Prittlewell Camp (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Pritwell; Fossets Mounds, Smithers Farm; The Look Out

In the civil parish of Southend on Sea.
In the historic county of Essex.
Modern Authority of Southend on Sea.
1974 county of Essex.
Medieval County of Essex.

OS Map Grid Reference: TQ88998783
Latitude 51.55703° Longitude 0.72557°

Prittlewell Camp has been described as a Timber Castle although is doubtful that it was such.

There are earthwork remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

Description

A slight univallate enclosure which is likely to be of later prehistoric origin but has produced no secure dating evidence. It is located on the northern outskirts of Southend-on-Sea. The monument occupies the northern edge of a broad, gently sloping terrace and commands extensive views over the Roach valley to the north. The enclosure is almost circular in plan, measuring 250m in diameter. The south western third of the perimeter is defined by an earthen bank and external ditch which are preserved within a wooded belt. The ditch is less clearly visible, having been recut as an agricultural boundary and used for Corporation dumping in the 1920s, but some traces of it survive. The northern and eastern sections of the enclosure bank have been reduced by ploughing, but the earthwork marking its line was noted in the early 20th century and this still survives. The line of the bank has also been recorded from the air as a cropmark. An observation of a pipeline trench that was cut across the earthworks to the west of the enclosure in 1929 recorded no evidence of a ditch. A trial trench, cut through the southern side of the enclosure and across the southern edge of the interior in 1929, provided evidence for the composition of the bank and the original profile of the ditch but no evidence of any activity within the enclosure. There is no trace of an entrance to the enclosure. The excavations also examined a pronounced mound (known locally as 'The Look-out') situated on the south eastern part of the perimeter. This mound, measures 20m in diameter and 1.5m high and produced a mixed array of finds including large quantities of tile and medieval pottery, but provided no certain dating evidence. It has been interpreted as the base of a medieval post mill. A 'green lane' runs northwards to the north east of the enclosure. This is not directly associated with the enclosure but represents a rarely preserved segment of the medieval landscape. (PastScape)

Raised mound of possible castle. (King)

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Scheduled Monument Number 1017515, Legacy Scheduled Monument Number 29408
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 418915.
Further information may be available from the holder of the county Historic Environment Record.

Books
- King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 1 p. 148 (possible)
  RCHME, 1923, An inventory of the historical monuments in Essex Vol. 4 (south-east) p. 114 no. 13 (plan) online transcription
Periodical Articles
- Mepham, 1930, Transactions of the Southend-on-Sea and District Antiquarian and Historical Society Vol. 2 p. 21-47
  1895, Essex Archaeological Society Transactions Vol. 5 (new series) p. 71

Most of the sites or buildings recorded in this web site are NOT open to the public and permission to visit a site must always be sought from the landowner or tenant.
It is an offence to disturb a Scheduled Monument without consent. It is a destruction of everyone's heritage to remove archaeological evidence from ANY site without proper recording and reporting.
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The information on this web page may be derived from information compiled by and/or copyright of Historic England, County Historic Environment Records and other individuals and organisations. It may also contain information licensed under the Open Government Licence. All the sources given should be consulted to identify the original copyright holder and permission obtained from them before use of the information on this site for commercial purposes.
The author and compiler of Gatehouse does not receive any income from the site and funds it himself. The information within this site is provided freely for educational purposes only.

The bibliography owes much to various bibliographies produced by John Kenyon for the Council for British Archaeology, the Castle Studies Group and others.

Suggestions for finding online and/or hard copies of bibliographical sources can be seen at this link.
Minor archaeological investigations, such as watching brief reports, and some other 'grey' literature is most likely to be held by H.E.R.s but is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded here, or elsewhere, but some suggestions can be found here.

The possible site or monument is represented on maps as a point location. This is a guide only. It should be noted that OS grid references defines an area, not a point location. In practice this means the actual center of the site or monument may often, but not always, be to the North East of the point shown. Locations derived from OS grid references and from latitude longitiude may differ by a small distance.
Further information on mapping and location can be seen at this link.

Please help to make this as useful a resource as possible by contacting Gatehouse if you see errors, can add information or have suggestions for improvements in functality and design.
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