M.R. Hull records, “In December 1947, Mr A.F. Hall discovered that a ploughman named Beales employed on Gosbecks Farm had preserved in his garden shed for two years or more a fine statuette of Mercury, 20 in. high, in excellent preservation. The figure is quite nude, with two wings on the head, and no cap. The soles of the feet are pierced with triangular openings to receive securing studs in an uneven base (perhaps representing a rock) on which the figure had been fixed.
Mr. Beales stated that he struck the figure with the plough, which partly broke the right leg. He had ploughed that field many times and never found anything, but had noticed the road which passes the temple on the east. This time, however, he was ploughing a few inches deeper than previously, and since then remains of stone walls have been noticed here and there. The missing arms of the figure may have been caught by previous ploughing and may still lie in the soil. Owing to the great size of the field it has not been possible to fix with any accuracy the exact find-spot, which according to the finder was in the bottom of the valley about 100 yards NE of the NE corner of the temple portico.
Nevertheless, in 1948 the Roman Essex Society made an attempt to explore the site, using a mine-detector. Much agricultural iron was found, but no ancient remains.” <1>