Monument record BSE 774 - Saxon timber buildings and midden deposit, Queens House, Bury Abbey

1976-1980: Excavations within the medieval Abbey precinct by Humphrey Wood & Anthony Fleming of the complete interior of 'The Queen's House' and a small adjoining area to the west (R Carr, pers comm), located remains of middle and late Saxon buildings, Ipswich & Thetford type ware and an iron stylus (11.0cm long) (S1) (S2).
GIS Mapping is approximate location based on Whittingham's Plan locating the Queen's Chamber.
A low north-south bank was revealed, interpreted as an Early Anglo-Saxon hedge-bank or boundary, along with ephemeral traces of occupation. 15 sherds of early Anglo-Saxon pottery from two burnished biconical urns and half a glass bead were discovered, and these may be associated with redeposited human bone. Mesolithic flints were also recovered, and a red sandy soil was seen above the natural flint and gravel containing several sherds of Iron Age pottery. (S3)
Several phases of Late Anglo-Saxon timber buildings and associated structures were revealed, which spanned the 9th to 11th centuries and were sealed by the construction of the Romanesque reredorter range of the medieval monastery. The earliest of these buildings was of post-in-trench construction and associated rubbish pits contained the butchered bones of domesticated farm animals, but also fish bones and oyster shells. Traces of other structures, in part comprised of wattle and daub, were also identified extending beyond the excavated area. In the latest timber phase, these buildings were aligned parallel to the river and were bounded to the west by a metalled surface, interpreted as being part of a road. The main building was large, with internal partitions and external extensions, and was constructed using the plank-in-trench method. Traces of the planks survived as stains in the soil. This building contained a central hearth and at one end was a clay oven which incorporated reused Roman bricks. Other wattle-and-daub buildings extended out of the excavation area to the north, and appear to have subsequently burnt down. These later buildings were associated with a rich midden deposit, which contained pottery and large quantities of animal bone, including the usual range of domesticates, but also horse and deer, as well as crane bones and sea-fish. Sheep remains and the array of weaving tools recovered during the excavation, indicate that wool and textile production were significant parts of the economic activity of the area, while traces of iron-smithing and tinning were also recovered. A broken piece of what may have been an iron stylus was also recovered. Ultimately, these timber buildings decayed or were dismantled and the ground was levelled with further midden material before the foundations for the Romanesque dormitory range were dug and the later stone buildings for the medieval monastery were constructed. It is not clear from the excavated sequence to what extent the timber buildings remained standing during the period which saw the construction of the first stone church – the rotunda – on the site, that is, between 1020 and 1081. Post excavation analysis was undertaken by English Heritage, and the excavation archive was consolidated and microfilmed, currently held in English Heritage Collection at Wrest Park. (S3)
A very short summary was published in Medieval Archaeology in 1980 (S4)
Radiocarbon dating and Bayesian analysis of charcoal and animal bone samples confirm the occupation of the site throughout the mid-late Saxon period and agree with the interpretation that the material appears to have been derived from the mid-late Saxon occupation midden. (S5)

See BSE 012 pale blue glass vessel fragments.

Previously recorded under BSE 010 (Sax) and Iron Age finds previously recorded under BSE 010 (IA) (MSF15054). See also BSE 775 Saxon Town Beodricsworth which records Saxon town and possible earlier monastery and shrine of St Edmund founded in Bury st Edmunds before the medieval Benedictine monastery (BSE 010).