Essex Archaeol Hist 35 (third series)

Excavation at Bishop's House, Great Chesterford revealed a well-stratified, dated sequence representing occupation from at least the second century until the late-fourth century AD. The results provide further evidence that Roman settlement was extensive, and had developed beyond the limits of the Roman town to the northwest, which was enclosed by a defensive wall in the late-fourth century AD. The excavation lies within the area of a possible second enclosure to the southeast of the walled town, the full plan and extent of which have not been completely established. Five phases of activity were identified, the earliest of which is represented by ditches, gravel surfaces and a well dating to the second to mid-third centuries. Following levelling of the site in the late-third to fourth century, a timber-framed building was constructed. This was replaced in the later-fourth century by a substantial building with masonry foundations that was comprehensively robbed by the fifth century. Although the finds assemblage was small, there are a number of items of quality including a silver hairpin, a crossbow brooch and several interesting pieces of glass. The Roman pottery assemblage is also important, as it is one of few from Great Chesterford that derives from a well-stratified and recorded sequence. Separately authored contributions include

An excavation in advance of new burials in the eastern part of the churchyard at Rivenhall church uncovered a sequence dating from the Roman to the post-medieval periods adjacent to areas previously excavated in the 1970s. The excavation recovered significant new evidence of the Saxo-Norman and medieval phases of the churchyard, which has allowed some re-interpretation and refinement of the overall site development, particularly in relation to the cemetery and priest's house. The site chronology, mainly that of the Saxon and later cemetery, has also been refined by radiocarbon dating and by re-analysis of the dates from the earlier investigations through mathematical modelling. Separately authored contributions include

Article on the history, construction and surviving remains of Nether Hall, a moated site near Roydon comprising brick-walled enclosures, a large timber-framed farmhouse and barn (both predating the fifteenth century), and the ruins of a fifteenth-century brick gatehouse. Each of the structures is described in turn, the majority of the paper being devoted to the gatehouse and a discussion of its historical and structural context.

Survey aimed at drawing attention to the historical presence of black people in Essex during the post-medieval period, and in particular looking at their professions and employment.

Review of project-based work undertaken by staff of the Essex County Council Historic Environment Branch during 2003.

Note on a discoidal polished flint knife recovered with other flint artefacts and prehistoric pottery from the eroding shore line in the area of the Stumble on the north side of the Blackwater Estuary. The knife is of a rare form found most often in association with Beaker pots and Early Bronze Age burials within the British Isles.

Emergency recording along Borough Ditch, which crosses the area of the Roman town at Great Chesterford, revealed Roman features including a yard surface which can be correlated with Brinson's excavations of 1948--9. This suggests that Roman stratigraphy survives in the area of the Scheduled Monument to the south of the ditch. Aerial photograph and geophysical survey plots allow an assessment of the archaeological remains in the scheduled area. The surveys confirm the line of the north--south Roman road recorded by Brinson, and also suggest the presence of rectangular building plots and other features alongside the road. Separately authored contributions include

An excavation on Mark Hall School playing fields, Harlow, revealed a range of archaeological remains dating to the Middle Iron Age, Roman and post-medieval periods. A sub-circular enclosure and a long sinuous field boundary ditch dating to the Middle Iron Age had placed deposits of animal remains associated with them. A cluster of four Roman pits were situated towards the north of the site. A series of long north--south parallel gullies were the remains of post-medieval ridge-and-furrow that ran either side of an east--west running gravelled trackway and were associated with farming on the Mark Hall estate.

Note on an incidental find at Beggar Hill, Mill Green of a medieval ceramic culinary mould, comprising a hollow pedestal base with a flat, circular surface.

Notes on a three-storey brick tower situated southeast of Fingringhoe Hall. The tower was apparently built in the late-eighteenth century, and comprised a garden pavilion with a dovecote above and an ice-house below.