Remains of Roman salt extraction site, Brightlingsea Rising Main, Essex. (EHER 17650)

A watching brief on a sewage pipeline uncovered fragments of salt briquetage. These are thought to come from the nearby Roman red hills EHER 2163 and EHER 2164.

Watching brief, 1994 A watching brief on a pipeline 1.49km long from the Brightlingsea sewage works at TM 073 178 to the pumping station at TM 082 166. An area 7-9m wide along the length of the pipeline was stripped of topsoil. The only identifiable feature was the badly plough damaged remains of a salt extraction, or Red Hill site (EHER 2164). Whilst the pipeline did not run through red hill EHER 2163 some of the material may have been associated with it. Finds included 22 fragments of salt briquetage, but no dateable material, no other features were located despite a concentration of cropmarks and known prehistoric sites in a field to the north of the pipeline. <1>.