Newham Museum Archaeology Project Archives
Newham Museum Service, 2000. https://doi.org/10.5284/1000328. How to cite using this DOI
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London Borough of Redbridge
Lynton House
255 - 259 High Road
Ilford, Essex
IG1 1NN
England
Resource identifiers
- ADS Collection: 265
- DOI:https://doi.org/10.5284/1000328
- How to cite using this DOI
Tesco superstore, Bridge Road, Rainham
The site of the Tesco superstore at Bridge Road Rainham was investigated for archaeological remains by a team from the Passmore Edwards Museum, for which Tesco generously provided the funding.
Human occupation of the area around Rainham in prehistoric and historic times tended to concentrate on the higher gravel spurs and islands. Rainham itself rises slightly above the surrounding marshland and is built on a natural gravel spur.
Sites dating from the Iron Age, Roman, Saxon and Medieval periods are known from the area. Life here was strongly influenced by changes in the water level and temperature. From the Historic periods the presence of malaria is known to have affected living conditions considerably. It was only ultimately brought under control as a result of increased drainage of the marsh areas, particularly during the 19th century.
The area of the Bridge Road site was located along the margins of the gravel spur and the marsh itself. The excavations produced evidence of man's presence from before the Bronze Age to modern times.
The earliest phases unfortunately were undateable.
Extensive peat remains uncovered provided a detailed environmental record. The pollen extracted from these deposits demonstrated the gradual change from a forested wetland area to much more open conditions, dominated by grasses an shrubs. The surrounding dry-land showed a similar change from predominant woodland to grasslands. The dating of this sequence is not complete yet, but seems likely to run from at least Neolithic times through to the Iron Age. These changes appear at least in part due to man's increasing agricultural activities over this period.
