Colchester Archaeological Trust

CAT Report 519: summary

An archaeological evaluation at Thistle Hall, Mope Lane, Wickham Bishops, Essex: July 2009
by Howard Brooks and Ben Holloway

Date report completed: October 2009
Location: Thistle Hall, Mope Lane, Wickham Bishops, Essex
Map reference(s): TL834126
File size: 287 kb
Project type: Evaluation
Significance of the results: *
Keywords: Late Iron Age to Roman cremation burials, World War 1 trench

Summary. Two evaluation trenches with a combined length of 125m were dug on the site of a proposed lake at Thistle Hall, to the west of Wickham Bishops village, in July 2009. Ten archaeological features were identified as a result, the most significant of which were two unaccompanied urned cremation burials and part of a probable World War 1 military training trench. The burials were poorly preserved because of plough damage. Neither can be closely dated but they are Late Iron Age to Roman in date (1st to mid 2nd centuries). The burials are likely to be part of a small cemetery which included a burial found in 1916 when some trenches were dug in the area. There is, however, some uncertainty about the exact find spot of this earlier discovery, although one of these trenches appears to have been found during the 2009 evaluation. The cemetery is likely to be associated with a settlement site identified during excavations in 1929-30 although, like the 1916 burial, the exact location of these investigations is problematic.