Archaeological monitoring and excavation: Stage 6 western extension, Hanson Quarry, Maldon Road, Birch, Essex – August-September 2013

Archaeological monitoring and excavation was carried out at Birch Pit in 2013 on behalf of Hanson Aggregates. The archaeological monitoring covered topsoil-stripping of the Stage 6 western extension, adjacent to the Stage 5 area excavated in 2012.
There were twenty-two archaeological features. The significant remains included a ‘placed deposit’ (a Late Bronze Age jar without cremated bone) and seventeen pits and post-holes containing Late Bronze Age sherds. Other features were mostly post-medieval field ditches which are shown extant on 19th-century Ordnance Survey maps.
Much of the site had been disturbed by the construction and subsequent removal of a World War II airbase.