Site Event/Activity record ESF21827 - Desk Based Assessment, Land at County Farm (East), Church Field Road, Chilton

A Desk Based Assessment has been carried out for a development site in Chilton, Suffolk. The site has previously been subjected to an earlier DBA and partial field evaluation and excavation. An updated examination of the Historic Environment Record (HER), aerial photographs and documentary search has added to the information known from the previous assessment in 1996. The 6.8ha site lies to the north-east of Sudbury on an area of high ground, c.55-62m, overlying the Stour valley. It partially includes the site of a Late Bronze Age/Iron Age settlement enclosure of regional importance. This enclosure, where it lies within the site, has already been excavated in full although recent work to the south has demonstrated that settlement evidence extends beyond the confines of the enclosure. A prehistoric trackway which exits the enclosure also potentially crosses the site. The site also lies in close proximity to the medieval Church of St Mary, an associated medieval green and Chilton Hall. Early medieval settlement evidence has been excavated in an adjacent field and a medieval trackway crosses part of the site. Documentary evidence shows that the PDA has been in agricultural use since at least the 16th century. It is thought that there are no grounds to consider refusal of permission in order to achieve preservation in situ of any important archaeological deposits within the site. However as the archaeological potential of the site is high, with archaeological remains being highly vulnerable to development, a program of archaeological evaluation by trial trenching has been recommended. Project status: Complete Yes, Validated Yes Previous/Future Work: Previous Yes, Future Yes Associated Identifiers: Related HER No. CHT 009 Related HER No. CHT 015 Related HER No. CHT 010 NMR No. 1544498 Project Type: Desk based assessment Development Type: Rural commercial Methods and Techniques: ''Documentary Search'', ''Aerial Photography - interpretation'', ''Visual Inspection'' Reason for Investigation: Direction from Local Planning Authority - PPG16 Site status: None Current Land use: Cultivated Land 3 - Operations to a depth more than 0.25m Monument Type(s)/Period(s): DITCHED ENCLOSURE Iron Age , POST BUILT STRUCTURE Iron Age , TRACKWAY Medieval Artefact Type(s)/Period(s): N/A None PROJECT LOCATION Area 6.80 Hectares Grid Reference: TL88804246 Point Height 55.00 - 62.00 metres PROJECT CREATOR(S) Brief originator: Consultant Design originator: Suffolk County Council Archaeological Service, Field Team Director/Manager: Jo Caruth Supervisor: John Craven DIGITAL ARCHIVE Recipient: Suffolk County SMR Contents: 'none' Media: 'Images raster / digital photography', 'Text' PAPER ARCHIVE Recipient: Suffolk County SMR Contents: 'none' Media: 'Map', 'Plan', 'Report' PHYSICAL ARCHIVE Recipient: Suffolk County SMR BIBLIOGRAPHY Publication Type: Grey literature (unpublished document/manuscript) Title: Land at County Farm (East), Church Field Road, Chilton, Sudbury Author(s)/Editor(s): Craven, J. A. Other Bibliographic Details: SCCAS Report No. 2009/025 Date: 2009 Issuer/Publisher: SCCAS Place of Issue or Publication: Bury St Edmunds Description: SCCAS DBA report