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Prehistoric, Roman and Anglo Saxon settlement and landscape: Excavation and evaluation at Turpin’s Farm, Walton Road, Frinton, Essex, CO13 0UJ: March-September 2022
by Harvey Furniss and Laura Pooley
(with contributions from Dr Matthew Loughton, Adam Wightman, Alec Wade and Val Fryer figures by Harvey Furniss and Emma Holloway)
Date report completed: March-September 2022
Location: Turpin’s Farm, Walton Road, Frinton, Essex, CO13 0UJ
Map reference(s): TM 23623 21607 (centre)
File size: 58466 kb
Project type: Excavation
Significance of the results:
Keywords:
Summary. Archaeological excavation took place on a c 11.82ha development site at Turpin’s Farm, Walton Road,Frinton-on-Sea, Essex. Situated on the northern edge of Frinton-on-Sea and to the west of Walton-on the-Naze, it was located within an area of cropmarks where an earlier archaeological evaluation had revealed both prehistoric and Roman remains. Excavations took place in seven areas totalling 1.57ha or 13% of the development site, with significant archaeological remains dating to the prehistoric, Roman and Anglo-Saxon periods revealed.Prehistoric remains consist of a probable enclosure or field system located towards the centre and southern edge of the site which could be of Middle to Late Bronze Age date. No structural evidence was confidently identified although there was a scatter of undated post-holes and two ovens, especially in Areas 3, 5 and 6 that could be associated with this activity. Finds were scarce, but pottery and loom weights attest to some short-term or temporary occupation. In the north-west corner of the development site, an Early or Middle Iron Age ring-ditch formed a significant feature in the landscape. The function of the ring-ditch is uncertain. It could be a barrow, an open area ritual/mortuary enclosure, a large drainage feature surrounding a roundhouse or a stock coral.
Also located within the north-west corner of the development site was a small rural Late Iron Age to Roman settlement. The earliest phase of the settlement, dating from the Late Iron Age to the late 2nd/early 3rd century, was defined by a large drainage channel to the south-east, with a rectangular enclosure, roundhouse, stock enclosure and field systems continuing to the north-west and beyond the edge of the site. Stock enclosures and cattle, sheep/goat and pig remains show that animals were being kept on site. Pottery was found in abundance and triangular loom weights attest to textile production. One grave dating from the later 2nd century was found in the centre of the area defined by the earlier ring-ditch.
Sometime around the later 2nd/early 3rd century, the layout of the settlement was abandoned and reorientated with another rectangular enclosure cutting across many of the earlier features. The enclosure was itself abandoned in the later 3rd century. Many of the finds assemblages parallel the earlier settlement, but include a small quantity of metal-working debris.
Unexpectedly, an Anglo-Saxon rectangular post-built structure was found along the southern edge of Area 6/the development site. Standing at 9.18m by 5.87m, a single sherd of 6th to 7th century pottery was recovered from the structure, with the remains of a globular jar of the same date found in a nearby pit. The structure was built using the post-in-trench construction method which is not common in Anglo-Saxon settlements and, where present, seems to have been used more in the Middle Saxon period and for larger buildings. It would seem unlikely that this building exists in isolation, and it is probably an outlier for a larger Anglo-Saxon settlement to the south.
The development site appears to have been largely unenclosed and undeveloped agricultural land throughout the medieval and early post-medieval periods, with some field boundary ditches appearing later in the post-medieval period. Early mapping of the area shows the development site divided into four fields. The only modern feature of note is a U-shaped trench dating to World War II that was located on the southern boundary of the development site. It is presumably associated with a spigot mortar emplacement known to have existed on the adjacent trackway.