T H A M E S V A L L E Y ARCHAEOLOGICAL S E R V I C E S
Elsenham Quarry Extension, Pledgdon Wood, Elsenham, Essex
Archaeological Recording Action
by Genni Elliott
Site Code: EQE13/156 (ELSE06)
(TL 5512 2654) Elsenham Quarry Extension, Pledgdon Wood, Elsenham, Essex
An Archaeological Recording Action
For Viridor Waste Management Ltd
by Genni Elliot
Thames Valley Archaeological Services Ltd
Site Code EQE 13/156 ELSE06
February 2014 Summary
Site name: Elsenham Quarry Extension, Pledgdon Wood, Elsenham, Essex
Grid reference: TL 5512 2654
Site activity: Recording Action
Date and duration of project: 12th–17th October 2013
Project manager: Steve Ford
Site supervisor: Genni Elliot
Site code: EQE 13/156
Area of site: c.1.2 Ha
Summary of results: A small number of pits and postholes, some of which were of Iron Age date, were recorded scattered widely across the area. The function of these is unclear. A small collection of Neolithic and/or Bronze Age flintwork with one piece possibly of Mesolithic date also point to some earlier activity within this landscape,
Location and reference of archive: The archive is presently held at Thames Valley Archaeological Services, Reading and will be deposited at Uttlesford Museum in due course.
This report may be copied for bona fide research or planning purposes without the explicit permission of the copyright holder. All TVAS unpublished fieldwork reports are available on our website: www.tvas.co.uk/reports/reports.asp.
Report edited/checked by: Steve Ford 18.02.14 Steve Preston 18.02.14
i Thames Valley Archaeological Services Ltd, 47–49 De Beauvoir Road, Reading RG1 5NR Tel. (0118) 926 0552; Fax (0118) 926 0553; email [email protected]; website: www.tvas.co.uk Elsenham Quarry Extension, Pledgdon Wood, Elsenham, Essex An Archaeological Recording Action
by Genni Elliot
Report 13/156
Introduction
This report documents the results of an archaeological recording action carried out at Elsenham Quarry,
Elsenham, Essex (TL 5512 2654) (Fig. 1). The work was commissioned by Mr Richard Steward, on behalf of
Viridor Waste Management Ltd, Peninsula House, Rydon Lane, Exeter EX2 7HR. Planning permission (app no
ESS/13/08/UTT) has been granted by Essex County Council to create an additional compound area and overburden extraction area, which is an extension to an original permission (app ESS/51/03/UTT) and is subject to a condition (26), requiring the provision of an archaeological survey prior to the commencement of work.
This is in accordance with both the County Council’s and Uttlesford District’s policies on archaeology. The field investigation was carried out to a specification approved by Mr Richard Havis, Senior Historic
Environment Advisor to Essex County Council. The fieldwork was undertaken by Genni Elliot between the 12th and 17th October 2013 and the site code is EQE 13/156 (ELSE06).
The archive is presently held at Thames Valley Archaeological Services, Reading and will be deposited at
Uttlesford Museum in due course.
Location, topography and geology
The site comprises a roughly triangular plot of land just south of the existing extraction areas of Elsenham quarry, to the east of Elsenham and just west of Pledgdon Wood near Pledgdon Green in Essex (TL 5512 2654)
(Fig. 1). The quarry site is at an elevation of 100m above Ordnance Datum, sloping down overall by about 10m from east to west. To the north is a valley cut by a small stream that feeds into Stansted Brook to the west. The underlying geology is mapped as boulder clay (till) over Woolwich and Reading beds (BGS 1990). The geology observed on site was mainly boulder clay with pockets of sandy gravel.
Archaeological background
The Elsenham area has a range of sites and finds recorded from the early prehistoric period to the medieval, although Elsenham itself is not historically of much note. Extensive excavations (8.5ha) prior to the initial quarrying of the site in 2006 revealed extensive occupation dating between the Iron Age and Early Saxon period.
