was found on both sites, continuity of occupation seems probable.

In 1937 gravel digging at Gerpin's Lane revealed evidence of a 6th- to 7th-century pagan Saxon cemetery which contained one or more high-status male graves. At Hunt's Hill Farm there was evidence of a probable Early Saxon inhumation cemetery. Evidence of Early and Middle Saxon (c AD 410-850) occupation, probably single farmsteads, was found at Hunt's Hill Farm and Whitehall Wood. From the 12th to 14th centuries there was a single farmstead at Hunt's Hill Farm, while a moated enclosure at Great Arnold's Field is interpreted as Launders Manor, which was occupied from the mid 12th century until the late 13th or early 14th century. During the medieval period (1066-c 1500) most of the study area consisted of open fields. Plant and animal remains confirm a regime of mixed farming at Hunt's Hill Farm, probably with an emphasis on grain production to supply the London market. Gravel extraction during the 20th century has led to the rediscovery of the rich and varied archaeological heritage of the study area.

The project was carried out by Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA) and funded by the Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund (ALSF) administered by English Heritage.

Howell, I J, Swift, D, Watson, B, with Cotton, J, and Greenwood P, 2011, Archaeological landscapes of east London: six multi-period sites excavated in advance of gravel quarrying in the London Borough of Havering, MOLA Monograph Series 54.
Greenwood, P, Perring, D, and Rowsome P, 2006, From Ice Age to Essex: a history of the people and landscape of East London MOLA.
http://www.museumoflondonarchaeology.org.uk/Publications/


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