Springfield style enclosure and Iron Age enclosures south of Hill House, Baker Street.

Reasons for Designation

Springfield style enclosures are roughly circular enclosures, typically found on a hilltop or spur and dating to the Middle/Late Bronze Age, with some occupied into the Early Iron Age. They are named after the type site at Springfield, Essex, one of the few examples in the country which has been fully excavated. They are characterised by a single enclosure ditch with a simple internal bank or box rampart. Within the enclosure, one or more circular buildings may be found with numerous pits and postholes. Their function appears to be domestic and such sites will yield archaeological and environmental information about the lifestyle of the communities living in them. They are found in eastern England, usually surviving as cropmark sites visible through aerial photography, and are thought to number no more than fifty in total. All surviving examples are considered to be of national importance and will merit protection.

The Springfield style enclosure at Baker Street is a single ditched example with one circular building and pits within it. The key components of the monument are clearly visible as cropmarks in aerial photographs indicating that, beneath the plough soil the monument survives well. The importance of the Springfield style enclosure south of Hill House is further enhanced by its association with an Iron Age settlement enclosure complex. On this site, therefore, we can see a sequence of domestic development from the Late Bronze Age to the Late Iron Age. The association between the two types of monument will allow a study to be made of the chronological and spatial relationship between them which will provide insights into the land-use and settlement pattern in the later prehistoric period.

Details

The monument includes a Springfield style enclosure, and an overlying enclosed domestic settlement believed to date to the Iron Age period. The monument is located on a low flat topped ridge on a sand and gravel terrace overlooking Orsett Fen to the north. The monument is represented by a series of buried features which have been recognised as cropmarks from aerial photography. The Springfield style enclosure includes an external ditch, enclosing an area of c.70m in diameter, with an entrance on the eastern side. The traces of a circular building and pits are visible as cropmarks on aerial photographs within the enclosure. Overlying the Springfield style enclosure is an enclosed domestic settlement and associated field system. This settlement complex includes an `L'shaped enclosed area measuring 210m by 130m, surrounded by an enclosure ditch, with at least one entrance on the eastern side. Within it are at least four roughly rectangular compounds which vary in size from 25m by 30m to 60m by 40m, most of which are believed to represent stock paddocks and pens or distinct areas for cultivation and industrial purposes. In an internal enclosure in the north west corner of the complex are the remains of two circular buildings. These are visible on aerial photographs as cropmark ring ditches 10m in diameter along with cropmarks representing pits and other features. This compound measures 60m x 40m and probably represents the main dwelling area of the enclosure complex.

MAP EXTRACT The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract. It includes a 5 metre boundary around the archaeological features, considered to be essential for the monument's support and preservation.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

24869

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Buckley, D, Priddy, D, East Anglian Archaeology in Excavations At Woodham Walter And An Assessment Of Essex Encls., (1987)
Buckley, D, Priddy, D, East Anglian Archaeology in Excavations At Woodham Walter And An Assessment Of Essex Encls., (1987)
Wilkinson, A, East Anglian Archaeology in Archaeology and Environment in South Essex, (1988)
Wilkinson, A, East Anglian Archaeology in Archaeology and Environment in South Essex, (1988)

Other
Gibson, S, (1993)
CUCAP BBZ17, (1970)
CUCAP BWX 85., (1976)
Essex Sites and Monuments Record 5212, (1985)
CUCAP BBZ 17, (1970)
CUCAP BWX 86, (1976)
CUCAP BWX85, (1976)
NMR 6381/3/190 405, (1972)
NMR 6381/3/190 405, (1972)
Essex Sites and Monuments Record 5212,

End of official list entry

All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.