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Judging from the recorded evidence and the nature of the
relics themselves (which are of a decided Roman character) it
would appear that the spot was the site of an extensive Romano-
British village. It is to be hoped that a careful examination
will be made of what remains of this village before it is quite
destroyed.
The task of exploring the prehistoric sites in Essex and of
recording and preserving the evidence derived from them, is one
of the special duties of the Essex Field Club, and was ably and
emphatically dwelt upon by Prof. Meldola as far back as 1883 in
his Presidential Address of that year and in a paper entitled
" Local Scientific Societies and the Minor Prehistoric Remains
of Britain" (Trans. E.F.C, vol. iv., pp. 116-122). The want of
a suitable Museum and other causes has of late retarded this
branch of our work, which is of undoubted importance to
anthropological science. The records for Essex are consequently
somewhat meagre, but it is hoped, now the permanence of our
collections is assured, that systematic investigation in this
direction may be resumed by the Club. Residents in the county
and others are unhesitatingly asked to furnish the Museum with
any objects of local interest in their possession, or which may be
discovered in their districts.* The County Museum is admittedly
the proper home for such relics. In private hands they are
usually mere useless "curios" which are fated to get lost or
destroyed. When carefully preserved in association with cognate
objects they may form the surest data for illuminating the
obscurity of those early periods of man's existence, concerning
which Dr. Johnson said " We can know no more than the old
writers have told us." The discoveries of late years have utterly
disproved the great doctor's dictum, but much still remains to be
done, and the Committee of the Club confidently look to its
members and friends to loyally support them in the extremely
interesting work of extending our knowledge of the Prehistoric
Archaeology of the County of Essex.
* It should be pointed out that it is not only rare and imposing specimens that are
required, but that fragments of pottery and auch apparently insignificant objects should be
carefully preserved together with notes of the locality, depth at which they were found, and
any details concerning their discovery. Such relics will be gladly received by the Curator,
and although useless perhaps for exhibition purposes, they will form a valuable addition to
our reference series, for the use of students and future investigators.