Norsey Woods Tumulus EarthCache
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The Earthcache is located in Norsey Woods, a local Nature Reserve and SSSI, mantained by Basildon District Council. Open from 9am till dusk. The Tumulus can be accessed via a flat path suitable for wheelchairs.
The objective of this earthcache is to learn and understand about the physical size and nature of the Tumlus, and the geography which surrounds it.
In 1865, the Revd E. L. Cutts supervised the excavation of a trench from the western edge to the centre of the mound. Fragments of Roman pottery and an indecipherable bronze coin were uncovered in the process, perhaps indicating some disturbed later internments, but the central grave group of three large inverted cinerary urns (vessels containing cremated human remains) clearly points to Middle Bronze Age origin
It is thought that the tribes of this period liked to bury their dead in upland areas and with the wood being ninety metres above sea level, this area may have seemed ideal.
Today the clearing is an excellent place to watch bats hunting for moths.
To log your visit at this earthcache, please email the answers to the following questions,
1.Estimate the diameter of the base of the Tumlus.
2. Estimate the height of the Tumlus.
3. Take a photo of yourself in front of the Tumulus.
Remember only estimates are required, YOU DO NOT NEED TO WALK ONTO THE MOUND.
Much of the woodland covers a high plateau of well drained pebbly gravels, overlaying sands, loams and clays. Impermeable London Clay occurs in the valley bottoms to the south-west, where spring lines and flushes create permanently damp habitats. The conditions vary from dry heath on the plateau, through fertile slopes, to acidic bog in the valleys.
The Bronze Age was the period between the Neolithic and Iron Ages, from approximately 2500 BC/BCE and 700 BC/BCE in Britain, when metal (copper and bronze) was first used for tools and weapons.
The enclosure of the woodland in the medieval period incidentally provided protection for traces of far earlier activity, some aspects of which were visible as earthworks whilst others remained unknown until disturbed by gravel extraction in the 19th century.
Additional Hints
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