Site Event/Activity record ESF21533 - Excavation, Land Adjacent to Holly House, Bardwell

An archaeological excavation was carried out on land adjacent to Holly House, Bardwell between the 4th and the 27th of August 2008. It revealed evidence for a shifting pattern of occupation within the development area. The majority of the activity was dated to between the late 12th and the 14th century, with two undated earlier phases as well as some post-medieval to modern land use. The earliest land use comprised part of a probable post-built structure and a number of isolated pits and truncated ditches, all of which were undated. Six phases of development have been indentified within the medieval period. The length of the individual phases is unknown although it is likely that none were of lasting duration. This period saw the construction of ditched boundaries/enclosures and numerous deep pits believed to have a craft/industrial function, possibly associated with tanning, which predated the construction of a small building that probably fronted onto Up Street. However, as the excavation area was relatively small no full building or enclosure plans were retrieved. The site appears to have been disused or formed part of a paddock following the disuse of the structure in the 14th century. The clay floor surfaces of the structure survived well despite shallow topsoil coverage and showed no sign of agricultural disturbance. A small number of garden rubbish pits were constructed in the early 20th century close to the northern boundary of the site. Project status: Complete Yes, Validated Yes Previous/Future Work: Previous Yes, Future Not known Associated Identifiers: HER event no. BAR 072 Sitecode BAR 072 Planning Application No. SE/05/1280/P Contracting Unit No. 2008/226 NMR No. 1565029 Project Type: Recording project Investigation Type: Full excavation Reason for Investigation: Direction from Local Planning Authority - PPG16 Current Land use: Other 13 - Waste ground Monument Type(s)/Period(s): DITCHES Medieval , STRUCTURE Uncertain, LAYERS Medieval , FLOORS Medieval , PITS Medieval Artefact Type(s)/Period(s): QUERN Uncertain, ANIMAL REMAINS Medieval , FIRED CLAY Uncertain, BRICK Post Medieval , TILE Roman, ANIMAL REMAINS Post Medieval , POT Medieval , POT Post Medieval PROJECT LOCATION Area 1120.00 Square metres Grid Reference: TL94387383 Point PROJECT CREATOR(S) Brief originator: Local Authority Archaeologist and/or Planning Authority/advisory body Design originator: Jess Tipper Director/Manager: Andrew Tester Supervisor: Liz Muldowney DIGITAL ARCHIVE Recipient: Suffolk County Council Archaeological Service ID: BAR 072 Contents: Animal Bones, Ceramics, Environmental, Glass, Industrial, Metal, Survey, Worked stone/lithics, other Media: Database, Images raster / digital photography, Spreadsheets, Survey, Text PAPER ARCHIVE Recipient: Suffolk County Council Archaeological Service ID: BAR 072 Contents: Animal Bones, Ceramics, Environmental, Glass, Industrial, Metal, Worked stone/lithics, other Media: Context sheet, Correspondence, Notebook - Excavation, Research, General Notes, Plan, Report, Section, Survey, Unpublished Text PHYSICAL ARCHIVE Recipient: Suffolk County Council Archaeological Service ID: BAR 072 Contents: Animal Bones, Ceramics, Environmental, Glass, Industrial, Metal, Worked stone/lithics BIBLIOGRAPHY Publication Type: Grey literature (unpublished document/manuscript) Title: Land Adjacent to Holly House, Bardwell, BAR 072, Post-Excavation Assessment Report Author(s)/Editor(s): Muldowney, E. Other Bibliographic Details: SCCAS Report No. 2008/226 Date: 2012 Issuer/Publisher: SCCAS Place of Issue or Publication: Bury St Edmunds Description: A4, comb bound, white card covers, in colour, with 7 appendices (also available as a pdf)