UNEXPLORED FIELDS OF ESSEX ARCHAEOLOGY. 133
The proof of the richness of this large but hidden field
is obtained from a consideration of the vestiges that remain
along the valleys of the tributaries of the main streams. In these
valleys there are the remains of dams of earth that have been
thrown quite across the valley, and at some places an artificial
channel has been made to take away the overflow from the
resulting pond. In the alluvia of all these ponds where they
have been excavated relics have been found comparable and
similar to those found at Braintree; and in addition there are in
places proofs that an enormous time has elapsed since those
relics were deposited. The nature of these proofs varies in
different cases, but the common trend of them all is to confirm
the antiquity of the relics. And it may be added that nothing,
I believe, up to the present time, has been found to confuse this
issue; for, as a rule, the places where the relics occur (in
the upland tributaries at any rate) have been left unmolested
since the time they fell into disuse.
As a typical example of these relics and of the kind of proof
that remains for their antiquity I may refer the reader to my
paper in the Essex Naturalist,4 but I must add that that paper
was written before Mr. Kenworthy had found his Lake Habi-
tation at Braintree and before the subject had received anything
like the attention which increased knowledge has rendered so
imperative.
A still better example occurs at Leighs Priory, where the
dams are very numerous. The Priory was built literally in the
dry bed of the last pond of the series, and the whole chain
of ponds extends between one and two miles.
Remains of these dams occur to my knowledge in the
tributaries or upper reaches of the Lea, the Stort, the Chelmer,
the Ter, the Blackwater, and the Colne. When taken in the
aggregate they present a considerable engineering problem and
stretch over a large area—the breadth of Essex, and more, for
they occur also in Hertfordshire. It is clear to some of us that
with so much energy displayed in the lateral valleys towards
making sheets of water, the larger sheets of water that were
possible in the main valleys would not have been neglected.
It appears probable that they were occupied throughout their
whole length, and that the tributaries were then taken to, under,
4. On Some Ancient Lake Remains at Felstead, with notices of other similar remains
in the neighbourhood. Essex Naturalist, Vol. vi., pp. 33-40.