Roman research in the Barstable Hundred

by

Great Burstead / Billericay – Blunds Walls & Hilltop Roman Site

Parish: Great Burstead & Billericay
Category: Settlement, Enclosure, Burial Ground, Artefact Scatter
Sources: Early Essex directories; mid-19th-century antiquarian reports

1. Blunds Walls – Ancient Enclosure & Landscape Earthworks

Historic Notes (rewritten)

About a mile west of Billericay lies Blunds Walls Farm, historically connected with the medieval Blund family. The latter part of the name reflects an ancient enclosure or entrenchment on the site. Early descriptions record a ditch and substantial rampart forming an enclosure of roughly four acres, part of which extended directly into the modern farmyard.

The rampart was noted as being conspicuously higher than the surrounding fields, although several small internal mounds—likely artificial—were already being levelled in the 19th century.

Interpretation

Although no definite Roman artefacts are recorded from within the enclosure, its form and position suggest:

  • a prehistoric or Roman-period defended enclosure, OR
  • an early medieval homestead/stock enclosure later reused.

Given the density of Roman finds on the nearby ridge, a Roman-period function is entirely plausible.

LiDAR Indicators to Check

  • Surviving rampart crest around the 4-acre perimeter
  • Ditch infill hollow visible as a smooth depression
  • Internal platforms or levelled areas
  • Any rectilinear edges hinting at Roman reuse
  • Hollow-way traces connecting the site to Burstead/Billericay ridge

2. Hill Between Great Burstead & Billericay – Roman Station & Cemetery

Historic Notes (rewritten)

On the prominent hill between Great Burstead and Billericay, repeated discoveries were made over many decades. Finds included:

  • fragments of urns, paterae, and other Roman vessels
  • Roman copper coins and two silver coins of Trajan and Hadrian
  • pottery and vessel fragments found roughly three feet below the surface
  • a major discovery in 1847, when a large number of vases, urns, and other ceramics were unearthed

Together these finds strongly indicate the presence of:

  • a small Roman settlement or roadside station, and
  • an associated burial ground on the hilltop or slope.

The mixed domestic pottery and funerary vessels match typical Roman roadside ribbon settlements found elsewhere in Essex.

Interpretation

This hilltop location is classic Roman strategy:

  • near a route across the ridge
  • commanding wide visibility
  • dry, well-drained soil
  • gentle slopes for settlement, sharper slopes used for burial

This was almost certainly a small Roman station (mansio/farmstead cluster) with its associated cemetery.

LiDAR Indicators to Check

  • Slight terraces or platforms along the ridge
  • Small circular or oval depressions representing levelled burial pits
  • Linear alignments suggesting a trackway
  • Subtle boundary banks on the slope leading toward Great Burstead
  • Variations in micro-topography caused by past digging or ancient field divisions

3. Modern Archaeological View

Putting all of this together, the area around Billericay–Great Burstead ridge appears to be:

  • a minor Roman settlement zone,
  • with a road or track running along the high ground, and
  • with funerary use of the slopes and crest.

The density and variety of pottery finds imply long, low-intensity occupation — common in the hinterland of Roman Chelmsford (Cæsaromagus).

Billericay – Market Town on a Roman Ridge Route

Parish: Chapelry of Great Burstead
Category: Settlement, Roman Road, Artefact Scatter
Sources: Early 19th–19th-century directories and antiquarian notes (rewritten)

1. Historic Overview (Modern Rewrite)

Billericay is a small but long-established market town situated on a high ridge within the parish of Great Burstead. In the 19th century it had just over 1,200 inhabitants and stood on a prominent eminence with far-reaching views across the Thames valley, even as far as Sheerness and the Kentish hills on clear days.

The town occupies a strategic junction of roads:

  • Romford → Southend
  • Chelmsford → Tilbury Ferry

This crossroads position has shaped the town from medieval times through to the present.

By the Victorian period Billericay had:

  • a weekly market (Tuesdays), granted by Edward IV in 1476
  • two annual cattle fairs (Aug 2nd & Oct 7th)
  • a Town Hall holding Petty Sessions twice monthly
  • several inns, shops, and expanding housing

The town was noted in directories as clean, thriving, and a significant thoroughfare for travellers crossing mid-Essex.

2. Roman Evidence Around Billericay

Find Locations

Early writers consistently recorded Roman artefacts on the north and west sides of Billericay, including:

  • pottery fragments
  • domestic ware
  • occasional coins
  • possible structural debris
  • material linked with the nearby cemetery site on the Billericay–Burstead ridge (from your previous entry)

Historic Interpretation (rewritten)

The steady stream of Roman material, combined with discoveries on the neighbouring hill, convinced 19th-century antiquarians that Billericay sat on or near a Roman station. The ridge-top setting and road alignment strongly support this. A Roman road is believed to have passed through or just beside the modern town, following the high ground between Chelmsford and the Thames-side settlements.

Modern Interpretation

The combined evidence points to:

  • a minor Roman settlement or roadside cluster on the Billericay ridge,
  • routine Roman traffic using the high ground route,
  • and a burial ground on the nearby crest between Billericay and Great Burstead.

This fits the pattern of many small Roman waystations across Essex — lightly built, often agricultural in nature, with pottery scatters and small cemeteries marking their presence.

