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THE ESSEX ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY The Essex Archaeological Society was founded in 1852 Its objects are: (I) To promote the study of the archaeology and history of the County of Essex. (2) To collect and publish the results of such studies in annual issues of Transactions and other publications. ( 3) To make researches, undertake excavations and field surveys, and assist in the preservation and recording of ancient monuments, earthworks, historic buildings, documents, and objects of archaeological interest and importance. ( 4) To provide library facilities for members and approved students. Publications The articles in its Transactions range over the whole field of local history. Back numbers and offprints are available; list and prices on application to the Librarian. Libraries requiring complete runs can often be assisted. Members receive a quarterly Newsletter covering all aspects of the Society's activities, news of current excavations and fieldwork, and items of topical interest. The Library The library is housed at the Hollytrees, High Street, Colchester, and is extensive. It aims to include all books on local history, and has many runs of publications by kindred Societies. Members may use the library on any weekday during museum opening hours {10-1, 2-5, Saturdays, October to March, closes 4 p.m.) on presen­ tation of a current membership card. Membership Application should be made to the Hon. Membership Secretary for current rates. Articles for Publication are welcome and should be set out to conform with the Notes for Contributors, of which offprints are available. They should be sent to the Hon. Editor. A list of officers, with addresses, will be found on the inside back cover. Cover by Barbara Wells, L.S.I.A. Member Societies in Essex A.W.R.E. (Foulness) Archaeological Society; Billericay Archaeological and History Society; Brain Valley Archaeological Society; Castle Point Archaeological Society, Clavering and Langley Local History Group; Essex Society for Family History; The Friends of Historic Essex; Great Bardfield Hist0rical Society; lngates­ tone and Fryerning Historical and Archaeological Society; Maldon Archaeological Group; Saffron Walden Antiquarian Society; Southend-on-Sea and District Historical Society; Waltham Abbey Historical Society; West Essex Archaeological Group; Woodford and District Historical Society. Chigwell School; St. Helena School, Colchester; Suntrap Field Study Centre, Lough ton. ESSEX ARCHAEOLOGY AND HISTORY ESSEX ARCHAEOLOGY AND HISTORY THE TRANSACTIONS OF THE ESSEX ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY VOLUME 15 (Third Series) 1983 Published hv. the SocietY. at the ~~ useum in the Castle 1984 Printed by. Vineyard Press Ltd;, Colchester TRANSACTIONS OF THE ESSEX ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY VOLUME 15,1983 CONTENTS Page C. COUCHMAN and L. SA VORY The Cropmark Complex and a Group ofDeverel-Rimbury Burials at Ardleigh, Essex K. A. RODWELL The Excavation of a Romano-British Pottery Kiln at Palmer's School, Grays, Essex 11 M.R.EDDY Excavations on the Brain tree Earthworks, 1976 and 1979 . 36 C. M. CUNNINGHAM, P.C. and N. C. FARMER A Horse and Rider Aquamanile from Harwich, and the Significance of Scarborough Ware in Essex 54 P.A. BRAND New Light on the Anstey Case 68 JENNIFER C. WARD The Reformation in Colchester, 1528-1558.. 84 B. W. QUINTRELL Towards a 'Perfect Militia', Warwick, Buckingham and the Essex Alarum of 1625 96 M. R. EDDY and P. M. RYAN John Ennows: A Previously Unknown Clay-Pipe Maker ofAll Saints, Colchester . 106 P. B. BOYDEN Fire Beacons, Volunteers, and Local Militia in Napoleonic Essex-1803 -1811 113 DEBORAH PRIDDY (Ed.) Work of Essex County Council Archaeology Section 1982 . 119 M. C. WADHAMS Historic Building Surveys 1982 156 DEBORAH PRIDDY (Ed.) Excavations in Essex 1982 163 Archaeological and Historical Notes PETER B. BOYDEN: Mersea before 1046: A Reconsideration .. 173 D. G. BUCKLEY and H. MAJOR: Medieval Pot Quem from Hadleigh Castle .. 115 NANCY BRIGGS: Current Research on Essex History and Historical Geography, 1983 176 J. M. SKUDDER: Periodical Literature on Essex Archaeology and History, 1983 177 Book Reviews Colchester Archaeological Report 2. The Roman Small Finds 180 Domesday Book, Essex 181 ESSEX ARCHAEOLOGY AND HISTORY VOLUME 15, 1983 The Cropmark Complex and a Group of Deverel-Rimbury Burials at Ardleigh, Essex by C. COUCHMAN and L. SAVORY Summary This paper describes the important multi-period cropmark complex at Ardleigh. The evidence for Bronze Age, Iron Age and Roman settlement is summarized and a group qf Deverel-Rimbury cremations excavated from the face qf Martell's gravel quarry recorded. A gazetteer qffinds and dated cropmarks in the Ardleigh complex is included. Acknowledgements Thanks are due to Bucbricks Co Ltd, the owners ofMartell's Pit, for permission to carry out watching briefs, and to the quarry manager and operators for their co-operation. The writers are also grateful to Mr C. B. Denton for his report on the cremated bones; and to Mr