Malyons Farm, Hullbridge, Essex: PXA and UPD

Between 16th April and 18th July 2019 Oxford Archaeology East carried out an archaeological excavation on land around Malyons Farm, Hullbridge, Essex (TQ 807 946, Fig. 1).
A total of 4.8ha in three separate areas (A-C) was machine stripped to investigate areas of interest identified in the earlier evaluation phase.
Early land-use was evident from residual Early Bronze Age pottery in a small number of Early Iron Age features in Area B, while a single large pit of Late Bronze Age date was located in Area A.
The northernmost part of the site (Area B) revealed an area of unenclosed Early Iron Age settlement, including a trackway and at least six post-built structures. Other features included scattered pits and post holes and a large waterhole. The finds assemblage included pottery from the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age, along with animal bone, calcined bone, possible briquetage fragments (associated with salt making) and fired clay weights of both Bronze Age and Iron Age date. Preserved wood and environmental remains (which unusually included a box seed) were recovered from the lower fills of the waterhole.
In Area A, several Romano-British enclosure ditches and numerous extraction pits were identified. Finds from these features included pottery – mostly Romano-British with a smaller component of Late Iron Age – along with animal bone and oyster shell. Also in Area A were two small unurned Romano-British cremations, each containing less than 500g of calcined bone.
Close to the eastern edge of investigation, in Area C, was a single north to south aligned medieval ditch, originally identified in the evaluation. Moderate quantities of medieval pottery were recovered from the ditch and the overlying subsoil.
Several post-medieval to modern field boundary ditches aligned with the extant field system cut across the Iron Age settlement in Area B.
Small quantities of residual Neolithic flints and prehistoric burnt stone were also recovered from later features.