Border Archaeology (BA) has been instructed by Anderson Group to carry out a programme of Archaeological Field Evaluation (AFE) on Land to the N of Woollard Way Blackmore Essex in connection with pre-application advice concerning a proposed 40-home development on a site allocated for development in the emerging local plan (Brentwood Borough Council Ref. 19/06088/PMAJ) (NGR 560292 202115). Of the 28 evaluation trenches opened across the site, five contained archaeological features of interest, these consisting of former field boundary ditches, four postholes and a pit. Feature dating was based principally on an assemblage of late 18th century ceramic fragments (3430g) and two glass fragments (35g) of the same date, all of which were recovered from the topsoil. The small pottery assemblage recovered was thought to be representative of the local Harlow industry (15th-17th centuries). Marine shell was also present but in general the low abundance and inconclusive identifications of most of the biological material precluded any conclusive observations on the environmental conditions or dietary patterns at that time.
Children et al. (Mon,) studied this question.