D.G. Buckley and Mr J.D. Hedges of Essex County Council Archaeology Section and Commander R.H. Farrands of the Colchester Archaeological Group for their comments on the draft of this report. The opinions expressed, and any errors, remain the responsibility of the writers. Introduction Ardleigh in north-east Essex (Fig. 1) was put on the archaeological map when Erith and Longworth defined the Ardleigh Group of the Deverel-Rimbury culture (Erith and Longworth, 1960). One of the present writers has summarised the evidence for possibly continuous settlement in the Ardleigh area from the neolithic to the Roman period (Couchman, 1975, 14). Most of this evidence comes from aerial..photography and fieldwork undertaken by the Colchester Archaeological Group, with the aerial photographic record supplemented and extended by the National Monuments Record Air Photographs Unit and the Committee for Aerial Photography, Cambridge. A Fig 1 : Ardleigh Location Map 1 2 C. COUCHMAN AND L. SAVORY The purpose of this note is twofold: to publish the important cropmark complex at Ardleigh, the surviving areas of which are in process of being scheduled as an ancient monument ; and to report on a group of four 'Ardleigh' cremation burials discovered by the writers at Bucbricks sand and gravel quarry at Martell 's Farm, Ardleigh, in 1974. The Cropmarks (Fig. 2 & Pll) The 'skeleton' of the Ardleigh cropmark complex was first photographed by Cdr R.H. Farrands in 1959 (Farrands, 1960) around the findspot of the Deverel-Rimbuty cemetery. The attention it has since received from aerial photographers has established the importance of the complex. The Colchester Archaeological Group has investigated a number of small areas; and latterly watching briefs have been carried out in the gravel workings by the writers (see below). The complex is recorded in the Essex Sites and Monuments Record as number TM 02/15. T he site is situated on loam underlain by glacial gravels, and forms a linear development along both sides of the headwaters of a tributary of the Salary Brook, just above the valley bottom at 110 feet O.D. It is certain that the complex was more extensive than our knowledge at present allows. The gravel quarry has already destroyed the archaeological remains there, likewise the railway and the present village of Ardleigh ; whilst areas of orchard and nursery prohibit the detection of cropmarks to the north and west. In a wider context, the site at Ardleigh fits into an emerging pattern of prehistoric settlement along the river valleys of north-east Essex. The results of aerial photography suggest neighbouring Plate I. Ardleigh Cropmalks (reproduced by permission ofDr. K. St.Joseph) THE CROPMARK COMPLEX AND A GROUP OF DEVEREL-RIMBURY BURIALS AT ARDLEIGH. ESSEX 3 Fig. 2: Ardleigh: Cropmark Complex 4 C. COUCHMAN AND L. SAVOURY settlement areas along the Stour valley and Colne estuary and their tributaries; while in later prehistory and in the Roman period the proximity of Ardleigh to the tribal centre and later colonia at Colchester is probably significant. At the present state of research, however, Ardleigh appears to be unique in this area, both in the complexity and linear extent of the cropmarks represented, and in the significance of their interpretation. Six distinct elements are identifiable within the cropmark system: pits, ringditches, double-ditched track ways, field systems, settlement enclosures and the Roman road. The majority are not dated at present: those which have been investigated and relevant surface finds are indicated on Fig. 3 and listed in the gazetteer. No certain neolithic features have been isolated in the cropmark complex, but a flint axe is recorded as coming from the field north ofFrating Road,just west of the orchards. Evidence for the early Bronze Age is almost as scanty: a single beaker (presumably from a burial) was found in 1942 during gravel extraction north-west of Slough Lane (Clarke, 1970, No. 225). The first evidence oflarge-scale occupation comes from the middle Bronze Age (Fig. 2, A and I, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8 andlO). About 170 Deverel-Rimbury cremation burials, of which a fair proportion of those analysed were multiple depositions, attest the presence of a large settlement. Most of this material has already been discussed in other articles (Erith and Longworth, 1960; Couchman, 197 5) ; only a couple of points are worth adding here. A re-examination of the excavation reports suggests that some at least of the 'barrows' may rather have been flat ringditched enclosures. Although the ditches were excavated through the thin loam overburden into gravel, the reports repeatedly stress the stone-free nature of the ditch silts (see various reports listed in the gazetteer). Even had the mounds been made of scraped-up topsoil, it is difficult to see how they could have slipped or been ploughed back into the ditches without a stony fill resulting. It may also be noted that since the publication of the 'flat urnfield', cropmarks of ringditches have been found in the same area.

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