Watching brief by Field Archaeology Unit (ECC) at Nether Hall, Moreton, 2007 - EEX54877

ECC Field Archaeology Unit undertook a programme of archaeological monitoring prior to the construction of a new agricultural building and associated access at Nether Hall, Moreton. The site lies to the east of the present village of Moreton and adjacent to the 13th century church of St Mary (Listed Building Number 118459). Nether Hall (EHER 4138) itself encompasses a group of historic buildings including a farmhouse (LBN. 118472), granary (LBN. 118474), stables (LBN. 118475) and barn (LBN. 118473). The proposed new building sits to the north-east of the existing farm, at the base of a moderately sloping south-west facing hillside. The area was used as meadow until fairly recently, when it was brought into arable use, and is flanked to the north-west and south by small parcels of woodland, with open ground to the east (Fig 1). The Essex Historic Environment Record indicates that the proposed development lies within an area of medieval agricultural earthworks and possibly, given the location of the church and hall complex, an earlier focus of the village or a shrunken element of it (EHER 4137). No archaeological remains were encountered during monitoring works. Topsoil was stripped using a mechanical excavator fitted with a toothless ditching bucket. Clean natural geology was encountered between 0.20 and 0.30m below the existing ground surface and consisted of a yellow chalky clay in the southern part of the site, and an orangey-brown silty clay to the north. Field and mole drains criss-crossed the northern half of the proposed development, while plough scars and converging wheel ruts marked both the silt and clay. The shallow depth at which undisturbed clay was encountered, coupled with a lack of subsoil build-up, means that any shallow archaeological remains are likely to have been disturbed by ploughing and it seems likely that only deeper features would survive if present in the immediate vicinity. A small number of finds were recovered from the interface between the topsoil and the clay, comprising a residual prehistoric flint scrapper, a fragment of peg tile and a small abraded sherd of pottery. In addition to the above, scattered across the surface of the ploughed field were large quantities of abraded tile of undetermined date, which were not recovered. In summary, no evidence for the agricultural earthworks noted in the EHER was observed during the course of the recording works. Furthermore, there was no evidence of Late Saxon through to post-medieval activity associated with the development of the village and the adjacent church. <2>