Southminster railway station to host men’s skills workshops
22nd September 2021
Handymen will be taking on a project to give Southminster’s station’s old workshop and deserted waiting room a much-needed boost.
The old leather workshop on the station platform has been taken over by long-term “shedder” Bob Adams and Maldon and District CVS for a new Men in Sheds project.
This space, equipped with workstations already in place, will be used to host the project for men in the area to come together and share practical skills and knowledge.
As a first step the Essex Shed Network will be organising a working party to sweep and sort the space so its ready for the project to launch.
Next to the old workshop is a former waiting room which has fallen into disrepair and work will be carried out so it can be turned into a social space to complement the workshop.
There are also plans to refresh station planters and refurbish the community garden which runs next to the station platform.
Maldon and District CVS director Sarah Troop said: “I am so pleased to be able to receive the keys of this great community space.
“We have been dreaming of having a Men in Sheds project on the Dengie since we opened the Maldon Shed in 2014.
“A lot of hard work and perseverance have finally got us to this stage and we are keen to hit the ground running and make this space open the community as soon as possible.
“I’d like to thank Greater Abellio rail for sharing our vision and the Community Network rail team at Essex County Council who we will be working alongside to complement the station adopters scheme to create a welcoming environment for commuters and other station users.
“Thanks also goes to the Essex Community Foundation who have provided funding to the project.”
The Essex Shed Network will be looking for men in the area to take on a range of roles within the project in the coming months. To get involved, call 01621 851891 or email matt@essexshednetwork.co.uk.
Republished from the Maldon & Burnham Standard.
Medieval building discovered by Burnham archaeological group
14th September 2021
A local archaeological group has discovered an early medieval building in Southminster.
The Burnham u3a archaeological group was formed in 2018 and chose the Southminster Hall site after an interesting crop mark was spotted on a Google Earth image.
Members began digging in July 2020 with the blessing of the owners, and had no idea what was to come. They started revealing the stone foundations of an early medieval building by August.
With the help of historian Kevin Bruce, who gave copies of maps and documents dating back to 1600, they discovered nothing mentioned or showed the stone building.
In October, historic buildings expert David Andrews was invited onsite for his opinion. He thought it might be a chamber block associated with an early manor house and advised members to seek funding to continue the excavation more professionally.
Deputy leader of the Burnham u3a Archaeological Group, Sue Spier, said: “We have been fortunate enough to receive over £11,000 in two grants from the Turncole Wind Farm Community Benefit Fund, which is managed by Essex Community Foundation.
“This has enabled us to pay Archaeology South East to supply our group with senior archaeologist Ellen Heppell who has taught us how to excavate and record properly, together with the equipment we need to do the job professionally.
“Our group returned to the site with Ellen, in late March 2021, working within the COVID-19 restrictions and with her help we have now opened up nine trenches, including one that had been dug as a test pit by Access Cambridge Archaeology a few years before as a schools project which we didn’t know about until after we started.”
The group have now excavated three sides of a building, all with substantial walls built of septaria, on the eastern side of the lawn.
This includes a central area with an east/west wall cut into by a 17th century drain, and two substantial parallel walls running north to south, up to 13 courses of stone deep at the western end of the site.
“Our excavation work is almost complete and we are hard at work recording sections, doing plan drawings and context sheets for all the trenches.”
Archaeology South East will complete the finds analysis and produce a post excavation report based on the group’s records, drawings and photographs.
The site will then be included in the Historic Environment Record and the entire excavation data will be available to all.
In 2022, there will be a year long display of the excavation in Burnham Museum.
The group’s finds have spanned from flint tempered prehistoric pottery, to Saxon, to medieval and later.
They also discovered Roman brick and tile, and large amounts of animal bones, amounting to over half a pig.
Sue added: “The motto of the u3a is ‘learning, friendship and fun’, and we have had fun and learned a tremendous amount, making new friends along the way, we’ve also grown in confidence and look forward to tackling new projects – although nothing will ever compare with this.
“We are very grateful to the Burnham u3a committee who put in a lot of work applying for grants on our behalf. The Heritage Open Days hopefully will go some way to repaying their effort.”
Reposted from the Maldon and Burnham Standard.