THIS year's Heritage Open Days in Maldon district will feature the archaeological excavation of an early medieval stone building at Southminster Hall.

Visitors to the site at Hall Farm in Hall Road, Southminster, postcode CM0 7EH, will see excavated foundations up to five courses deep of a high-status septaria stone building. The building is in the moated back garden of the present house. Finds include prehistoric, Roman, Saxon, medieval and later.

Burnham U3A Archaeological Group (a group of amateur archaeologists) began excavating the previously unknown building in July 2020 following the spotting of an unusual crop mark from a Google Earth image.

With support from the owners of Southminster Hall, the Burnham u3a, Archaeology South-East and other experts, a very rare stone building believed to date from the 11th to 13th Century has been uncovered - possibly a Chamber Block built for the Bishop of London (mentioned in the Domesday book) who owned the manor of Southminster at that time.

The massive stone foundations are built of septaria, possibly brought from the ruined Roman Fort at Bradwell-on-Sea.

During the open day many finds will be on show and u3a members and experts will be able to explain and demonstrate what they have been doing and the history of the site.

The Heritage Open Days event will take place at the following dates and times:

-Saturday,18 September: 10am to 4pm