Multi-period cropmark complex, east of Hoe Farm (EHER 7863)

A multi-period cropmark complex, parts of which were excavated by trial trench in 1976 and are recorded separately in records EHER 7856-7859 and EHER 7861. The unexcavated elements in the complex include ring ditches which are assumed to be ploughed out Bronze Age barrows (recorded in EHER 7858), trackways, field boundaries and pits, which are assumed to be Iron Age or Romano-British (see EHER 7859 for the excavated features from this period).

A multi-period cropmark complex, parts of which were excavated by trial trench in 1976 (see EHER 7856-7859 and EHER 7861). The unexcavated elements in the complex include ring ditches which are assumed to be ploughed out Bronze Age barrows (recorded separately in EHER 7858), trackways, field boundaries and pits, which are assumed to be Iron Age or Romano-British (see EHER 7859 for the excavated features from this period). <1> See aerial photographs <2> - <23>. See also <24>. Site Assessment: The site was reported ploughed in 1980. <25> This was an unusual cropmark complex for Essex in that it had not been regularly deep ploughed. The 1976 excavations found that the then current intensity of ploughing was not a major threat. It was found that steam ploughing had caused disturbance in the past. It was recommended that ploughing be restricted to the 1976 level with trial excavation at 10 year intervals to monitor the situation. A long-term threat from mineral extraction was recognised. <26> <1> Note: The parts of the cropmark complex which were excavated are recorded separately by phase. Please see EHER 7856 for the Mesolithic remains, EHER 7857 for the Neolithic remains, EHER 7858 for the possible Bronze Age remains, EHER 7859 for the Iron Age to Roman remains, and EHER 7861 for the medieval-post-medieval finds assemblage. NRHE data transfer: Cropmarks, double ditched enclosures, ring ditches, trackways, pits linear features. (See plan). Area due to be deep ploughed 1976. Trial excavations April/May 1976 by Essex County Council under J. Hedges revealed the D-shaped enclosure of a Late Iron Age farm with evidence of wattle and daub. Storage pits were also found. A larger enclosure of 1st century AD is probably defensive. Excavation of other attached enclosures was inconclusive. <27> - <31> November 1976. Scheduled Ancient Monument. Seven barrows (two very small). Four square enclosures disposed in a line on east side of area. A series of four superimposed rectilinear enclosures of substantial size, and an extinct watercourse crossing from east-west. <32> December 1976. Field visit. The 1976 excavations have been concluded and the area ploughed. An excavation report is to be published. The site falls on a gentle north facing slope bounded on the north by an old river terrace of the Chelmer which now flows 300.0m to the north. <33> July 1987. Field visit. The excavation report has now been published and a summary of the findings is given. The site is at present under cereal crop and a number of features depicted on cropmark transcriptions (Authority 1) are visible as raised differential crop growth (see illustration cards). <34> The cropmark enclosure complex at Woodham Walter, Essex, was trial trenched in 1976 to determine the state of site preservation and confirm the postulated Iron Age and Romano-British site sequence of the principal cropmark features. Evidence was obtained for occupation in the Mesolithic, Neolithic, Bronze Age and Early pre-Roman Iron Age (EPRIA) periods, but this activity left few traces of structures. A sub-rectangular enclosure was constructed in the Middle pre-Roman Iron Age (MPRIA); this was abandoned in the Late pre-Roman Iron Age (LPRIA) and replaced by a much larger rectangular enclosure to the west which underwent several constructional phases prior to its desertion in the early Roman period. A series of adjoining square enclosures on the eastern side of the site was not securely dated, but may have been late Roman in date. <35> See also <36> - <40>.