Cudmore Grove, Excavation and Survey (Assessment and UPD)
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1170 CUDMORE GROVE COUNTRY PARK ESSEX EXCAVATION AND SURVEY ASSESSMENT AND UPDATED PROJECT DESIGN February 2005 1170 1170 CUDMORE GROVE COUNTRY PARK ESSEX EXCAVATION AND SURVEY ASSESSMENT AND UPDATED PROJECT DESIGN Prepared by E. Heppell February 2005 With contributions by D. Goodburn J. Compton Dr D.E. Robinson Dr S.K. Haslett C. Locatelli C. Groves I. Tyers J. Meadows A. Bayliss Edited by N. Brown Essex County Council Historic Environment Branch Field Archaeology Unit Fairfield Court, Fairfield Road, Braintree Essex CM7 3YQ Tel: 01376 331431 Historic Environment Management County Hall, Chelmsford. CM1 1HQ Tel: 01245 437640 1170 1170 1.0 PROJECT BACKGROUND 1.1 Description of area 1.2 Archaeological Background 2.0 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES 3.0 METHOD 4.0 STRUCTURE OF REPORT 5.0 SUMMARY OF RESULTS 6.0 FACTUAL DATA 6.1 Quantity of Records 7.0 SITE A 7.1 General Description 7.2 Group 86 Description Wood Technology (DG) Dating Discussion 7.3 Group 126 Description Wood Technology (DG) Dating Discussion 7.4 Group 127 Description Wood Technology (DG) Dating Discussion 7.5 Site A: Discussion 8.0 SITE B 8.1 Description 8.2 Wood Technology (DG) 8.3 Dating 8.4 Discussion 9.0 POSSIBLE BEACON N OF SITE B 9.1 Description 9.2 Wood Technology (DG) 9.3 Discussion (DG) 10.0 TRACKWAY 10.1 Description 10.2 Discussion 11.0 TEST PITS 11.1 Description 1170 11.2 Discussion 12.0 THE FORT 12.1 Description 12.2 Discussion 13.0 SITE C 13.1 Description 13.2 Wood Technology (DG) 13.3 Dating 13.4 Discussion 14.0 SPECIALIST REPORTS 14.1 Artefacts (JC) 14.2 Environmental (DER) 14.3 Forminifera (SH) 14.4 Dating (JM, CL) 15.0 STATEMENT OF POTENTIAL 15.1 General 15.2 The Fort and Quay 15.3 Site B 15.4 The Possible Beacon 15.5 The Trackway 15.6 Test Pits 15.7 Site C 15.8 Artefacts 15.9 Environmental 15.10 Sea Levels 16.0 RECOMMENDATIONS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS BIBLIOGRAPHY 1170 FIGURES Fig 1. Location Fig 2. Detailed location of sites Fig 3. Location of sites in the vicinity of the fort Fig 4. Plan of Site A Fig 5. Cross section across site A Fig 6. Timber 21: Site A Fig 7. Timber 20: Site A Fig 8. Timber 120: Beacon or watchtower post Fig 9. Beacon Posts in situ Fig 10. Sill beam at base of beacon posts Fig 11. Section of Test Pit A Fig 12. Section of Test Pit B 1170 1170 CUDMORE GROVE COUNTRY PARK, ESSEX: EXCAVATION AND SURVEY ASSESSMENT FAU Project No: 1085 District: Colchester NGR: TM 0715 Summary Excavation and survey at Cudmore Grove were carried out in 2002-3, following a preliminary survey. The further work on the site examined three areas where wooden structures were visible eroding out of the foreshore. Site A, located close to a Tudor fort, Site B was located just to the north east of this and comprised a large number of timber posts. Site C was located below East Mersea Cliffs, and comprised a number of large timbers and associated post holes, probably post medieval in date. Site A comprises a series of rows of timbers, orientated south west to north east, one group of which included a pair of elm sill beams (Group 126). The timbers are located on a slight promontory of firm gravels, at a height of c 1.5m OD. The landward row of timbers comprised a close set row of piles driven into the foreshore, reliable dating of this group has not been possible (Group 86). The timbers are thought to represent two phases of activity although dating is problematic due to an absence of artefactual material and the wide date range established by radio carbon. Group 126 is though to be part of a timber framed quay frontage, presumably associated with the nearby fort. Comparison with similar features on the London waterfront would perhaps suggest a 16th-17th century date (15th-18th at the outside). Group 127 is likely to represent the remains of a barge bed, probably contemporary. East Mersea Fort partially survives as an earthwork on the slat marsh (outside the modern sea wall). The fort was constructed in 1547, and housed 4-6 guns. It was allowed to fall into decay but was repaired in 1587 in response to the threat of the Armada. The fort was occupied by Parliamentarian forces during the siege of Colchester in 1648, as it occupies a strategic location protecting the mouth of the Colne. By 1656 the building was being used as a house, but was abandoned and decayed by 1710 (EHCR 2217). Cudmore Grove Country Park, Essex. Excavation and Survey Assessment prepared for English Heritage by ECC FAU File Ref: 1170 assess 1 1170 Site B comprised an irregular row of posts, the purpose and dating of which remain