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CANONIUM

ALTERNATIVE NAME:

CANONIVM, KELVEDON

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The site of a Roman and Iron Age settlement at Kelvedon. Excavations have been carried out for some years, showing the existence of a very extensive Iron Age and Romano-British settlement. There seems to be no real doubt that this is the site of Canonium, a small road side settlement which, by virtue of its convenient position on the Chelmsford-Colchester road, served as a resting place for travellers and perhaps as a station for the Imperial post. There is slight evidence of Mesolithic to Bronze Age occupation but much more substantial signs of a thriving Iron Age community, including a 90 metres long length of ditch interpreted as a major Iron Age field boundary. This may have had a short life and was allowed to silt up shortly after the Conquest. In the Flavian period there was great industrial activity on the site, particularly in the form of iron smelting and bronze working. The main settlement seems to have been along the south side of the main road, where there is evidence of at least one substantial building with masonry foundations and the site of a temple complex is also known. Much of the area of the Iron Age settlement later became a Romano-British cremation and inhumation cemetery, running through the second, third and probably fourth centuries. More than 80 burials were discovered. The settlement has now been almost entirely covered by the later Medieval town.

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TL 864185. Excavations have been carried out for some years at Kelvedon, showing the existence of a very extensive but not spectacular Iron Age and Romano-British settlement. There seems to be no real doubt that this is the site of Canonium, a small road side settlement which, by virtue of its convenient position on the Chelmsford-Colchester road, served as a resting place for travellers and perhaps as a station for the Imperial post - a mutatio rather than a mansio. There is slight evidence of Mesolithic to Bronze Age occupation but much more substantial signs of a thriving Iron Age community. This was followed by a Roman military phase represented by the bank and ditch of a marching camp or fort. Extensive military timber buildings were also probably constructed in the area and since these are not compatible with the camp there were probably two distinct pre-Flavian phases of military occupation.

In the Flavian period there was great industrial activity on the site, particularly in the form of iron smelting and bronze working. The main settlement seems to have been along the south side of the main road, where there is evidence of at least one substantial building with masonrary foundations and the site of a temple complex is also known. Much of the area of the Iron Age settlement later became a Romano-British cremation and inhumation cemetery, running through the second, third and probably fouth centuries. More than 80 burials were discovered. (1-2)

Classified as a small Roman town. See plan. (3)

No surviving features of the fort or Roman town of Kelvedon can be seen on the surface. The former settlement existed on a gravel terrace to the north west of the River Blackwater, but has now been almost entirely covered by the later Medieval town. No trace of the settlement pattern was visible on available OS air photographs. (4)

The 90m. length of ditch excavated in 1972-3 and suggested to be part of an early fort, is now interpreted as a major Iron Age field boundary. This may have had a short life and was allowed to silt up shortly after the Conquest. Excavation in 1977 was designed to locate more of this 'fort' including a postulated gateway. No evidence of a gateway or military structures was located and none of the pottery found need imply a military function for the site. The military metalwork from earlier collections is mainly associated with a possible mansio beneath the school and it is suggested that military equipment could be expected from such an establishment.

It is concluded that no structural or convincing artefactual evidence exists to support the hypothesis of a fort at Kelvedon. (5)

There have been other excavations in Kelvedon (Canonium) in the 1970s and 1980s. It appears that there was a defensive circuit, but this at present appears to be civil rather than military in origin. (6-17)

The final report on the 1968-73 excavation has been published. Eddy and Turner's (authority 5), revised model for the development of Kelvedon does not seem to have been discussed. Thus an early Roman fort is still considered to have existed at Kelvedon, while Eddy's suggestion that there was a mansio does not seem to have been considered.

Pre-Roman material consisted of a small collection of Mesolithic, Neolithic and Bronze Age flints, including cores, a pick, 4 microliths, a leaf-shaped arrowhead, a tanged and barbed arrowhead, scrapers and so on. Some Neolithic bowl sherds and fragments of Beaker were recovered, including 25 sherds of rusticated beaker coarseware in a pit. A small collection of middle Iron Age pottery was also found, but the bulk of the pottery assemblage belonged to the Late Iron Age and Roman periods. (17)

SOURCE TEXT

( 1) Colchester Archaeological Group annual bulletin

(K Gomer & W Rodwell) 15, 1972 Page(s)13-5

( 2) Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies Britannia : a journal of Romano-British and kindred studies

5, 1974 Page(s)442, PLAN

( 3) edited by Warwick Rodwell and Trevor Rowley 1975 The "small towns" of Roman Britain : papers presented to a conference, Oxford 1975

British Archaeological Report (BAR) British series1 (1974) - 15, 1975 Page(s)85, MAP

( 4) Field Investigators Comments

F1 PAS 15-SEP-76

( 5) by Michael R Eddy and Catriona Turner 1982 Kelvedon : the origins and development of a Roman small town

Essex County Council occasional papersNo.1 (1981) - Page(s)10

(6) Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies Britannia : a journal of Romano-British and kindred studies

(R Goodburn) 9, 1978 Page(s)451, 478

(7) Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies Britannia : a journal of Romano-British and kindred studies

(R Goodburn) 10, 1979 Page(s)311

(8) Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies Britannia : a journal of Romano-British and kindred studies

(NB Rankov) 13, 1982 Page(s)372

(9) Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies Britannia : a journal of Romano-British and kindred studies

(HJ Major and MR Eddy) 17, 1986 Page(s)355-8, PLAN

(10) Essex archaeology and history : transactions of Essex Archaeological Society

(C Couchman) 9, 1977 Page(s)84

(11) Essex archaeology and history : transactions of Essex Archaeological Society

(C Couchman) 10, 1978 Page(s)245

(12) Essex archaeology and history : transactions of Essex Archaeological Society

(C Turner and P Clarke) 16, 1984-5 Page(s)113-5, PLAN

(13) Essex Archaeology and History News

(P Clarke) 92, 1985 Page(s)7-8

(14) edited by Paul Arthur and Geoff Marsh 1978 Early fine wares in Roman Britain

British Archaeological Report (BAR) British series1 (1974) - (P Arthur and G Marsh) 57 Page(s)126, 283-4, 287

(15) by Sian E Rees 1979 Agricultural implements in prehistoric and Roman Britain

British Archaeological Report (BAR) British series1 (1974) - 69(i-ii) Page(s)683

(16) by Julie Crickmore 1984 Romano-British urban defences

British Archaeological Report (BAR) British series1 (1974) - 126 Page(s)13 ILLUS,21,114,181,190-1

(17) Trust for British Archaeology and Council for British Archaeology Rescue news : the newspaper of RESCUE, the British Archaeological Trust

(M Eddy) 20, 1979 Page(s)9, PLAN

(18) by K A Rodwell 1988 The prehistoric and Roman settlement at Kelvedon, Essex

CBA research reportsVol.1 (1955)- 63 Page(s)1-145

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MONUMENT NO. 380964
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