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With the general theme of her talk being houses, Helen said she would talk about sites at Dagenham, Little Ilford, Fulham and Bow
Dagenham Leisure Park: Apparently a farmstead, excavated in 2017, the site dates from the Early Iron Age, 800400BC. Of particular note were a roundhouse and pit. Up to the 19th century the area was very open, but lowlying and marshy; various waterways still run south towards the Thames. Much of the land has been reclaimed. There was lots of activity in the area for most of prehistory, the most famous local find being the Dagenham Idol, found in 1922 and since radiocarbon dated to 2351-2139 BC, as well as various late Neolithic and Bronze Age objects – a socketed axe etc. There is a regional tendency towards metalwork deposition, many of the objects being deposited in Barking Creek.
But finds from this site, apart from a post-medieval ditch, were mostly Iron Age. A key feature was a rectangular clay floor with an arrangement of postholes within it comprising a subcircular structure, possibly a roundhouse. A curving line of postholes may have been part of a boundary. A particularly interesting pit contained an assemblage of Early Iron Age pottery, comprising a minimum of 4 vessels, three decorated with fingertip impressions: large, unabraded sherds (only parts of the pots), they had not been lying around before deposition but had been carefully placed in the pit before it was backfilled. Perhaps this pottery was deposited after an auspicious occasion, or at the commencement or termination of an activity. The site may have seen only seasonal activity - a lack of other material culture suggests it was only occupied for part of the year and was perhaps part of a larger settlement.
Little Ilford: Situated 5km NW of the Dagenham site, nearby to the East is the River Roding: Ilford is named after the River Hyle, a historic name for the Roding. Uphall Camp, an Iron Age hillfort, lies just across the river. Again, a low-lying, marshy area, prone to flooding.
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The earliest occupation appears to be early Neolithic: three pits contained Middle Neolithic pottery of Mortlake or Fengate type, perhaps made locally. Flint debitage indicated flint working. A possible Middle Bronze Age roundhouse, 6.5 metres in diameter with post and stake holes, a NE facing door and a small porch – but no finds inside the house - was positioned on high ground to the West of the site. Perhaps it was occupied at the same time as Uphall.
Two Roman ditches (they contained Roman pottery), perhaps enclosing higher ground, suggested people returned to the site during the Roman period. The site was only 10km from Londinium, is near the London-Colchester road, and there may have been a road running to the site from a ferry crossing on the Thames. The final phase was Saxon: Saxon pottery was found in the Roman ditches, one shard bearing the impression of a grain of rye. A 12th century church was later built on top of the hill.
Fulham: A site in West London, at Queen’s Manor School close to the Thames, shows Saxon activity, postmedieval gardening, and there had been two major flood events, indicated by a mixed dump of material, the first late 16th to 17th century plus another later; published illustrations show a flood in 1877. The area was being used for agriculture - in the 19th century there was still a network of small fields but by 1910 the current grid of streets had been laid out. Postholes at each end of a rectangular pit suggest a sunken-featured building, dated to 450-550AD based on the pottery found. There was little evidence of food production on this site – no cooking etc – no settlement activity. Finds from inside the building included a Roman coin of Marcus Aurelius, 166-168AD, Saxon pottery, an iron knife blade, circular lead fishing weights, and another object, of silver-gilt, tentatively interpreted as the top of a Roman squareheaded brooch. This building may have been peripheral to a larger settlement: at Hammersmith, six of these ‘houses’ have been found.
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Bow: This excavation took place on the site of a former Grand Tudor House. Bow began to develop in the 12th century after Queen Matilda commissioned the construction of Bow Bridge in 1110, the first stone arch bridge in England. The only medieval building – built 1311, rebuilt 1490 - left in the area now is the church of St Mary, a daughter church of St Dunstan Stepney.
A plaque on a more recent building on the site of the house indicated that Lord Edwin Sheffield, who fought against the Armada, lived here, but he only stayed a year. A map of 1703 shows a row of houses along the North side of Bow Road, with a larger house marked Rector’s House. In a 1741 Land Tax document it is marked: “Old House”. On later maps it is the “Workhouse”. The excavation found late 16th century foundations of chalk and hand-made brick, bound with lime mortar. It was possible to work out the dimensions of the building – 17 metres wide, 27 metres back from the street. Two areas of cobbles were apparently yards at the back of the house. There had possibly been green and yellow tiles on the ground floor. Below ground level there was better preservation. Two possible Tudor bread ovens had collapsed during the mid-17th century and been backfilled. The CBM was homogeneous – mostly early post-medieval, and of Tudor manufacture. Material discarded by various residents included pottery, glass etc: a wide range of vessels and forms, plus imported wares. So, the residents had wealth and purchasing power. In the late 18th century the building became a Workhouse and from that period written records survive. James Morris Brewer, a novelist, described it as a “mansion of some antiquity”. The first inmate was admitted on 24th June 1782. Objects found from this era, some surprisingly fancy, include a small metal button inscribed: “St Mary’s, Stratford, Bow, Workhouse”, also a lot of medicine bottles, some inscribed with what their contents had been, such as various elixirs, which would have variously contained such ingredients as chloroform, hashish, herbs, ether, etc. The building was demolished in the mid-19th century, after 1840. Yvonne Masson
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