Monument record SUT 063 - Methersgate

Sub-rectangular enclosure, approximately 90m x 80m with SW corner lost under hedge. Possible entrance at centre of E side. Probable re-alignment on N and E sides. Containing ring ditch SUT 064, and adjacent to other cropmarks - field boundary and possible trackway, SUT 065 (S1)
A probable Later Prehistoric or Roman settlement site, centred on TM 28744650, is visible as cropmarks on aerial photographs. The site is bounded by a rectilinear enclosure ditch with rounded corners which encloses an area roughly 82m by 70m. The south-west corner of the enclosure is not visible. Two possible entrances are visible as gaps in the enclosure ditch, one in the northern side of the enclosure at TM 28734653 and one in the eastern side at TM 28794650. Two ring ditches can be seen within the rectilinear enclosure at TM 28734651 and TM 28764648, enclosing areas of 18.5m and 17m respectively. An entrance is visible in the eastern side of the first, more northerly ring ditch, at TM 28744650 and what appears to be a ditch terminal is visible at the south-west side of the southern ring ditch at TM 28754648. The ditch terminal suggests that an entrance may have been located there, although the other side of the ring ditch is not visible so this suggestion is difficult to confirm. NB The more northerly ring ditch is also recorded separately (see SUT 064). The location of the ring ditches within the rectilinear enclosure, the entrances and also the size of the ring ditches suggest that both these features are hut circles, marking the sites of round houses. This interpretation is supported by the three pits that are visible within the southern hut circle. A large squarish pit, measuring just under 3m is visible at TM 28774648 and two smaller pits, measuring just over 1m in diameter are visible centred on TM 28764648. These may have been storage pits. Two other pits, roughly 3m across, are also visible inside the enclosure at TM 28724652 and TM 28734652 and another is visible outside the north-east corner of the enclosure at TM 28804653. These may also be large storage pits. It is not clear how the settlement site relates to the surrounding field system (see SUT 064) but the north-west corner of the enclosure appears to cut the trackway running east-west, suggesting that the enclosure is later in date. The settlement probably dates to the Later Prehistoric or Roman period. (S1-S4)