Archaeological Test Pit Excavations in West Mersea, Essex, 2006-2010 Catherine Collins 2 Archaeological Test Pit Excavations in West Mersea, Essex, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010 Catherine Collins 2019 Access Cambridge Archaeology Department of Archaeology University of Cambridge Pembroke Street Cambridge CB2 3QG 01223 761519 [email protected] www.access.arch.cam.ac.uk (Front cover image – the team at WME/10, test pit 7 – copyright ACA) 3 4 Contents 1 SUMMARY .............................................................................................................................................. 11 2 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................... 12 2.1 ACCESS CAMBRIDGE ARCHAEOLOGY (ACA) .................................................................................... 12 2.2 THE HIGHER EDUCATION FIELD ACADEMY (HEFA) ......................................................................... 12 2.3 TEST-PIT EXCAVATION AND RURAL SETTLEMENT STUDIES .............................................................. 13 3 AIMS, OBJECTIVES AND DESIRED OUTCOMES ......................................................................... 14 3.1 AIMS .................................................................................................................................................. 14 3.2 OBJECTIVES ....................................................................................................................................... 14 3.3 OUTCOMES ........................................................................................................................................ 14 4 METHODOLOGY ................................................................................................................................... 15 5 LOCATION .............................................................................................................................................. 16 5.1 THE SETTLEMENT TODAY .................................................................................................................. 16 5.2 GEOLOGY AND TOPOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................ 19 6 ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL BACKGROUND ............................................................ 20 6.1 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND ............................................................................................................... 20 6.2 ARCHAEOLOGICAL BACKGROUND..................................................................................................... 24 6.2.1 Prehistoric ................................................................................................................... 24 6.2.2 Roman ......................................................................................................................... 27 6.2.3 Anglo-Saxon ................................................................................................................ 29 6.2.4 Medieval ...................................................................................................................... 30 6.2.5 Post-Medieval and later .............................................................................................. 31 6.2.6 Undated ....................................................................................................................... 33 7 RESULTS OF THE TEST PIT EXCAVATIONS IN WEST MERSEA ............................................. 37 7.1 2006 EXCAVATIONS .......................................................................................................................... 38 7.2 2007 EXCAVATIONS .......................................................................................................................... 45 7.3 2008 EXCAVATIONS .......................................................................................................................... 57 7.4 2009 EXCAVATIONS .......................................................................................................................... 81 7.5 2010 EXCAVATIONS .......................................................................................................................... 92 8 DISCUSSION ........................................................................................................................................ 103 8.1 PREHISTORIC ................................................................................................................................... 103 8.2 ROMANO-BRITISH ........................................................................................................................... 105 8.3 ANGLO-SAXON ................................................................................................................................ 107 8.4 MEDIEVAL ....................................................................................................................................... 108 8.5 POST-MEDIEVAL AND LATER .......................................................................................................... 109 9 CONCLUSION ...................................................................................................................................... 111 10 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................................... 112 11 REFERENCES ................................................................................................................................. 113 12 APPENDICES ........................................................................................................................................ I 12.1 POTTERY REPORTS – PAUL BLINKHORN ................................................................................................ I 12.1.1 All Pottery Types (in chronological order) .......................................................................i 12.1.2 2006 Results ................................................................................................................. iv 12.1.3 2007 Results ................................................................................................................ vii 12.1.4 2008 Results ..................................................................................................................x 12.1.5 2009 Results ............................................................................................................... xvi 12.1.6 2010 Results ............................................................................................................... xix 12.2 OTHER FINDS – CATHERINE COLLINS ............................................................................................... XXII 12.2.1 2006 Finds ................................................................................................................. xxii 5 12.2.2 2007 Finds ................................................................................................................ xxvi 12.2.3 2008 Finds ................................................................................................................. xxx 12.2.4 2009 Finds .............................................................................................................. xxxix 12.2.5 2010 Finds ................................................................................................................. xliv 12.3 MAPS .................................................................................................................................................. LI List of Figures Figure 1: Map of England with a close up insert of East Anglia, and the village of West Mersea highlighted in red. ..................................................................................................16 Figure 2: Modern OS map of Mersea Island © Crown Copyright/database right 2019. An Ordnance Survey/EDINA supplied service, 1: 40,000 ........................................................17 Figure 3: Extent of the West Mersea conservation area (shaded red) © Crown Copyright/database right 2019. An Ordnance Survey/EDINA supplied service, 1: 10,000 ..18 Figure 4: 1880’s OS map of Mersea Island © Crown Copyright and Database rights/Ordnance Survey 2019, 1: 10,000 ............................................................................23 Figure 5: The former courses of the River Thames and River Medway with the location of Mersea Island marked with a red cross, c.400,000 BC (adapted from © Lucy 1999) ..........25 Figure 6: The extent of the Essex ice sheet and the location of Mersea Island indicated by a red cross (adapted from © Lucy 1999) ...............................................................................25 Figure 7: Excerpt from Chapman and André's Map of Essex 1777 of Mersea Island, digitized by © Tim Fransen. Available online at: http://www.rochforddistricthistory.org.uk/page/chapman_and_andrs_map_of_essex_1777 ...........................................................................................................................................32 Figure 8: Test Pit location Map (NB test pits are not to scale): 2006 (red), 2007 (green), 2008 (blue), 2009 (yellow) and 2010 (purple) Map adapted from © David Cooper .............37 Figure 9: Location map of the West Mersea test pits from 2006 (NB test pits not to scale) Map adapted from © David Cooper ....................................................................................38