Roman pottery and post-medieval domestic finds Glebe Barn, Clacton Road, Thorrington (EHER 80587)

Test Pit 6, excavated in 2007, contained medieval pottery. The rest of the finds were restricted to the 19th to 20th century.

May 2007. Test Pit 5, 6, and 10. Only two sherds of pottery were excavated from Test Pit 5. A small sherd of Glazed Red Earthenware was recovered from context one, while a sherd of Victorian pottery was identified from context three. The presence of concrete in the base of the test pit suggests that the land behind the barn had been greatly disturbed in recent times. The majority of the finds can also be dated to the 19th and 20th centuries and include CBM, asbestos, fragments of drain, modern tile, coal, bottle glass and a small square metal plate and were found from the three contexts of Test Pit 5. The presence of slag and post-medieval activity suggest that there was activity on site during that time, but most of the finds date to after the current house was built. A possible waste was flint was also excavated from context two that may be later prehistoric in date, although analysis of the lithics would be needed to confirm this. Two sherds of Roman Grog-Tempered ware were excavated from the basal contexts of the Test Pit 6 that were also found with medieval pottery of Essex Grey Ware and Essex Red Ware. A single sherd of Late medieval Colchester ware was also recovered from context one and was mixed with the post medieval wares of Glazed Red Earthenware and English Stoneware, which were all identified from the upper contexts of the test pit. The majority of the pottery however dates to the Victorian period and was excavated from the upper half of Test Pit 6. The evidence for Roman occupation in Test Pit 6 has been identified in two other test pit locations in the south and east of Thorrington. The lack of associated finds may suggest that the land was only utilised as open fields during that time with the focus of Roman occupation elsewhere in the village. The medieval occupation of Thorrington is also quite scattered with isolated farmsteads set back from the road and this site in the far south of the village has been utilised more or less continuously since then, and there is an increase in activity into the post medieval. The finds excavated include tile, CBM, slate, coal, iron nails and Perspex that were found with oyster shell, animal bone and clay pipe, all of which relate to the increase in occupational activity from the 16th century onwards. All the finds were mixed through the test pit with fragments of CBM and coal also found in context six with the Roman pottery. Four sherds of Glazed Red Earthenware were excavated from context one of Test Pit 10, but the most of the pottery recovered dates to the Victorian period and found from the upper three contexts. Similar to the results excavated from Test Pit 6, an increase of activity was noted on site into the post medieval period and with the general expansion of occupation in Thorrington. The finds recovered include slate, coal, CBM, animal bone and clay pipe with modern window and bottle glass that were found with the pottery from contexts one and three and probably mostly relate to the modern expansion and renovations of the property during the 20th century. <1>