4.9 The Greater London Archaeology Advisory Service
East London
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Evaluation and subsequent excavations in advance of a School development at Prince Regent Lane and funded by the London Borough of Newham Education Department revealed a sand and gravel island' on which a prehistoric land surface was recorded sealed beneath layers of alluvial clay. Within and beneath this surface over 1300 fragments of flint tools and pottery were recorded dating from between 1500 and 300 BC. a large number of stake holes were excavated on the eastern edge of the island, suggesting that a timber platform or jetty had been constructed next to a deep stream channel, presumably to give access to the site by boat. Within the interior of the site two probable cooking areas were discovered, consisting of large amounts of burnt flint, pottery, and animal bones scattered around large rectangular cooking pits. Pupils from two nearby schools visited the site and much interest (and surprise) was expressed by the local community.
On the higher, drier ground much further to the north-east in the London Borough of Redbridge excavations in advance of gravel extraction at Fairlop Plain revealed a ring ditch within which was buried a cremation interred within a bucket urn of Middle Bronze Age date, presumably the remains of a ploughed out barrow. Further ritual activity was discovered in the form of a series of Late Iron Age early Roman cremations, apparently associated with a series of contemporary field systems.
Excavations at Abbey Retail Park in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham shed further light on the development of the late Saxon and medieval lay settlement adjacent to the precinct of Barking Abbey. The construction of a nineteenth-century match factory had caused some truncation of the site but numerous cut features of later Saxon date, including several large ditches and a large number of pits, were recorded. Several excellent animal bone assemblages were recovered from features of apparent tenth-century date. Some evidence of industrial activity was present, including metalworking waste and possible evidence of dyeing processes. Revetting and reclamation activity associated with an original course of the Roding was present on the western boundary of the site, where features produced large amounts of preserved environmental deposits.
At Dagenham evaluation and excavation recorded a series of buildings fronting onto Church Street; although the earliest timber phase is as yet undated, quantities of Mill Green pottery dating from the late thirteenth to mid fourteenth centuries were recovered. The timber structures were replaced by more substantial brick buildings in the seventeenth century and continued in use, although much altered, until this century.
More substantial and considerably higher status medieval remains were recorded during excavations in advance of a housing development at Low Hall depot, Walthamstow. The earliest building was enclosed within a substantial moat and consisted of a hall and adjoining solar block with a service range at the opposite end. This building was constructed with a timber frame resting on chalk and ragstone foundations and had an external porch located directly opposite the moat bridge. The bridge structure included a square abutment constructed of limestone ashlar blocks. Within the moat were the remains of a rectangular base frame probably for a drawbridge. These timbers have been dated by dendrochronology and produced a felling date of the summer of AD 1344. The main body of the house was extended to the east and a second wing was subsequently added to the north.
This large L-shaped building was abandoned during the seventeenth century and a smaller house was erected using the existing foundations of the northern wing. This structure was extensively rebuilt and altered throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries as its status declined. It was finally destroyed in August 1944 by a V1 flying bomb, the remains of which were found within a crater in front of the house.
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Excavations in advance of development at 2-6 Link street in the London Borough of Hackney provided evidence for the early development of the hamlet of Homerton. The earliest activity dated from the eleventh and twelfth centuries and comprised a structure with chalk foundations. During the fifteenth century the site was more intensively developed with the construction of a building incorporating an oven and associated with a contemporary water management system connected to the nearby Hackney Brook.
Excavation at West India Dock pierhead site' revealed a large eighteenth-century boatyard and timber dock unknown from cartographic sources. Large quantities of artefacts and material associated with ship building and repair were recovered from the backfilled timber dock. Further research is expected to provide evidence of building and breaking techniques as well as shedding light on trading patterns during the late eighteenth century.
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