Excavation by Access Archaeology at Bures Common, Bures Hamlet, 2012 - EEX63043

NRHE data transfer: In summer 2012, a five-day community archaeological excavation directed by Access Cambridge Archaeology for the Heritage Lottery Fund's Managing a Masterpiece programme took place on Bures Common in north east Essex. Scores of local volunteers including school pupils took part in the excavations which were intended to see if any trace remained of a water channel shown on pre-modern maps. The excavation of three trenches and seven test pits demonstrated the presence of a slow-moving body of water used for flax retting in the 7th - 9th centuries AD. The potential for excellent survival of organic material at lower levels was clearly demonstrated in the area adjacent to Bridge Street. The common appears to have remained low-lying open ground, perhaps used seasonally as grazing when conditions allowed, until a concerted campaign of consolidation raised the ground surface by upwards of 1m in the 19th or early 20th century to its present level.