Site Event/Activity record ESF20511 - Excavation - The Old Maltings Site, Thingoe Hill,Bury St Edmunds

An excavation was conducted ahead of development on the site of the former maltings, Thingoe Hill. The excavation followed a much earlier evaluation in 1997 (BSE 129). The excavation site covered an area c. 650sqm on the upper terraced level of the development site. A number of trees in the north-west corner made it impossible to excavate this area. The site was heavily disturbed and terraced by the construction of the former maltings and the railway in the 19th century along with earlier post-medieval quarry pits. A small area of relatively undisturbed archaeology was excavated along the western edge of the site. Topsoil/overburden was a mixed dark brown silty sand containing fragments of brick, tile and glass. The surviving depth was less that 0.3m at the western end of the site becoming deeper (max 0.5m deep) towards the east following the natural slope downwards. The natural subsoil varied across the site. Along the northern half of the excavation the subsoil was an orange sand with moderate small to medium flint inclusions. In the south-west corner of the site, the subsoil was half orange sand and half flint and gravel. Very little natural subsoil was visible elswhere on the site due to the presence of late features (S1).