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| Monument Name |
Maldon Burh |
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| SMR Number |
7766 |
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| Summary |
Built by Edward the Elder, said to have stood on the N side of London Road on the W outskirts of the town. |
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| Description |
Built by Edward the Elder, said to have stood on the N side of London Road on the W outskirts of the town. "Old plans show the work as two concentric rings of entrenchment, but two slight scarps in a field N of the road are all that now remains". <1> According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, in 913 Edward the Elder encamped with part of his army at Maldon while the burh at Witham was being built. In 920 (should be 916) he returned and built a burh at Maldon. In 1740 Salmon (source 3) stated that three sides of the burh survived, enclosing c22 acres, forming three sides of a square or oblong. The rest had been built over. In 1775 Strutt (source 4) published a plan and stated that the fortification consisted of a strong, encircling ramparted scarp within a `fosse' or moat outside it. He put the area within at 220 x 290 yds and stated that, as now, London Road ran through the burh. Fitch mentioned that the `Lodge garden' lay within the burh. OS in 1949 reported that no definite trace of the earthwork remained. <2> - <6> SMR states the burh was built in 919, it was besieged by Danes in 920. The burh lay on the W side of Maldon, crossed by the road to Chelmsford (London Road) and comprised two concentric rings covering possibly 22 acres. By 1921 (RCHM) only two slight scarps remained. Athelstan (924-939) established a mint at Maldon. A coin from it was in the Rome Forum hoard found in 1883. <7> <8> Rodwell suggests that the earthwork could be defences of a Roman town. <9> The burh was built in 916 by Edward the Elder. It withstood a siege by East Anglian Danes in the following year. It has not been precisely located but is tentatively identified with the almost obliterated earthwork W of the town centre. No indication of internal arrangements survives, except for the alignment of London Road which seems to respect two former entrances. As at Witham, urban settlement seems to have developed around the burh entrances, although a town enclosure may have been added to the S side of the Maldon burh (see 7718 for Saxon town of Maldon). The arrangement is similar enough to Witham to argue that extra-mural occupation is a distinctive characteristic of Essex burghal sites (see 7722 for later Saxon occupation outside the burh area). <10> <11>
In 1986 the Maldon Archaeological Group published the compiled results of five years worth of observations on the top of Maldon hill postulating the site of the burh <5>. Excavations at 20 Spital Road (PRN14727-9), St Peter's Hospital (PRN 14724-6) and the EEV Site, Gate Street (PRN 14547-9) have all uncovered large ditches on the postulated line of the burh. However the individual ditch sections have been dated on the basis of their finds to the Early Iron Age, the twelfth century and the post-medieval period respectively.
Site Assessment: Similar to burh at Witham. Suggestion that Essex burhs are characterised by extra-mural occupation. <10> |
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| Monument Type(s) |
BURH (Dated 410AD to 1065AD)
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| Monument Class(es) |
DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE
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Period
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410AD to 1065AD Early Medieval
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| Status |
Not Known |
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| Administration Area |
MALDON, MALDON, ESSEX |
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National Grid Reference
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Square: TL80NW
Ref: 846071 |
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| Finds |
None listed
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| Events |
None listed
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Sources
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Desc Text : History and Antiquities of Essex (Salmon, N) p419 Dated : 1740
Desc Text : Complete View of the Manners, Customs etc (Strutt, J) Vol 1 Dated : 1775
Desc Text : The Burh at Maldon (Chalkley-Gould, I) Vol 10, Part 2, pp78-81 Dated : 1909
Desc Text : An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in Essex (RCHME) Vol 2, p173 Dated : 1921
Desc Text : TL80NW08 (unknown) Dated : 1951
Desc Text : SMR Form (unknown) Dated : 1960s to
Desc Text : Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (Whitelock, D et al) pp62-66 Dated : 1961
Desc Text : J? (Blunt, CE) Vol 42, p44, 78 Dated : 1974
Desc Text : Small Towns of Roman Britain (Rodwell, Warwick J and Rowley, RT) No 15, p92, 100(n 34) Dated : 1975
Desc Text : Historic Towns in Essex (Eddy, MR and Petchey, MR) pp63-66 Dated : 1983
Desc Text : Historic Towns in Essex: An Archaeological Survey (Eddy, MR with Petchey, MR) pp63-66 Dated : 1983
Desc Text : Maldon Historic Town Assessment Report (Medlycott, Maria) Dated : 1999
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