More information : Camp [ G.S.] (Remains and site of) (1)
Camp [G.S.]
Lavender Mount [Keep] [G.S.] [TQ 43658517]
Plan photograph see AO/59/10/4 & 5 (2)
".... Uphall .... a very remarkable ancient entrenchment : its form is not regular, but tending to a square; the circumference is 1792 yards ... inclosing an area of 48 acres ..... On the north, east and south sides it is single trenched : on the north and east sides the ground is dry and level ... and the trench from frequent ploughing almost filled up : on the south side is a deep morass : on the west side, which runs parallel with the river Roding .... is a double trench and bank : at the north west corner was an outlet to a very fine spring of water, which was guarded by an inner work, and a high keep or mound of earth. (3)
Uphall Camp is situated on the left bank of the River Roding on ground which is naturally some 20' above the level of the river. It contained an area of over 48 acres. The best preserved portion is at the N.W. corner where the Lavender Mound and C.80 yards of the rampart survive under grass. The rampart, a single bank, remains around the N.E. quadrant (at its greate some 4' above the interior and 12' above the level outside) and on the south its line can be traced as a step in the ground level 3-5 1/2' high. In digging the foundations of Messrs. Howard's new factories a considerable amount of Roman pottery was found, including the larger portion of a decorated Samian bowl. (4)
Similar information. (5-6)
['A' - area centred TQ43758512 ] Roman pottery found during the building of Messrs. Howard's factories in 1909. It includes most of form 37 Samian bowl ; 2nd cent. Photographs at Colchester Museum. (7)
All that is left now is the mound and fragment of rampart at the N.W. corner. It has been thought to be a British settlement subsequently occupied during the Roman period, though others regard it as of Danish origin. (8)
The date of this earthwork is doubtful, but it does not appear to be pre-Roman. Lavender Mount is am irregular mound 21' high & 85' in diameter at the base. Roman pottery has been found in the camp, and urns containing burnt human bones are said to have come from here. Plan AO/59/54/7. (9)
Add refs. (10-12)
"The earthwork is overgrown with trees. The height above ground level -- (6.5m.) -- is assessed from present ground level The whole area has been 'made up' considerably."
[See Illustration Card for plan.] (13)
The site is now covered by buildings. (14)
In 1960 a watch was kept by Kenneth Marshall during destruction by building operations of the Lavender Mount and the northwest corner of Uphall Camp. The former proved to be no earlier than the 16th century and may have been a beacon mound erected upon the apparent position of the palisaded entrance to the camp. The rampart yielded pottery assigned by Marshall to Iron Age B of the 1st or 2nd century BC, but a re-assessment of the sherds in the Passmore Edwards Museum, Stratford, suggests that they are rather
earlier than this and that this part of the defences can be placed in the Early or Middle Pre-Roman Iron Age. In January 1979 observation of a building trench cut in the bank next to St Luke's Vicarage showed that 0.5m of garden loam had been deposited against it. The present condition of Uphall Camp was examined by Peter Higgins. A remnant of the north bank survives at the south side of Baxter Road. The western slope of the camp is still clear some 20 ft above the River Roding and its turn to the north is visible. (15-16)
TQ 43808500 (Centred at) Iron Age Camp and Roman Occupation at Uphall Camp, Ilford.
The site has been discussed in relation to other hillforts and oppida in Essex. (17-18)
Excavation by P. Greenwood of Passmore Edwards Museum in advance of the redevelopment of the interior revealed occupation of Late Bronze/early Iron Age as well as pits, ditches and possible hut gullies of Roman date. (19-20)
3 Potin Coins recovered from excavations. (21)
Listed as a possible motte and bailey. (22) |