GROUND INVESTIGATIONS AT CROPPENBURG
CANVEY ISLAND ESSEX
ARCHAEOLOGICAL MONITORING
Field Archaeology Unit
April 2005
GROUND INVESTIGATIONS AT CROPPENBURG
CANVEY ISLAND
ARCHAEOLOGICAL MONITORING
Prepared By: Signature:
Andrew Robertson
Position:
Date:
Project Supervisor
Approved By: Signature:
Mark Atkinson
Position:
Date:
Unit Manager
Doc. Ref.
1477SumRep.doc
Report Issue Date
April 2005
Circulation
Environment Agency
ECC Historic Environment Record
ECC Historic Environment Management team
As part of our desire to provide a quality service, we would welcome any comments you may have on the content or the presentation of this report.
Please contact the Archaeological Fieldwork Manager, at the Field Archaeology Unit,
Fairfield Court, Fairfield Road, Braintree, Essex CM7 3YQ fieldarch@essexcc.gov.uk
Tel: 01376 331470 Fax: 01376 331428
� Field Archaeology Unit, Essex County Council, c/o County Hall, Chelmsford Essex CM1 1LF
Archaeological Monitoring
Prepared for Environment Agency
HER Summary Sheet
Site Name/Address: Ground Investigations at Croppenburg, Canvey Island Parish: Canvey Island District: Castle Point
NGR: TQ 8158 8329 (Centre) Site Code: CPCR 05
Type of Work: Watching Brief Site Director/Group: Andrew Robertson ECC FAU
Date of Work:
22nd � 31st March 2005 Size of Area Investigated: Approximately 8700 sq.m
Location of Finds/Curating Museum: Southend Museum Funding Source: Environment Agency
Further Work Anticipated? Yes Related HER Nos:
Final Report: EAH Summary? Periods Represented: None
SUMMARY OF FIELDWORK RESULTS:
An archaeological watching brief was carried out on the excavation of 10 ground investigation pits ahead of the construction of a new water pumping station and pipeline at Croppenburg, Canvey Island in March 2005. All the pits were approximately 0.4m in diameter and were hand excavated to a depth of 1.2m, a shell auger was then used to sample the ground to between a depth of 3 and 5 metres. Pit WS 5a was hand dug on the foreshore but no shell auger was used. A further pit at Knightswick (TQ 8051 8438) was not observed but was to be excavated into the landward side of the sea wall.
No archaeological features or deposits were observed in any of the pits and no artefacts were recovered. The topsoil was between 0.25 and 0.45m deep in all the pits. Below this was made ground to various levels, which was presumably deposited to stabilise the ground or to strengthen the sea wall. Although the hand dug pits were all terminated within the made ground the auger cores showed alluvial silts from about 2m downwards.
The small-size of the pits precluded a detailed examination of the stratigraphic composition of the ground. However, as it is known that this part of Canvey Island was reclaimed from the sea during the 17th century, it is unlikely that remains prior to this date are situated on this site although the possibility exists that the area was above sea level during the Roman period similar to the Lea Beck area to the east.
The archive will be deposited at Southend Museum. Previous Summaries/Reports:
Author of Summary: Andrew Robertson Date of Summary: April 2005
Archaeological Monitoring
Prepared for Environment Agency
N
N
S.Benfleet
Site # Sea Wall
WS 5a
Canvey Island �
�
WS 4a Smallgains Creek
River Thames �
WS 3a
�
WS 6
WS 7
�
Bank
Rattwick Drive WS 8
�
WS 9
�
� WS 10
� WS 11
� WS 12
Pumping Station
R o ad
o lb ek
H
0 100m
Scale 1:1500
Reproduced by permission of Ordnance Survey on behalf of the Controller of Her Majesty's Stationery Office. Crown copyright. Licence number LA100019602.
Figure 1. Location of site and geotechnical test-pits
Archaeological Monitoring
Prepared for Environment Agency
Archive Contents
SITE NAME: Ground Investigations at Croppenburg, Canvey Island
Index to the Archive
File containing:
1. Research Archive
1.1 Brief of Archaeological works
1.2 WSI
1.3 Summary Report
2. Site Archive
2.1 1 x sheet misc notes
2.2 1 x Photo register
2.3 1 x Misc plan (A4)
2.4 11 x Digital Images
No finds