1 The main periods of use of the site lay in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD and in the later 3rd and 4th centuries, with most evidence coming from dateable land divisions, although pyre-related funerary debris was found in the northern part of the site. No convincing building remains were found but these must have been present, judging from the density of pottery and pits (Hammond and Preston 2012).
Prior to 2006, the closest significant archaeological finds were a series of cropmarks visible on aerial photographs, about 1km to the east of the site, interpreted as a field system, probably dating from the Iron Age or
Roman period. Palaeolithic and Mesolithic flints, Neolithic flints and pottery, and further finds less securely dated, possibly including Saxon burials, are all recorded from the Pledgdon sand pit to the west. The area also has a number of deserted or shrunken medieval villages. Only a light background scatter of Roman finds had previously been recorded. More recent evaluation to the north of the existing quarry has revealed addition deposits of Iron Age, Roman and Medieval settlement and landscape (NA 2011).
The archaeology of the broader region is dominated by recent work at Stansted Airport (Havis and Brooks
2004; FA 2008). Among the results of the work at Stansted is the demonstration that the area was being cleared of trees at least as early as 3000 BP. with a large number of small sites of various periods, relatively closely spaced, showing that the claylands were not by any means as barren as used to be thought.
Objectives and methodology
The general objectives of the project were to: excavate and record all archaeological deposits and features within the areas threatened by the development; produce relative and absolute dating and phasing for deposits and features recorded on the site; establish the character of these deposits in attempt to define functional areas on the site such as industrial, domestic, etc; and produce information on the economy and local environment and compare and contrast this with the results of other excavations in the region.
The specific research aims of the project were to:
determine when the site was first occupied; determine when the site was abandoned; and determine what activities were taking place on the site.
It was proposed to strip the area (c.1.2ha) within the footprint of the new contractor’s compound. Topsoil and subsoil were to be removed by a 360°-type machine fitted with a toothless ditching bucket, under constant archaeological supervision. All spoil heaps were to be monitored for finds and where archaeological features were present they were to be cleaned and excavated using hand tools. Machines were not allowed to track over stripped areas until archaeological recording had been completed.
2 Results
The excavation was undertaken as planned and an area measuring c.1.2ha was stripped of topsoil and any subsoil
(51) to reveal the natural boulder clay. This was sub-divided into three areas: A, B and C (Fig. 2, Pls 1,4,5). A total of eight features were recorded; three pits, four postholes or slots and an old hedge line, all cut into the natural boulder clay. None of the features could be related to each other and covered a wide geographic area. The features excavated are summarized in Appendix 1.
Pits
Feature 1 was a sub-square shallow pit, with steep sides and a flat base measuring 0.50m by 0.49m by 0.06m deep (Fig. 3). It had two fills; a dark yellowish brown, silty clay containing occasional small stones and charcoal,
0.03m thick (52) above a layer of charcoal containing red flecks, possibly of daub, 0.03m thick (53). Finds consisted of seven small fragments of unidentified bone, 26 fragments of burnt clay and five fragments of burnt flint from the soil sample.
Feature 5 was a sub-circular pit with gently sloping sides and a rounded base measuring 1.24m by 0.97m by
0.11m deep. There was one fill, 57, a mixed dark brownish yellow and black, silty clay containing charcoal and burnt clay. Pottery from this pit dated from the middle – late Iron Age. Finds consisted of five fragments of unidentified bone, 57 fragments of burnt clay, five fragments of burnt flint and three fragments of worked flint.
Feature 7 was a sub-circular pit with gently sloping sides and a rounded base, measuring 0.70m by 0.67m by 0.10m deep. Its only fill, 59, was dark greyish brown, silty clay containing small flints and occasional small fragments of modern ceramic building material.
Postholes and Slots
Feature 2 was a sub-circular posthole with steep sides and a square post-pipe. It measured 0.30m by 0.25m by
0.11m deep. The post-pipe was sub-rectangular and measured 0.16m by 0.10m by 0.20m deep. A single fill
(context 54) filled both the posthole and post-pipe. It was black with red flecks containing abundant charcoal and flecks of red daub. Finds consisted of 19 fragments of burnt clay and eight burnt flints from the soil sample.
