Essex Archaeol Hist 32

Prehistoric activity on this multi-phase site includes Neolithic settlement, Bronze Age funerary activity, and less well-defined Early and Middle Iron Age occupation of this river valley/estuarine location. The excavated evidence, particularly from the 1993 site, correlates with that of the adjacent Crescent Road and Langford Road sites. Together, they shed light on the early use of the upper gravel terrace and hint at activity on the lower, alongside the marshland, river and Blackwater estuary. They attest to relatively dispersed settlement, agricultural exploitation and funerary uses of the landscape, perhaps taking a more settled form in the Iron Age with the imposition of recognisable land division, including field systems. Includes specialist reports on:

description and analysis of an assemblage of 1,758 sherds of prehistoric pottery

description of thirty-five fragments including a loomweight

including the Beaker and twenty-nine sherds of other prehistoric pottery

five items including a copper-alloy Colchester B Derivative brooch

The paper considers the major Late Bronze Age circular enclosure at Springfield Lyons, north-east of Chelmsford, in its landscape setting, and how this location was used and reused over many millennia. Five aspects are briefly addressed: the location with regard to a large part of central Essex, the topography of the enclosure's immediate setting, the site in relation to earlier human uses of the landscape, its position in the contemporary, Late Bronze Age, landscape, and finally the way in which the surviving remains of the Bronze Age enclosure affected later occupation.

description and analysis of an assemblage of 2,957 sherds, mostly from contexts in the quarry

assemblage of mostly Roman objects including dress accessories and domestic items

a small assemblage of fragments plus one bead, most of which can be dated to the later first to mid-third century

analysis of ten samples

The 1999 survey on the occasion of the re-rendering of much of the exterior of the church provided the opportunity to complete the comprehensive survey of the building by the Rodwells. The findings of the recent survey largely support their conclusions and have also brought new evidence to light. Includes

Historical account of the life and activities of a late medieval aristocrat and landowner, including details of land management and tenure in relation to her estates.

Finds and sites from all periods have been found by fieldwalking at Crondon Park, Stock. Some of the finds are related to an adjacent moated site and the use of the survey area as a deer park in the medieval period. Significant finds include early examples of medieval brick. Sherds and wasters from the manufacture of post-medieval red earthenware at Stock have also been found. Includes separately authored reports on:

The paper discusses the rediscovered 1594 map of Little Easton, Tilty and Broxted which sheds light on the evolution of settlement and field patterns on the Essex Till from the thirteenth to sixteenth centuries; first, in confirming the ubiquity of former strip-farming in small common-fields based on hamlets, which were fast disappearing when the first estate maps were being made. Secondly, the map shows the concentration of demesne arable into large, often very large fields, which were sub-divided into smaller units from the fourteenth century onwards. The paper looks in detail at the demesne and two parks of Little Easton.

Historical account of the planning and construction of a new Church school during the 1920s in Stow Maries, including references to the old school.

Features and finds identified during a watching-brief at East View Close, Radwinter were interpreted as evidence of the presence nearby of an extensive Roman site.

Small-scale excavation at the moated site revealed the presence of the foundations of a medieval building within the moated platform.

The paper describes the crane and wheelhouse, and recounts its history and its restoration in 1999, and the dating of the timbers by dendrochronology.

Separately authored reports on Essex buildings recorded during the year 2000, listed alphabetically by parish, including:

a farm building at Beacon End Farm, Stanway, and an outbuilding at 6 East Street, Coggeshall

a timber-framed, two-storey hall range building, probably dating to the late sixteenth century

a timber-framed, two-storey house dating to the early 1600s, with an extension probably built in the late 1600s

a description of several notable features

Many short, separately authored reports on finds made and projects undertaken during the year, including:

cropmark survey