Monument record RDE 016 - Medieval features, Church Field, Rede

Three evaluation trenches were excavated on Church Field, Rede, in Suffolk. These revealed three ditches and two pits, which were all well preserved below differing levels of topsoil and subsoil. One of the ditches was probably medieval, producing 12th-14th century pottery, as well as animal bone and fired clay. Another of the ditches was a roadside feature that was backfilled with post-medieval material, whilst the third was undated. Of the two large pits, only one was dated, producing post-medieval tile. The other contained no finds (S1).
An archaeological monitoring was carried out during the excavation of footings for two houses at Church Field, Rede. The excavations revealed a ditch parallel to the main road, suggestive of a medieval boundary and possible drainage ditch behind housing plots. There were also two minor east-west ditches, which also appeared in the evaluation where they were found to be medieval, and several pits. These were all quite similar in general appearance, although varying in size and may have been close in date. It is likely that they were dug for the extraction of clay for brick making, which is historically recorded in the area. Only one of the pits offered dating evidence suggesting they were either late medieval, or post-medieval, the latter being the more likely (S2).