Feature 3 was an elongated slot with rounded ends, steep sides and a sloping base (Pl. 3). It measured
0.34m by 0.17m by 0.06m deep and contained a single fill; context 55, a mixture of dark yellowish brown and
3 black, silty clay containing abundant charcoal. Pottery found within this slot dated from the early – middle Iron
Age. Other finds consisted of six fragments of burnt flint and one worked flint.
Feature 6 was a sub-circular posthole with steep sides and a rounded base measuring 0.33m by 0.29m by
0.19m deep (Pl. 2). Its only fill, 58, was mixed dark yellowish brown and black, silty clay containing abundant charcoal. Pottery from within this posthole dated from the late Iron Age but was small and abraded and so only provides the most general terminus post quem.
Feature 8 was a sub-square posthole with steep sides and a pointed base, measuring 0.19m by more than
0.16m by 0.34m deep. It was filled with 60, greyish brown, silty clay containing abundant charcoal. Finds consisted of a single worked flint.
Hedge Line
Feature 4 was a shallow linear hollow, 4m wide by more than 17m long and 0.1m deep. It was aligned ENE–
WSW and filled with a dark greyish brown, silty clay loam (56) similar to the topsoil. A search of old maps shows that this was a former hedge line as shown on the First Edition Ordnance Survey map of the area (dated
1875–1877).
Finds
Pottery by Malcolm Lyne
The site investigation yielded 27 sherds (144g) of Iron Age pottery from four contexts: a further two sherds
(11g) were recovered from environmental samples. The pottery occurrence by number and weight of sherds per context by fabric type is shown in Appendix 2. The bulk of the sherds are of Middle and Late Iron Age date but two, from feature 3, may be attributable to the Early Iron Age. None of the assemblages are large enough for more detailed quantification by Estimated Vessel Equivalents (EVEs) based on rim sherds (Orton 1975).
Early to Middle Iron Age
The following fabric types were noted:
P6: Handmade micaceous pink fired rough black with profuse <1.00mm irregular white quartz-sand filler. 2 sherds, 26g. P7: Handmade black with profuse brown grog and <0.30mm multi-coloured quartz-sand, and sparse-to- moderate <1.00mm calcined-flint filler. c.500–25BC. 4 sherds, 25g. P8: Handmade black fabric fired buff-brown externally with profuse silt-sized to 0.10 mm quartz-sand and sparse-to-moderate <2.00mm calcined-flint filler. c.300–25BC. 2 sherds, 8g. P9: Handmade reddish-brown fabric fired black with silt and moderate ill-sorted 0.10<3.00mm calcined-flint filler. Early to Middle Iron Age. 2 sherds, 55g.
4 Late Iron Age
The following Late Iron Age types were noted (codings match those used in Hammond and Preston 2012):
LIA1A: Very fine ‘Belgic’ grog-tempered ware. c.50BC-AD.70. 1 sherd, 1g. LIA1B: Coarse ‘Belgic’ grog-tempered ware. c.500-25BC. 12 sherds, 25g. LIA2: Handmade silt and grog tempered ware. Sparse ill-sorted 0.50<5.00 mm calcined flint. c.100BC-AD.43. 4 sherds, 5g. LIA7A: Handmade black fabric. Profuse <0.20 mm quartz-sand filler. c.25BC-AD.50. 2 sherds, 4g.
All of the pottery assemblages are very small and almost entirely lacking in rim and diagnostic fragments. The largest assemblage is of 20 sherds from pit 5 (57) and is made up of a mixture of Middle and Late Iron Age sherds. These suggest that this feature belongs to the period of transition between the two ceramic traditions during the 1st century BC. What the assemblages do tell us is that there was no Roman activity in the area excavated.
Struck Flint by Steve Ford A collection comprising 21 struck flints was recovered during the course of this phase of fieldwork (Appendix
3). They are mostly flakes with 2 spalls (pieces less than 20x20mm) and a tested nodule with one flake removal that had been burnt. One flake was slightly rolled and may be of geological origin, with a second possibly so.
