Essex Archaeol Hist 36 (third series)

Archaeological investigation along the line of the A130 bypass south of Chelmsford uncovered twenty-nine sites, dating from the Mesolithic period onwards, in a road corridor c. 15km in length and seldom more than 100m wide. Despite the limitations imposed by this narrow linear transect, evidence for extensive Bronze Age and Iron Age settlement was recovered in this area. Although unequivocal evidence for Late Iron Age settlement was sparse, it is suggested that this may be masked by conservative ceramic traditions continuing from the Middle Iron Age rather than indicating a hiatus in settlement. Romano-British settlements excavated were rural in nature; while only a part of the field systems were investigated, the evidence does not suggest an imposition post-conquest of an extensive single system of land organisation. The varying alignments of the Romano-British boundaries uncovered also suggest that they had little if any influence on later field patterns. Saxon occupation was widespread with one major settlement, centred on a bow-sided building, supplemented by a number of isolated finds elsewhere. There was considerable evidence of medieval settlement, although the design of the route meant that the fieldwork probably avoided medieval foci which have continued in occupation until the present day.

Small-scale archaeological investigation at Great Dunmow Junior School identified a limited range of Roman features, the most significant of which were four intact second-century urned cremations and accompanying pottery vessels. A few undated features may have been prehistoric, and there were also a few post-medieval features. Separately authored contributions include

The article describes a selection of objects found in Essex and reported under the Portable Antiquities Scheme between 2003 and 2005; artefacts and coins are listed in chronological order, in separate sections.

Historical account of Norman political control and land holdings in Essex from the mid-eleventh to mid-twelfth century.

Archaeological monitoring along the route of a new gas pipeline from Coryton Refinery to Mucking resulted in the investigation of two areas at the edge of the Thames marshes. Watching brief work either side of Butts Lane, Mucking, recorded patchy evidence of prehistoric, Roman, early Saxon and medieval activity. Further east, a late medieval site dating from the thirteenth to the sixteenth centuries was excavated near Great Garlands Farm, Stanford-le-Hope, and includes evidence of drainage, gravelled working areas, a timber barn and a kiln. The site predates the eighteenth-century Great Garlands Farm and is probably related to a set of cropmarks around Old Garlands and Oak Farm further inland. It is argued that Oak Farm was originally medieval, with this site representing an outlying part of the farm established beside a tidal creek for processing and storage of farm produce for transport by river. Separately authored contributions include

Short summaries of archaeological fieldwork carried out during the year 2004 in Essex, including an introductory section summarising progress in terms of each archaeological period. Separately authored entries are arranged alphabetically by town or parish.

The construction of a water pipeline in 1989--90 from the M11 Birchanger roundabout to link with the mains supply pipe south of Sawbridgeworth provided the opportunity to study a thin transect, c. 10km long, running north--south in northwest Essex. The monitoring located nineteen sites, of which eight were excavated. Five revealed evidence of Iron Age occupation in the form of pits, ditches or cremations, two contained medieval features consisting of pits, post holes and ditches, one contained Roman evidence, and two produced evidence of Late Bronze Age to Middle Iron Age activity. The remaining sites were not excavated but finds were dated and recorded on the Essex Historic Environment Record.

Investigation prior to construction work revealed evidence of Roman domestic occupation. These results, in combination with those of the adjacent 1972 excavation at Chequers Lane, demonstrate the apparent westward expansion of the Roman town at Great Dunmow during the first to fourth centuries. Includes

Excavation at 73--74 High Street, Chelmsford, located evidence of both medieval and post-medieval settlement adjacent to the High Street of the medieval town, founded in 1199. Walls and structural concrete relating to the use of the site during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries had, however, caused severe truncation, resulting in islands of stratigraphy which were difficult to interpret. The survival of medieval levelling and post-medieval occupation layers on this heavily disturbed site suggests that better stratigraphic sequences may survive elsewhere in the High Street. Includes

Report on the archaeological recording, during refurbishment, of a sequence of floors in the vestry at St Peter's, Sible Hedingham, which dates to the fourteenth century. These included the remains of an early, possibly original, tiled floor as well as a nineteenth-century floor incorporating reused medieval floor tiles, some of which were decorated and which were probably made locally.