Site Event/Activity record ECC2774 - Magnetometer Survey of north-west corner of Gosbecks Archaeological Park, Colchester, 1998

Location

Location Gosbecks Farm, Colchester
Grid reference Centred TL 96755 22782 (341m by 219m)
Map sheet TL92SE
County ESSEX
Civil Parish STANWAY, COLCHESTER, ESSEX

Technique(s)

Organisation

Cott, Peter (Mr)

Date

February 1998

Map

Description

The objective of this magnetometer survey was to determine the position of archaeological features in the area, in advance of the construction of a proposed visitor’s centre. The survey revealed a number of linear features, which are ditches, and a small number of circular features. There is also an area in which there is a concentration of pits, or cremation burials, and perhaps some agricultural iron. One feature is a large area on the SW corner of the survey area. Within the confines of this feature there are numerous magnetic responses corresponding to pits, or perhaps cremation burials. One or two of the larger responses have a negative ‘halo’ around them, which may indicate that these responses are due to the presence of ferrous metal. One source of this would be pieces of agricultural implements, but the anomalies may be caused by archaeological features. A wide linear feature was also detected, running N-S for 160m. It shows as a low magnetism path, in which a ditch runs. The alignment of this feature corresponds exactly to the boundary between the arable field on the west and the rough grass of the archaeological park. The first tentative identification was that this response is caused by a stone or masonry road, having a ditch at its centre. This theory was strengthened by the observation that a slight ridge can be seen in the crop in the field, running on the same alignment. A resistivity survey was made over this feature to test this theory. The results indicate that at first sight the ridge contains masonry. However, some of the increase in resistance could be due to the fact that it is assumed that the bank has not been disturbed for a very long time, and that therefore the soil in the bank is of higher density than that of the park or the field. This assumption could not explain the large increase in resistance as the instrument passed over the bank, and the conclusion is that the bank does contain stone or brick. As the resistivity and magnetometer results on this feature were not conclusive, it is recommended that a section be made of this feature in order to resolve the problem. A final curvilinear feature was recorded, containing many small magnetic responses. <1><2>

Sources/Archives (2)

  • <1> Geophysical Report: Cott, Peter, J.. 1998. Geophysics Survey Report Gosbecks Archaeological Park, 21/02/1998.
  • <2> EXCAV REPORT: Colchester Archaeological Trust Ltd.. 2001. Archive Report. Gosbecks Archaeological Park Excavations.

Related Monuments/Buildings (1)

  • Romano-Celtic Temple Complex, Gosbecks, Colchester (Monument)

Record last edited

Mar 22 2016 3:59PM

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