elusive. The timbers were converted in a similar way to those of group 127, perhaps suggesting they were broadly contemporaneous. To the north of Site B two substantial oak uprights became exposed. These timbers are thought to have been the base of a watchtower or beacon. They were associated with a clay deposit which contained 16th-18th century pottery. Cudmore Grove Country Park, Essex. Excavation and Survey Assessment prepared for English Heritage by ECC FAU File Ref: 1170 assess 1 Cudmore Grove Country Park, Essex. Excavation and Survey Assessment prepared for English Heritage by ECC FAU File Ref: 1170 assess 1.0 BACKGROUND 1.1 Project Background 1.1.1 Cudmore Grove Country Park is situated at the eastern end of Mersea Island (Fig. 1 and 2), and includes part of the foreshore, and the East Mersea Cliffs. The foreshore comprises sands and gravels overlying clay deposits. There are areas of salt marsh along the shoreline. East Mersea is subject to a great deal of coastal erosion, perhaps most clearly seen at the cliffs where World War II gun emplacements which once stood on the clifftop have now collapsed onto the beach. A number of schemes have been put in place in recent years to combat this, including the construction of polders and embankments. 1.1.2 East Mersea is part of the Colne National Nature Reserve, designated by English Nature, without whose co-operation this project would not have been possible. Cudmore, like much of the Essex coast, is of significant importance for nature conservation, being both a SSSI and RAMSAR site. 1.1.3 At the eastern tip of the island a sixteenth/seventeenth century fort survives as a remarkably well preserved earthwork. This site (SAM 24881, EHCR 2217) is situated on exposed salt marsh, in the Cudmore Grove Country Park. Observations by Dougal Urquhart (ECC Head Ranger, Cudmore Grove) revealed an erosion threat to the earthwork, and to substantial wooden structures, which are emerging from the mudflats of the intertidal zone, to the south and east of the fort, outside the scheduled area. 1.1.4 An initial site visit indicated that these structures were very substantial and of an unusual form and warranted further study, therefore preliminary survey was funded and carried out by Essex County Council (Heppell 2002). 1.1.5 In 2002-3 sample excavations and more detailed survey of the wooden structures was carried out, with English Heritage funding. This work targeted three main areas of interest; the substantial wooden structure to the south of the fort and possibly associated timbers (Sites A and B), the salt marsh ‘cliff’ and a further group of timbers located on the foreshore west of the main site (Site C). This assessment considers the results of this work. 1.2 Archaeological Background 1.2.1 The preliminary survey of three archaeological sites took place in March 2002 (Heppell 2002), all were located on the foreshore in the intertidal zone (Fig 3). Site A, located close to the Tudor fort , towards Mersea Stone, comprised what appeared to be a rectangular 1 Cudmore Grove Country Park, Essex. Excavation and Survey Assessment prepared for English Heritage by ECC FAU File Ref: 1170 assess wooden structure, with associated deposits. Site B was located just to the north east of this and comprised a large number of timber posts. Site C was located below East Mersea Cliffs, and comprised a number of large timbers and associated post holes. 1.2.2 Site A (TM 07266 15132, Fig 2) comprises a series of rows of timbers, orientated south west to north east, some with associated brushwood faggots/fascines. A sequence of and clay deposits within the structure, and wattlework between some of the posts, particularly on the north east side. There were no closely datable finds recovered from the area of the structure, although there was a notable amount of pegged roof tile in the vicinity. Thus after provisional survey structure was undated, although considered most likely to be of early post medieval date. 1.2.3 There was an irregular row of wooden posts (Site B, TM 07296 15162) running north east from the seaward side of structure A. To the north west of these wooden structures lay what appeared to be the remains of a timber and brushwood trackway, situated between sites A and B and the salt marsh edge. 1.2.4 In the eroding edge of the salt marsh a series of deposits were visible, comprising a sequence of sandy beach deposits and silts/clays. To the north of this, situated on the marsh itself, adjacent to the sea wall, are the earthworks of a Tudor fort, originally constructed in 1547 and subsequently refurbished, during the Armada scare, and for the siege of Colchester during the 2nd Civil War (EHCR 2217).