THE "RED-HILLS" OF CANVEY ISLAND. 49
comprising an area of some 4,370 acres of land, surrounded by a
sea-wall, beyond which on the seaward side stretch large areas
of marshland, known as the "Saltings." The Saltings are
subject to periodic inundation at times of spring-tide, the plain
within the sea-wall stands at 2 to 3 feet below that level.
The early history of the Island is lost in obscurity, and it is
only in the 16th century that authentic records exist, other than
those found in the Court Rolls of the Manors, which are only
in part accessible to the public. From Morant we learn that the
Island was then in the possession of several manors, and that
areas of Saltmarsh were occupied—presumably for grazing
purposes-—in 1543 and 1569. In 1557 Sir Roger Appleton, we
are told, held a marsh, called Northmarshe (alias Northwicke)
comprising 400 acres of arable and pasture, and a marsh called
Westmarshe (alias Westwicke) 300 acres.
William Camden visited the Island in 1610, and from him
we learn that at that date the Island was little more than a
marsh,—"so low, that often times it was quite overflowen, all
"save hillocks cast uppe, upon which the sheepe have a place
"of safe refuge."
These records indicate that for many years prior to the erection
of the sea-wall by the Dutch (1625 a.d.) the surface of the Island
consisted almost entirely of salt marshes in use solely for grazing
purposes, diversified here and there by low mounds, the summits
of which were barely visible at times of spring-tide. It is believed
that certain of the "hillocks" mentioned by Camden are identical
with what have been termed—somewhat erroneously—the
"Red-Hills" of today.
My own excavations at the Canvey Red-Hill sites were
started in December, 1937. The results of this earlier work
were published in the Essex Naturalist, vol. xxvi, Part III,
pp. 136-160, Ibid, Part V, pp. 270-272. The facts disclosed
enabled me to assert, with some confidence, that the Canvey
sites were occupied by Romano-British people in the first and
second centuries, A.D., for the purpose of manufacturing an
extremely crude type of red ware, made from local deposits of
coarse silty clay and employed for the following purposes:—
(a) A standard form of pot, shaped like an iron pail,
glazed externally and holding 2 to 3 gallons of liquid, suitable
for evaporating brine for manufacture of salt.