Just up the East Mersea road as you come onto Mersea Island, is a
conspicuous mound on the left. It is thought to be a Romano-British burial
barrow, to AD 100-120
(although in 2012 there is a growing school of thought that it may be
a purely Roman burial mound).
The mound was excavated in 1912 and an entrance passage built.
In the centre was a small burial chamber built of Roman bricks
capped by septaria (clay nodules) and inside was a lead box with
a wooden lid. The box contained an urn of green glass
containing cremated remains.
The barrow is also known as Mersea Mound, Mersea Mount or Grim's Hoe.
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Left: The lead box and urn are now on display in the
Castle Museum in Colchester.
Photograph by courtesy of
Colchester Museums.
Below Left: A postcard of Barrow Hall and the Barrow before the 1912 excavation.
Below: The barrow, thought to be around the time of the original excavation.
The postcard shows the entrance passage cut into the side of the mound.
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