Where the cortex was still present the flint would appear to have been derived from local drift deposits. The one exception to this is a narrow flake patinated a light blue which is probably of Mesolithic origin. The other pieces are not closely datable on morphological traits alone but are most probably of Neolithic or Bronze Age date.
Conclusion
The fieldwork has recorded the presence of a low level of archaeological deposits on the site with three pits, four postholes or slots, and an old hedge line observed. The features were scattered over a wide geographical area and no relationships could be established. Only three of the features were datable via pottery, ranging from the early to late Iron Age. These features indicate a low density of activity within the contemporary landscape but located at some distance from occupied areas. Quite what this activity represents is unclear but some finds may be a by- product of the manuring of farmland. A small number of prehistoric struck flints were also recovered, most probably of later neolithic or Bronze Age date (with one possible mesolithic piece). These mostly came from the topsoil or subsoil again pointing to a low level of activity, perhaps casual loss or discard within the wider landscape, but also perhaps a by-product of manuring of farmland
5 References BGS, 1990, British Geological Survey, 1:50,000, Sheet 222, Solid and Drift Edition, Keyworth. FA, 2008, From hunter-gatherers to huntsmen: a history of the Stansted landscape, Framework Archaeology, Monogr 2, Oxford/ Salisbury Hammond, S and Preston, S, 2012, ‘Excavation of a Roman Landscape and prehistoric features from Elsenham Quarry, Elsenham, Essex’, Essex Archaeol Hist ns 1, 16–50 Havis, R and Brooks, H, 2004, Excavations at Stansted Airport, 1986–91, E Anglian Archaeol 107, Chelmsford (2 vol) Jones, C and Brown J, 2011, Archaeological evaluation on land for the extension of Elsenham Quarry, Elsenham, Essex, Northamptonshire Archaeology, report 11/129, Northampton Orton,C R, 1975, ‘Quantitative pottery studies: some progress, problems and prospects, Sci Archaeol, 16, 30–5
6 APPENDIX 1: Catalogue of Features
Cut Deposit Group Type Date Dating evidence 1 52, 53 Pit - - 2 54 Posthole - - 3 55 Slot Early – Middle Iron Age Pottery 4 56 Old hedge line Post-medieval/modern Cartographic 5 57 Pit Late Iron Age Pottery 6 58 Posthole Late Iron Age (or later) Pottery 7 59 Pit Modern Brick/tile 8 60 Posthole ? Prehistoric flint APPENDIX 2: Pottery occurrence by number and weight (in g) of sherds per context by fabric type
Cut Deposit Fabric Form Date-range No sherds Wt (g) Comments 51 P6 Jar 2 26 Fresh, 1 jar LIA1B Saucepan pot 500–25BC 2 10 Sl abraded LIA7A Jar 25BC–AD.50 1 2 Sl abraded 3 55 P9 Early - Middle Iron Age 2 55g Fill of Slot 3 557P7 Jar 500–25BC 4 25 Fresh P8 300–25BC 2 8 Fresh LIA1B 50BC–AD70 9 11 Abraded LIA2 100BC–AD43 4 5 Abraded LIA7A 25BC–AD50 1 2 Fresh Fired clay 14 170 Fresh 658 Fired clay 1 6g
From sieved samples Cut Deposit Sample Fabric Form Date-range No sherds Wt (g) Comments 5 57 4 LIA1A 50BC–AD70 1 1 Fired clay 63 176g 6 58 5 LIA1B 50BC–AD70 1 4 Abraded LIA2 100BC–AD43 6 6 Abraded APPENDIX 3: Catalogue of Struck Flint
Cut Deposit Sample Type 8 60 1 Broken flake 51 16 Broken blade; 7 intact flakes; 6 broken flakes; 1 rolled flake; 1 Spall 3 55 1 1 Spall 5 57 3 2 Broken flakes; 1 tested nodule (burnt) ESSEX HISTORIC ENVIRONMENT RECORD/ESSEX ARCHAEOLOGY AND HISTORY
SUMMARY SHEET
Site name/Address: Elsenham Quarry, Elsenham
Parish: Elsenham District: Uttlesford
NGR: TL5512 2654 Site Code: ELES06
Type of Work: Recording Action Site Director/Group: Genni Elliott, TVAS
Date of Work: 12–17 October 2013 Size of Area Investigated: 1.2ha
Location of Finds/Curating Museum: Uttlesford Funding source: Viridor Waste Management
Further Seasons Anticipated?: No Related HER No.s:
Final Report:
Periods Represented: Mesolithic?, Neolithic/Bronze Age, Iron Age, post-medieval
SUMMARY OF FIELDWORK RESULTS:
A total of three pits, four postholes or slots and an old hedge line were found cut into the natural boulder clay. The features were scattered over a wide geographical area and no relationships could be established. Where pottery was present it dated to the Iron Age. A single flint might be Mesolithic with others more generally dated to the Neolithic or Bronze Age.
