Essex Archaeology & History 38

Investigations of land in the floodplain of the Mar Dyke west of Tank Hill Road, Purfleet, close to the confluence of the Mar Dyke with the Thames, identified large spreads of Late Mesolithic struck flint and concentrations of burnt flint probably marking the locations of hearths. A limited amount of Late Glacial flintwork, Early Neolithic struck flint and pottery and Late Neolithic Early Bronze Age flintwork also occurred within the same sand layers, sealed by peats and alluvium. Although the material is vertically conflated, the horizontal distributions were only blurred, and technologically distinct elements could be identified.

Archaeological investigations prior to the construction of a residential development revealed prehistoric, medieval and later remains. Prehistoric remains are suggested to add to a growing body of evidence that the Saxon burh possibly had earlier origins in an Early Iron Age hilltop enclosure.

An excavation in 2007 at Bellrope Meadow, Sampford Road, Thaxted revealed Late Iron Age or Early Roman enclosure ditches, and a cemetery comprising six cremation and five inhumation graves dating from the first to third centuries AD. In addition, a ditch containing late-medieval to post-medieval building materials was discovered, suggesting that a building of this date existed in the vicinity of the site.

Excavation at Lynmouth Gardens/ Parkway, Chelmsford, revealed a Roman ditch together with six pits dating to c. AD 120-210. The waterlogged organic layers of the largest pit contained fragments of a wooden tablet with silver inlay, a woven basket and various leather shoe fragments amongst other debris. No evidence for the Roman road conjectured to pass through the site was found.

Extensive evaluation at a site adjacent to the route of the Roman London - Colchester road revealed further evidence of extramural Roman plot division and peripheral activity south of Caesaromagus. A medieval cess-pit and a rubbish pit were also revealed, in addition to post-medieval rubbish pits and levelling deposits. Evidence from this site correlates with that from other excavations on Moulsham Street, suggesting that the site lay on the edge of the Roman town during the second century AD.

The history of smoke dispersal in the houses of Essex is examined and discussed. Information has been gleaned from archaeological excavations, surviving buildings, the historic buildings lists and other documentary sources e.g. wills, inventories, the Walker estate maps and the Hearth Tax returns.

Short reports on sites in the county, ordered alphabetically. Includes note on the excavation of seventeenth century remains, including waterlogged timber, at the High Street, Stratford (S. Holden, 187) PP-B

Describes and illustrates the artefact, discovered by metal-detecting in the early 1990s. PP-B

Describes excavations at the castle following landslips in the south of the bailey. These revealed levelling and make-up deposits dating from the thirteenth to fourteenth centuries. There was also evidence for a timber structure, possibly associated with rebuilding works in the late fourteenth century. PP-B

Overview of documents relating to the ownership and usage of the properties through the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. PP-B