Gallions Reach Urban Village, Merbury Road, Whinchat Road, SE28 TQ 450 800 MOLAS (Graham Spurr) evaluation Nov 1996 Thamesmead Town GAT96
Above the natural gravels were sands and sandy silts, succeeded by thick deposits of peat associated with the Tilbury III marine regression, which caused a fall in sea and river levels. It is dated to c.6150 BP, the Neolithic period. Environmental evidence indicates alder growing on a wet floodplain habitat, with mixed deciduous forest on the higher ground; the climate is considered to have been warmer than today’s. The peat continued to develop untilc.2540 BP, the Bronze Age, and from its upper layers there is evidence for both Elm and Lime decline and for cereal production. Silty clays sealed the peat and represent Thames III and IV transgressions when sea and river levels rose; they are dated toc.3000 BP. The clays were truncated by construction of the Woolwich Arsenal, demolished in the 1970s and 80s.