1973 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, earth works, 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. Excavations A regular programme of excavations is maintained, on which help is usually welcome (depending on the size of the site). Details of current projects are given in the Newsletter. 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. Full details of hours, etc. can be obtained from the Hon. Librarian. Membership Family£3· Ordinary Members, £2.50. Associate Members including Students, £1.25. Institutional Members and Affiliated Societies, £3· Application should be made to the Hon. Secretary. Articles for Publication are welcome and should be set out to conf~rm 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 Scorer. ESSEX ARCHAEOLOGY AND HISTORY THE TRANSACTIONS OF THE ESSEX ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY VOLUME s (Third Series) 1973 Published by the Society at the Museum in the Castle 1973 PRINTED IN ~'l' BRITAIN BY BEADLEY BROTHERS X.TD 1'09 KINGSWAY LONDON.WC2B 6PX AllD·ASHFORii Kli:~- TRANSACTIONS OF THE ESSEX ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY VOLUME 5, 1973 CONTENTS Page Editorial I Obituary J. G. S. Brinson, F.S.A., F.A.M.S. 3 M. U . JONES An Ancient Landscape Palimpsest at Mucking 6 M. U. JONES and W. J. RODWELL The Romano-British Pottery Kilns at Mucking P . J. DRURY and W . J. RODWELL Excavations at Gun Hill, West Tilbury P. J· DRURY Observation of Roadworks in Thurrock, 1969-70 113 K . A. and W. J. RODWELL Prehistoric, Roman and Saxon Finds from Stanford-le-Hope 123 P. J. and R. M. HUGGINS Excavation ofMonastic Forge and Saxo-Norman Enclosure, Waltham Abbey, 1972-3 127 GLADYS A. WARD Essex Farming in 1801 K . DIXON BOX The Chancellor Collection, Review and Appreciation 202 ALISTAIR SERVICE John Belcher's Town Hall and the Edwardian Grand Manner 225 Archaeological Notes KENNETH WALKER Little Holland Church 234 RONALD F. NEWMAN Monuments of Essex Interest in Kent and Sussex Churches 235 STUART R . BACON Colchester Castle Well, an Unusual Excavation.. 237 F. G. EMMISON A Seal from Radwinter 239 The Society acknowledges with gratitude the receipt of grants from the Depart­ ment of the Environment, the Friends of Historic Essex, and the Waltham Holy Cross Urban District Council towards the expenses of this volume. Editorial HE tradition of county publications in Britain is of long standing. Our annually honoured Philip Morant had his counterparts throughout the T land, and in the succeeding century the membership of the flourishing County Archaeological and Historical Societies was equally firmly based in the church and the professional classes. The county periodicals which they began are substantially still with us, this publication included. The needs, as we said in our last issue, are self-evident and have not changed. The approach however has changed radically. To some extent this is a matter of technology. More detailed plans and more sophisticated photography require a larger medium than the narrow leather-bound volumes of the First Series, and the welcome afforded to our I 972 revisions is a gratifying indication that we are now achieving the best contemporary standards in this respect. The problem however is more than technical, it is also social. Our predeces­ sors were free to travel considerable distances to attend lectures or excursions. An excavation aimed at the recovery of objects for the Chippendale cabinet or perhaps stone foundations around which, with the help of the classical authors, a happy web of speculation and moralizing could be woven. The loss of their prose style may be deplored, and they cannot be blamed for not knowing what was not then known. Today, however, those who are interested in archaeology and history are more numerous and though materially more comfortable, have less real leisure. To them history offers a break from routine, and a refreshing glimpse of other times and manners, an assurance of belonging to a great and continuing inheritance. They cannot travel far of an evening and hence have developed the 6o or so societies which now cover this county. They will attend lectures near at hand, and it is surprising that the television authorities have so far only dimly realized the potential audiences they might have in this discipline. Nor are they a pure passive community; many work extremely hard at weekends on fieldwork and excavations of varying degrees and quality. They care deeply for the environment in which they live, and defend, frequently with success, the historic buildings and sites which surround them. Parallel with this increasing and enthusiastic public has grown up a small group of fortunate, if ill-remunerated, individuals who earn their living by archaeological and historical study, and are thence known as professionals, though perhaps we should take a leaf out of the Kentish book and call them full-time workers. Their standards also vary, but it is natural that in a technological age these standards should develop rapidly and anticipate those of workers in a part­ time capacity. It should be the task of a society such as ours, backed by over a century of experience and resources, to relate these two forms of activity through the subject which they both have in common, and there is no way in which this can be more EDITORIAL lastingly done than by the circulation of the printed word. This communication needs to be of two kinds, the current news items of topical interest, and the more long term consolidation of research material for ready reference in the future. Such communication is, however, costly and there are already circulating in the area a galaxy of duplicated, typewritten and photo-lithoed documents which claim to be archaeological and historical publications. However suitable these may be for the announcement of immediate events, it seems to be the time to pose the question as to whether this is really good enough, and whether those who care about this county's history should not be considering whether a consolidation of resources would not achieve greater results. At the present time the need for extensive publication is especially critical in the sphere of archaeology. Not only is the list of unpublished or badly published excavations extremely large, (and it is poor consolation to reflect that this is a problem not confined to Essex), but also the increased pace of building develop­ ment is, for the foreseeable future, going to demand a major programme of excavation which will be useless unless it is properly recorded. So great and urgent is this crisis that proposals have been made for a national network of excavation units, all fully self-contained. While accepting that a major effort is required, we are entitled to an assurance that the object of the exercise will not be forgotten­ we study archaeology to increase our knowledge of our unwritten history, and to share that knowledge with everyone interested. What then is to be done? Is it not time that all those who care for the history of this county should be considering together the best means of achieving the objectives which are mutually acceptable? If this be read as a plea for the extended circulation of this journal, let it be so, and thought given as to how its organization should be adapted to meet the needs of to-day. Meantime it is proper to point out that those who appreciate and use its contents should not rely upon libraries and similar bodies but be prepared to subscribe to it themselves. Support for historical studies needs to be justified by proof and that proof is a very nominal annual cheque. John George San1uel Brinson F.S.A., F.A.M.S. BORN APRIL 23, 1911, DIED NOVEMBER 29, 1973 PRESIDENT OF THE SOCIETY 1960-1963 AND 1971- 1973 N classical times Africa, meaning the northern coastline, was a synonym for prosperity. Then under the tide of total war it was submerged, leaving great I cities desolate in a wilderness of sterile sand. Few who have visited these shores can have failed to have reflected on the waste oflife and skill which their crumbling ruins represent, and the lesson was emphasized again when the Allied armies fought their way along these historic coasts and then crossed to Sicily and Italy. Tent flaps were secured with Imperial inscriptions, lorries were parked in churches where shot-riddled masterpieces still adorned the walls, and hastily constructed trenches threw up the exported pottery ofPericlean Athens. All this made a deep impression on John Brinson, an officer in the Royal Engineers, as he followed his duties in this campaign. Before the war working in the Land Agents Office of the Essex County Council, he had already an interest in archaeology, more especially Egyptology.