Series: Essex County Council Field Archaeology Unit unpublished report series

.An archaeological evaluation by trial trenching was undertaken at 1 and 2 Woodpeckers and 76-78 Mill Lane, Danbury in advance of a proposed housing development. Four trenches were excavated across the proposed new building footprint. No archaeological remains were identified.

No archaeological evidence was encountered. The depth of modern disturbance, in excess of 3m, and the proximity to the railway cutting made it unlikely that any archaeological remains survive in the area of the site. [Au(adp)]

An archaeological trial trenching evaluation preceded the construction of a new house at 10 George Street, Harwich. The site had been severely truncated and the trial trenching found no archaeological remains.

Archaeological monitoring was carried out at 102 Norsey Road, Billericay in advance of a residential redevelopment. An existing bungalow was demolished and has been replaced with a larger house that extends to the south-east and south-west of the original. The site lies within the former extent of Norsey Wood, which was originally a medieval deer park enclosed by a substantial earth bank and ditch, dated documentarily to between 1291 and 1323. Monitoring was undertaken on the machine-excavation of the foundation trenches for the new house. The overburden exposed in the sides of the trenches was 0.2m to 0.4m thick and consisted of disturbed dark grey gravelly clay-silt containing numerous modern finds. The underlying natural comprised mixed deposits of light orangey brown silty clay, sand and gravel. No remains of prehistoric or Roman date were identified, nor any related to the medieval deer park. Comparison of the 25 inch Ordnance Survey of 1914-24 map with its modern-day equivalent suggests that that the boundary of the deer park was formerly located in the front garden of the property beyond the extent of the current building works. The only find of note was the below-ground half of a small World War II Anderson shelter constructed from concrete and corrugated metal sheets which was recovered from the south-west corner of the new build close to the property boundary.

A trench-based evaluation was carried out in advance of the construction of a proposed extension to the existing building. The site is located next to Moulsham Street, which is part of the former Roman road from London to Colchester, laying to the south-west of a 1st century AD Roman fort and fort annexe. The fort was short-lived and the area was subsumed within a Roman town, Caesaromagus, which grew to its maximum extent in the mid 2nd century. Only two archaeological features were found: a post-hole containing a rim sherd from a necked jar of 2nd or 3rd century date, and a large pit that produced a variety of finds including 32 sherds of Roman pottery, the latest of which is likely to have been current in the early to mid 4th century.

Two evaluation trenches were excavated in the garden of No.14 Marsh Road, Tillingham ahead of a planned residential development largely on the footprint of an extant 20th century bungalow. The proposed development site was located in the historic settlement of Tillingham, close to the central square. East-west aligned trench 1 was located immediately south of the extant bungalow and north-south aligned trench 2 was located along the western boundary of the property. The overburden comprised a layer of dark blackish grey, soft silty clay topsoil which had occasional concentrations of modern material such as building sand and rubble fragments caused by modern disturbance. This overlay a mid greyish brown soft silty clay subsoil, likely to have been a plough soil predating the residential development of the area. This in turn sealed the archaeological horizon and the natural deposit of light yellowish orange clay. Trench 1 revealed the north-east terminus of an undated ditch oriented NE-SW and a linear feature oriented N-S. The ditch terminus was 0.84m wide and 0.23m deep. It had moderately steep sides and a concave base. Although undated by finds, this ditch due to its alignment appears to predate the existing boundaries set perpendicular to Marsh Road. The second linear was 0.5m wide by 0.06m deep, had very shallow sides and a concave base. Also undated by finds, the alignment suggests a later date; the very shallow remains of an agricultural feature seems the most likely interpretation. No archaeological remains were identified within trench 2.

Two evaluation trenches identified five features that were likely to be 19th century or later in date. These included a well, domestic refuse pit and three modern post holes. It was thought that the well related to an earlier phase of buildings shown on the 1st edition Ordnance Survey map. It was concluded that the proposed development was unlikely to have any impact on the archaeological resource of Romford. [Au(abr)]

An archaeological excavation was carried out on the site of a residential development at the rear of 16 High Street, Great Baddow. Five shallow pits and two gullies were excavated; none were positively dated. One small pit contained a fragment of Roman box-flue tile and a second, a small piece of possibly Roman brick. Both finds are likely to be residual but do attest to Roman activity in the vicinity. No other dateable finds were recovered. A third pit, of probable recent origin, contained the deliberately buried remains of a fire, including a small amount of burnt animal bone and charcoal. The features were all located to the rear of the property and are probably associated with back-yard or garden activity of post-medieval or later date. No evidence pertaining to the Saxon and medieval origins of Great Baddow was encountered.

A programme of archaeological works was undertaken in response to a brief produced by the Historic Environment Management team (HEM) of Essex County Council for archaeological monitoring on the site of a new dwelling on land at 18 Bolford Street, Thaxted (Planning Ref: UTT/1994/06). Foundation trenches covering an area of 92sq m were dug to a maximum depth of 1.30m on to mid-brown chalky clay natural. The area to the northern end of the site, previously occupied by a bungalow, had been truncated to a depth exceeding 1.10m during construction/ demolition processes. The remaining area had been landscaped leaving 0.40m+ of made-up topsoil/garden soil. The rear east-west trench showed evidence of the original land surface which falls away to the west. No archaeological features were impacted on. Although the development plot lies in an area of archaeological significance on the western boundary of the medieval town, it is likely that any archaeological remains which may have been present have been truncated by 20th century landscaping/development. Alternatively, given the relatively small size of the investigation, earlier remains could survive elsewhere on site.

One, 10m x 5m, T-shaped, trench was excavated by machine. No archaeological features were identified or artefacts collected.