Land at Weeley, Essex

Oxford Archaeology undertook a 144 trench evaluation at Weeley, Essex between 11th January and 8th February 2021. Due to poor site conditions, with standing water and heavy snowfall, it was not possible to fully investigate the remains found in all the trenches, but the evaluation was successful in identifying and charactering archaeological remains dating from the Neolithic through to the post-medieval period.
An area of potentially Early Neolithic activity, represented by several small pits, was identified to the north-west of the development area. Further evidence for Late Mesolithic or Neolithic activity included a small quantity of struck and burnt flint recovered from natural deposits on the edge of the first river terrace in Area 6.
In Areas 1, 3, 4 and 5 a small number of ditches and pits associated with small quantities of finds of Iron Age and/or Romano-British date suggest the area was on the edge of settlement, with the ditches potentially representing field systems.
Area 6 contained a large number of post-medieval features, mostly associated with the Napoleonic camp and barracks formed at Weeley in the late 1700s/early 1800s. These included brick footings made from unfrogged hand-made bricks and potential building construction cuts. The possible remains of a camp kitchen were also identified. Several large extraction pits or cess pits were also identified. Finds dating to this period included several military buttons including one from the 11th Light Dragoons. Several gunflints from either ‘Brown Bess’ muskets or dragoon carbines were also recovered, along with other post-medieval finds including pottery and clay pipe.