Monument record IPS 585 - 85-87 Fore Street, Ipswich, (IAS 6106)

1990: Excavation, finds from Saxon to Post-Medieval. Including sunken featured buildings (S1).

2007: A trial trench was carried out at the above site in advance of a proposal to construct student accommodation. The southern part of the site was found to have seen heavy truncation due to 19th cellaring along the Fore Street frontage. Significant, but slightly less substantial truncation was encountered in much of the rest of the site, with the exception of an area approximately 12m deep along the northern frontage. Here relatively shallow coherent medieval soil-like deposits were identified at c. 4.2 AOD (less than 1m below existing ground level). Given that evidence for Saxon occupation was recorded in an earlier excavation in 1990 it is presumed that similar well-preserved remains may lay in this part of the site sealed beneath the medieval deposits. Excavation of an area along the northern frontage was therefore recommended, in the event that construction mitigation is not sufficient to ensure the preservation of these deposits (S2).

Post 2007: Excavation was undertaken prior to development for planning application IP/07/00970. A total of 13 burials orientated E-W were excavated in the northern part of the site, ceasing 15m to the south of the northern site edge. They were poorly preserved, having seen some vertical truncation in the past, although they were encountered 1.5m below the current ground level. Although undated, burials were suggested to have related to St Clement's Church. A change in land use was indicated by a series of five cess pits which cut many of the graves. Find from them suggest they were in use into the last quarter of the 16th century. A large rectangular structure was recorded at least 3.5 long x 1.5 wide x 0.5m deep with 13 post/pile settings cut into it's base. The cess pits may have been on communal ground between properties, or may relate to a tenement on Fore Street. Church land may have been sold off to accommodate the rapid development of a wealthy merchant suburb at the onset of the 17th century (S6).
Excavation plans and mapinfo on record. Report waiting, assumed because of funding issues. Archive deposited with SCCAS in 2019 - no post-excavation work undertaken.

An evaluation in September 2007 identified undisturbed deposits at the northern end of the site and recommended further excavation in this area. An archaeological excavation was carried out in February to April of 2008 by Suffolk County Council Archaeological Service field team. Earlier excavations in the 1990s had revealed Late Saxon occupation to the southern end of the site, and further evidence for activity of this date was found in 2008. In the northern part of the site the earliest major land-use was as a cemetery, presumed to relate to the nearby church. The exact date at which the graveyard boundary was moved to its current position to the north of St Clement’s Church Lane is uncertain but documentary evidence suggests that it must have occurred by the 16th century. The graves were cut by pits and other features which have been broadly dated to the 15th to 17th centuries, a few with finds which suggest that they were not completely filled in until the 18th century. Several large early post-medieval cess pits were identified, presumably relating to contemporary buildings in the southern half of the site. An unusual structure was uncovered, also cutting two of the graves, which comprised a 0.5m deep subrectangular cut (3.5+ x 1.5m) with eleven post-settings cut into the base, later infilled with building rubble – this has been interpreted as a possible saw pit of late medieval or early post-medieval date. During the 19th century, the site was redeveloped and a stable was constructed in the back yard of No. 85 (western half of the site) – at least one circular brick-built sump was associated with this construction work, and another brick structure with a similar function was identified further to the south (S7).

Following evaluation in September 2007, excavation was carried out in 2008 by Suffolk County Council Archaeological Service (Gardner 2008 ), but post-excavation work was unfunded. New work was required in 2021 to fulfil planning requirements. Previous excavations in 1990 had revealed Late Saxon occupation to the S end of the site, and further evidence for activity of this date was found in 2008, comprising the bases of sunken-featured (cellared) buildings. In the N part, the earliest major land use was as a cemetery, presumed to relate to the nearby church. The 13 individuals buried there included a high proportion of young adult males, 1 of whom had met death by violence. The exact date at which the graveyard boundary was moved to its current position to the N of St Clement’s Church Lane is uncertain, but documentary evidence suggests that it must have occurred by the 16th century. The graves were cut by pits and other features which have been broadly dated to the 15th to 17th centuries, a few with finds which suggest that they were not completely filled in until the 18th century. Several large early post-medieval cess pits were identified, presumably relating to contemporary buildings in the S half of the site. Several near-complete pottery vessels of this date range were recovered, along with the contemporary vestigial remains of a chalk-walled oven. An unusual structure was uncovered, also cutting 2 of the graves, which comprised a 0.5m deep subrectangular cut (3.5m+ x 1.5m) with 11 post-settings cut into the base, later infilled with building rubble which included carpenters’ tools; this has been interpreted as a possible late medieval or early post-medieval sawpit. During the 19th century, the site was redeveloped and a stable was constructed in the back yard of no. 85 (W half of the site); at least one circular brick-built sump was associated with this construction work, and another brick structure with a similar function was identified further to the S (S8).

Included in the Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History annual round up of individual finds and discoveries for 2008 (S9).