A HISTORY OF SALT-MAKING IN ESSEX. 201 



excavated the site of some old salt-works on Bound's Farm, 

 Goldhanger (very likely those mentioned by Morant), and found 

 extensive flues of brick, pipes and pans of lead, and some small 

 coal which had been used, no doubt, for boiling the water. Dr. 

 Laver has been good enough to give me the following informa- 

 tion : — 



" On arriving [he says], we found the men working in a field next to a grass 

 marsh just inside the sea-wall. This grass marsh had in it various depressions, 

 some of which might have been old salt-pans, but one had been, apparently, the 

 bed of a small creek, of which there were much more distinct traces outside the 

 sea-wall. 



" In the ditch and bank of the field in which work was going on, and in the 

 adjoining portion of a field to the east, we found the surface of the ground 

 slightly raised, due to a thick superimposed stratum of burnt earth. In this red 

 and black soil, trenches had laid bare the remains of the foundations of buildings ; 

 and, as the trenches extended, the general ground-plan became more or less 

 clear. I regret now that I did not go to the expense of having a plan drawn to 

 scale, as this could have been done quite easily. 



" At one place, there was a well about three feet square and three or four 

 feet deep. It was lined with planking, which had been very well jointed, and 

 had in it the remains of a wooden pump. 



" Not far off was a small square building which had evidently contained the 

 furnace ; and, close by it, in another small square building, there remained a 

 hundredweight or two of very good coal, which looked exactly like the bright 

 coal, known as " Wall's End," used years ago in the district. 



" Near these, again, were some shallow brick tanks, clearly evaporating pans, 

 about six feet long, three feet broad, and one foot deep. Their sides were 

 formed of double layers of brick, containing flues leading from the furnace. 

 Originally, no doubt, they were lined with lead, some pieces of which we found ; 

 but, the flue being contained within the brickwork, the heat did not come into 

 direct contact with the lead. From one of the tanks, a brick drain led to the 

 well above mentioned. 



" All these remains were covered by about three feet of the burnt red and 

 black soil mentioned above. We came to the conclusion that this salt-cote had 

 been destroyed by fire, and that the debris had been spread evenly over the whole 

 site, covering the boiling house and everything else. 



" We could find no clear evidence as to the exact date of construction of 

 these works, but the size of the bricks used showed that the works had been 

 built not later than Jacobean times." 



The firm of Bridges, Johnson, and Co., of Heybridge, seems 

 to have disappeared before 1823, when one John Bridges (who 

 had been probably a member of it) owned " very extensive 

 works " in Heybridge. 25 These works were situated on the sea- 

 wall facing Collier's Reach, close to Heybridge " Basin," and 

 on a marsh which is still called " Salt Court." Here are yet to 



25 PigoVs Directory, 1S23, p. 298. 



