A HISTORY OF SALT-MAKING IN ESSEX. 201
excavated the site of some old salt-works on Bound's Farm,
Goldhanger (very likely those mentioned by Morant), and found
extensive flues of brick, pipes and pans of lead, and some small
coal which had been used, no doubt, for boiling the water. Dr.
Laver has been good enough to give me the following informa-
tion :—
"On arriving [he says], we found the men working in a field next to a grass
marsh just inside the sea-wall. This grass marsh had in it various depressions,
some of which might have been old salt-pans, but one had been, apparently, the
bed of a small creek, of which there were much more distinct traces outside the
sea-wall.
"In the ditch and bank of the field in which work was going on, and ill the
adjoining portion of a field to the east, we found the surface of the ground
slightly raised, due to a thick superimposed stratum of burnt earth. In this red
and black soil, trenches had laid bare the remains of the foundations of buildings;
and, as the trenches extended, the general ground-plan became more or less
clear. I regret now that I did not go to the expense of having a plan drawn to
scale, as this could have been done quite easily.
"At one place, there was a well about three feet square and three or four
feet deep. It was lined with planking, which had been very well jointed, and
had in it the remains of a wooden pump.
"Not far off was a small square building which had evidently contained the
furnace; and, close by it, in another small square building, there remained a
hundredweight or two of very good coal, which looked exactly like the bright
coal, known as "Wall's End," used years ago in the district.
"Near these, again, were some shallow brick tanks, clearly evaporating pans,
about six feet long, three feet broad, and one foot deep. Their sides were
formed of double layers of brick, containing flues leading from the furnace.
Originally, no doubt, they were lined with lead, some pieces of which we found;
but, the flue being contained within the brickwork, the heat did not come into
direct contact with the lead. From one of the tanks, a brick drain led to the
well above mentioned.
"All these remains were covered by about three feet of the burnt red and
black soil mentioned above. We came to the conclusion that this salt-cote had
been destroyed by fire, and that the debris had been spread evenly over the whole
site, covering the boiling house and everything else.
"We could find no clear evidence as to the exact date of construction of
these works, but the size of the bricks used showed that the works had been
built not later than Jacobean times."
The firm of Bridges, Johnson, and Co., of Heybridge, seems
to have disappeared before 1823, when one John Bridges (who
had been probably a member of it) owned "very extensive
works" in Heybridge.25 These works were situated on the sea-
wall facing Collier's Reach, close to Heybridge "Basin," and
on a marsh which is still called "Salt Court." Here are yet to
25 Pigot's Directory, 1823, p. 298.