Medieval banked ditch and possible yard surface, land rear of 39 High Street, Maldon (EHER 14757)

A trial trench excavated in 1991 recorded a substantial banked ditch, with a possible timber revetment. It was interpreted as a defensive structure, possibly an earthwork boundary to the medieval town. Given its location and projected alignment, it was thought not to be the Saxon burh of 916 AD (EHER 7766). It could not be securely dated and may have been constructed as early as the 10th century, but was probably built sometime in the early to mid 12th century, certainly before the 13th century. It was assumed to have gone out of use by the early 14th century. The ditch was sealed by a gravel surface which was thought to be a possible medieval roadway, or yard surface.

1991. Trial trenching. A trial trench was excavated by machine to the rear of No.39 High Street in advance of an extension, and recorded in section. A complex sequence of stratification was revealed with a notional average depth of 1.2m. The earliest recorded feature and an unexpected discovery was a portion of a ditch aligned south-west/north-east and not parallel to High Street. This had been recut at least once and may have had a bank to its north. The ditch measured over 6m wide at its broadest extent and the bottom of the feature lay 3.5m below present ground level and may have been another 0.6m deeper. The date and function of the ditch are not clear, though it was sealed by layers containing late medieval pottery. A second trench was excavated to investigate. Immediately to the east of this site, trial trenching behind the Post Office may have encountered part of the same ditch (EHER 16862). <1> <2> Because of the difficult conditions on site and the small quantity of pottery recovered it is only possible to say that the ditch was dug at some point before the late 13th century and probably went out of use in the early 14th century. It appears that the northern side of the ditch interior was originally revetted and a substantial bank formed from the upcast is surmised to have stood on the southern or townward side of the ditch. The size of the ditch and the probable medieval date suggests that the ditch must have been defensive in nature, such as a town enclosure ditch, enclosing the area known to be the focus of the medieval town. However, there is a problem in that the proposed alignment of the ditch suggests that it either did not enclose the principal features of the medieval town, the market-place (EHER 18789) and All Saints Church (EHER 7735), or cut right through them. Either option appears unlikely at present. It is further thought improbable that the ditch represents the burh defences of 916 AD (EHER 7766), but it cannot be discounted that it could be the remains of a temporary encampment thrown together to be used as a base during the construction of the burh in Witham. <3> <4> Sealing the ditch was a gravel surface which was interpreted as a possible roadway which ran parallel to the disused ditch, or a possible medieval yard or floor surface. Into the surface, a series of pits and gullies had been cut. These features could be sequenced but the lack of securely stratified pottery did not permit them to be effectively dated. See EHER 14758 for further details. <3> Note: This record was originally mapped to the full extent of D'Arcy Upper House but has been reduced to reflect the extent of the excavated area where the features were recorded.