Prehistoric ditches, tree throw and pit at Wick Farm, Wick Road (EHER 48854)

Trial trenching in 2015 identified two prehistoric boundary ditches, a tree throw and a pit. The project also recorded a palaeochannel and the features were sealed beneath varying depths of alluvial deposits. A small assemblage of Roman briquetage was recovered from this layer in Trenches 3 and 4.

November 2014. Geophysical survey. A geophysical survey was undertaken as part of an archaeological field evaluation of the site of a proposed solar farm at Wick Farm (Eastern plot), Burnham-on-Crouch. The survey detected subsurface features and disturbances which appeared to relate mainly to historic field boundaries and drainage systems. There were localised magnetic anomalies which could be consistent with the presence of debris associated with nearby ancient salt making activity in parts of the site. <1> March 2015. Trial trenching. Evaluation identified two prehistoric boundary ditches, a palaeochannel, a tree throw and a pit which were sealed beneath varying depths of alluvial deposits. These alluvial deposit were recorded in all trenches, with a depth of 1.5m in the Southernmost trenches, receding to a depth of 0.4m in the Northernmost trenches. A thin deposit of Red Hill material was recorded between alluvial layers in Trench 2. None of the archaeological features found in the evaluation matched anomalies in the geophysical survey. A small assemblage of early Roman briquetage was recovered from the alluvial layer in Trench 3, and a small assemblage and fired clay/briquetage was recovered from the pit, ditch and tree throw in Trench 4. A single sherd of prehistoric pottery was recovered from the ditch in Trench 5. The only ecofacts recovered from environmental samples came from the palaeochannel in Trench 1, where various preserved seeds from plants such as bramble and sour cherry were recovered. All other samples were sterile. <2>