Monument record BAR 072 - Land adjacent to Holly House

An archaeological evaluation was carried out in advance building work on two cottages on land adjoining Holly Cottage , Bardwell. A trenched evaluation on this roadside plot uncovered two ditches, a posthole and a clay building platform. Pottery from the ditches suggest they are all medieval dating from the 12th 14th centuries. There was no evidence of ploughing or for the later use of the site (S1).

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 (S2).