Colchester Archaeological Trust

EAS Report 23: summary

Volume 14, 1982: Mersea Island, the Anglo-Saxon Causeway
by Philip Crummy, Jennifer Hillam and Carl Crossan

Date report completed: 1982
Location: Mersea Island, Colchester
Map reference(s):
File size: 2,944 kb
Project type:
Significance of the results:
Keywords: Mersea Island, Anglo-Saxon

Summary. The Strood at Mersea is an artificial causeway about half a mile long which links the mainland to the island. Its straight character and the presence of extensive Roman remains on the island have prompted the long-held belief that the Strood was probably of Roman origin. However scientific dating methods applied to some substantial oak piles discovered beneath the causeway in 1978, when a water-main was being laid, indicate that the structure was probably built between A.D 684 and 702.