533 people came together over the weekend to take advantage of a unique opportunity to view a medieval building discovered by a Burnham-on-Crouch archaeological group over the past year.

Burnham u3a Archaeological Group - a group of amateur archaeologists - held open days at Southminster Hall on 18 and 19 September, after uncovering a rare stone building on the site that is believed to date from the 11th to the 13th century.

Sue said: "Visitors were amazed that something so massive, substantial and old could have been completely hidden for centuries."

The group began excavating the previously unknown building in July 2020, after spotting an unusual crop mark from a Google Earth image.

They believe the rare stone building which they uncovered on the site could be a chamber block built for the Bishop of London, who owned Southminster Manor at the time.

Residents were invited to view the building's foundations in the moated back garden of Southminster Hall, on Hall Road, as part of the district's Heritage Open Days.

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

Terry Cook, leader of the group, gave visitors guided tours around the site with Sue while dressed in period costume - Terry came as the Bishop of London, Peter Burton as a medieval monk, Sue as a serf and Zoe Bridges as the lady of the manor.

Sue said: "Members of the public were able to see diggers and recorders at work - during the course of the weekend more pig bones were excavated plus several lovely peg tiles, complete with holes for the wooden pegs.

"Our metal detectorists allowed people to have a go at finding treasure, and they could try sieving the soil to look for interesting bits and pieces."

The group was aided in its discovery by Archaeology South-East and other experts who also attended the open days.

Sue said: "On the Saturday, we were joined by our senior archaeologist from Archaeology South East East who worked on taking GPS measurements and chatted to the public.

"During the weekend, we had visits from other u3a groups as far away as Basildon and Rochford."

Visitors were able to track the group's discovery in photos taken by David Gipson, said Sue, which charted the group's progress "from bumbling amateurs in 2020 to efficient, skilled excavators and recorders a year later".

Historian Kevin Bruce's old maps and photos of local industries such as salt production at the nearby Roman red hills were also on display.

Sue added: "Although it was hard work, especially on the Saturday when it was extremely warm in the trenches and doing the tours, we all really enjoyed it and it was lovely to see the interest and enthusiasm of the visitors - especially the youngsters.

"From the messages we've received it seems we made quite an impression.

"Of course we could not have done it without the help and support of the owners Gavin and Maureen Cooper who have been wonderful to us - and also manned the car park and gate."

The group is now close to finishing its excavation of the site - including digging and recording - after which it will have to backfill the area.

If anyone who did not attend the open days would like to see the site soon, they can visit by appointment by contacting Sue at [email protected] - the group is there on Wednesdays and Saturdays.