Previous Summaries/Reports: Hammond, S and Preston, S, 2012, ‘Excavation of a Roman Landscape and prehistoric features from Elsenham Quarry, Elsenham, Essex’, Essex Archaeol Hist ns 1, 16–50.
Author of Summary: Genni Elliott Date of Summary: 17/02/2014 SITE
Colchester Braintree
28000 Harlow Chelmsford
Brentwood Basildon
Southend-on-Sea
Elsenham Quarry Excavation, 2006
27000
SITE
26000
TL55000 56000 EQE 13/156 Elsenham Quarry, Pledgdon Green, Elsenham, Essex, 2013 Archaeological Recording Action Figure 1. Location of site in relation to Pledgdon Green and within Essex. Reproduced from Ordnance Survey Explorer 171 at 1:12500 Ordnance Survey Licence 100025880 26700
B
Active Quarry workings 8 Area3
7
26600
C
4 hedge line
3 A 26500 5
6 2
1
TL55100 55200
EQE 13/156
N Elsenham Quarry, Pledgdon Green, Elsenham, Essex, 2013 Archaeological Recording Action
Figure 2. Detail of areas.
0 100m 55 52 54 53 1 3 2
102.77m 57 59
7 5
Topsoil
103.02m
60
8
EQE 13/156 Elsenham Quarry, Pledgdon Wood, Elsenham, Essex, 2013 Archaeological Recording Action
Figure 3. Sections.
0 1m Plate 1. Area A, looking east, Scales: 2m and 1m.
Plate 2. Area A, Iron Age feature 6 Plate 3. Area A, Iron Age feature 3 looking north, Scale: 0.3m. looking north east, Scale: 0.3m. EQE 13/156 Elsenham Quarry, Pledgdon Wood, Elsenham, Essex, 2013 Archaeological Recording Action Plates 1 - 3. Plate 4. Area A, looking north, Scales: 2m and 1m.
Plate 5. Area C, looking south, Scales: 2m and 1m.
EQE 13/156 Elsenham Quarry, Pledgdon Wood, Elsenham, Essex, 2013 Archaeological Recording Action Plates 4 - 5. TIME CHART
Calendar Years
Modern AD 1901
Victorian AD 1837
Post Medieval AD 1500
Medieval AD 1066
Saxon AD 410
Roman AD 43 BC/AD Iron Age 750 BC
Bronze Age: Late 1300 BC
Bronze Age: Middle 1700 BC
Bronze Age: Early 2100 BC
Neolithic: Late 3300 BC
Neolithic: Early 4300 BC
Mesolithic: Late 6000 BC
Mesolithic: Early 10000 BC
Palaeolithic: Upper 30000 BC
Palaeolithic: Middle 70000 BC
Palaeolithic: Lower 2,000,000 BC Thames Valley Archaeological Services Ltd, 47-49 De Beauvoir Road, Reading, Berkshire, RG1 5NR
Tel: 0118 9260552 Fax: 0118 9260553 Email: [email protected] Web: www.tvas.co.uk