A group of Billericay archaeologists hopes to shed new light on the town's past - thanks to an anonymous £10,000 donation.

Finds from digs more than 20 years ago are due for expert analysis - the results should reveal the extent of the Roman occupation of Billericay.

The Billericay Archaeological and Historical Society now has £10,000 to spend on the project, thanks to a generous donation from two of its members.

Beryl Barr, society chairman, said: "It has been on our consciences for ages that we have not finished things.

"The work was done by members of the society, but one is dead, two have moved away and most of the rest of us can't get on our hands and knees any more.

"We worked on it as far as we could but it has to go to experts. Once that has been done a report can be prepared. All this costs a lot of money.

"We have just come into £10,000 but it won't meet all the costs. Just having part of our pottery assessed has cost us £4,000."

David Buckley, archaeologist for Essex County Council, said: "It is certainly worthwhile getting the work written up.

"The society has come up with some resources and we have been trying to complement that with a few thousand pounds a year and by sending our professionals here to help them.

"Over the years the society has done a great deal. We have been discussing whether it would be appropriate to make a modest lottery bid."

He added: "Billericay was the site of a Roman settlement, particularly to the south of the town.

"Some people have called Billericay a small Roman town. Others think there was a villa with a settlement around it."

The findings from three sites excavated during the 1970s include:

Roman rubble and domestic refuse indicating that a Roman farmhouse may have stood on the site of the older part of Billericay School.

Remains from Roman - or possibly Iron Age - burial and cremation sites exposed during the construction of the ring road near the school.

Further burial sites discovered on the grounds of Mill Cottages, Southend Road.

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