3. Landscape & LiDAR Notes

Why the Romans Chose This Spot

The Roman use of the ridge is highly typical:

  • dry, well-drained soils
  • excellent sightlines in all directions
  • a natural transport corridor linking mid-Essex to the Thames
  • a junction of north–south and east–west routes

LiDAR Features to Examine

When you add this to uklidar.com, highlight possible features such as:

  • slight terraces or platforms on the north and west slopes
  • hints of a linear alignment corresponding to a Roman track
  • traces of hollow-ways cut into the ridge by centuries of traffic
  • subtle changes in slope where settlement debris once accumulated
  • boundary banks or faint ditches marking the edge of Roman fields or plots

4. Role in the Essex Roman Gazetteer

Billericay forms a key entry in the Gazetteer because it links:

  • the Burstead Roman cemetery,
  • the Blunds Walls enclosure to the west,
  • and the ridgeway road system that threads through central Essex.

In short: Billericay is not a Roman “town”, but a textbook example of a Roman hinterland settlement and route focus — exactly the kind of place where LiDAR analysis shines.

Thundersley – Mixed Prehistoric Finds & Nearby Roman Burial Evidence

Parish: Thundersley (with Thundersley Hamlet)
Category: Prehistoric Weapons, Roman Burial Goods (adjacent parish)
Sources: Early Essex directories & 19th-century antiquarian notes (rewritten)

1. Historic Overview (Modern Rewrite)

Thundersley is a pleasantly situated village set on rising, undulating ground roughly 2–3 miles southwest of Rayleigh and 8 miles southeast of Billericay. The parish covers about 2,610 acres with a population of just under 600 in the mid-19th century. The separate area known as Thundersley Hamlet, lying about a mile east of the church, belongs partly to Rochford Hundred and accounted for about 220 inhabitants and 860 acres.

The landscape was noted for:

  • fertile soils
  • rolling, wooded ground
  • extensive views
  • the large neighbouring woodlands of Rayleigh and Eastwood to the east

A number of houses stand on high points with wide vistas across south Essex.

2. Archaeological Finds in Thundersley

Prehistoric Spearheads

Recent 19th-century reports recorded the discovery of brass and copper spearheads in a local gravel pit. These are not Roman but Bronze Age in type — a reminder that this part of Essex has a deep prehistoric footprint, with settlements favoured on these high ridges long before the Roman period.

These finds indicate:

  • possible nearby Bronze Age occupation
  • ritual deposition in gravel-rich soils
  • or reuse of high ground for repeated settlement episodes

3. Roman Material in Adjacent Rawreth

While Thundersley itself has no confirmed Roman structural remains, significant Roman discoveries were made just over the parish boundary in Rawreth, immediately to the north-west.

Rawreth Roman Burial Group (1848)

In 1848, workmen uncovered:

  • Roman urns
  • drinking cups
  • other baked-clay vessels, typical of Roman funerary deposits

This assemblage strongly suggests a Roman burial ground or small cemetery lying close to the Thundersley border.

Roman Context

Thundersley sits between:

  • the important settlement/ridge route through Rayleigh, and
  • the low-lying areas leading toward Hadleigh and the Thames estuary.

It is entirely plausible that the Roman community in Rawreth extended activity into what is now Thundersley, especially on high ground or along woodland edges.

4. Interpretation

Thundersley

  • No direct Roman structures are recorded,
  • but the presence of Bronze Age spearheads shows long-term prehistoric use of the landscape.
  • The elevated and wooded terrain would have been ideal for small Roman farmsteads or temporary activity, even if not yet documented archaeologically.

Rawreth (adjacent)

  • The finds form a classic Roman cremation/burial assemblage,
  • usually belonging to a minor Roman farmstead or roadside community.
  • The proximity to Thundersley makes this parish relevant to your Gazetteer.

5. LiDAR Indicators to Explore

For your uklidar.com visualisations, these are the likely features to examine:

In Thundersley

  • Subtle ridge-top terraces that could indicate historic settlement
  • Small circular or oval depressions (possible prehistoric pits or ring features)
  • Boundary ditches on the slopes heading toward Rawreth
  • The interface between woodland and open ground, which often preserves older earthworks

Between Thundersley & Rawreth

  • Faint rectangular or oval platforms, typical of small Roman plots
  • Slight linear banks or ditches marking field boundaries
  • Any low mounds or irregularities near the site of the 1848 urn discoveries

General Note

Roman cremation cemeteries are often found:

  • near parish boundaries
  • just off minor routeways
  • on slightly elevated but not exposed ground
    — this matches the Thundersley–Rawreth interface almost perfectly.

6. Gazetteer Summary

Thundersley contributes prehistoric context and high-ground landscape features, while Rawreth adds solid Roman burial evidence. Together they form a cluster indicating that Roman activity extended across this part of south Essex, with burial practices close to where later settlement developed.

EAST TILBURY

East Tilbury is an ancient riverside village situated on the north bank of the Thames, at the eastern end of Gravesend Reach, and at the southern point of the great bend of the river known as The Hope. It lies about 2 miles east-by-north of Tilbury Fort and roughly 16 miles E.S.E. of Romford.

The parish comprises 311 inhabitants and 2,031 acres of land, including a portion of New Kingsford, which lies about a mile from the church.

A notable feature of historical interest is the line of the Roman road known as Higham Causeway. Though only faint traces remain between Rochester and Higham, the alignment points directly toward the ancient ferry at East Tilbury. This ferry is widely believed to be the crossing-place used by Emperor Claudius, as described by Dion Cassius, during his advance across the Thames in pursuit of the Britons.

Leave a comment