Watching brief and rescue excavation by P. Brown (MAG) and O. Bedwin (ECC) at Elmcroft, Maldon, 1987 - EEX23999

A watching brief and limited excavation was undertaken at the Beacon Green sheltered housing development in 1987. The original discovery of early Iron Age material and most of the subsequent watching brief was by Paul Brown of the Maldon Archaeological Group (MAG). It appears that a watching brief was undertaken during the topsoil stripping of the whole site, and following the rescue excavation, along the projected route of the Anglo Saxon burh (EHER 7766). The formal three-week rescue excavation was undertaken jointly by Essex County Council Archaeology Section and MAG, under the direction of Owen Bedwin (ECC) and funded by a grant from Maldon District Council, which targeted features discovered by the watching brief. Interim reports on this site were written under the name 'Elmcroft', after a nearby house in the former garden of which the excavation took place. Although still standing while fieldwork was underway, this house was subsequently demolished, the owners moving into a new house about 35 metres to the north, also called Elmcroft. To avoid confusion between old and new, it has been felt preferable to refer to the site as Beacon Green, the name given to the housing development after the initial archaeological discoveries were made. NRHE data transfer: Excavation & watching brief on the Beacon Green housing development to locate line of Saxon burh. Finds to go to Colchester Museum.