Essex

Finds Tray: Silver seal matrix

This unusual silver seal matrix dates to the medieval period, but has reused a Roman intaglio as part of its design. It was discovered by a metal-detectorist in September 2024 at Gosfield, north of Braintree in Essex. Oval in plan,…

Above Overlooking the remains of Weeley Barracks. Here the northern part of the camp, looking east, is shown; the site’s main road, with buildings on either side, can be seen.

Excavating Weeley Barracks: echoes of the Napoleonic Wars in Essex

In the early years of the 19th century, military camps sprang up along the south coast of England to guard against French invasion. Once the Napoleonic Wars ended, most were dismantled, leaving little trace of this turbulent period – but now archaeological work at Weeley, a small village 11 miles from Colchester, has uncovered the remains of one such site, as Nick Cox reports.

Above More than 17 roundhouses were uncovered within a defensive enclosure at Cressing, near Braintree in Essex.

Evidence of Roman reprisals in Essex?

A recently revealed Iron Age settlement in Cressing, near Braintree in Essex, appears to have been almost completely destroyed during the second half of the 1st century AD. Dating to around the time of the Boudican uprising of AD 60/61,…