Monument record PFM 022 - Undated ditches and pits at 135 Bucklesham Road (SA) EXC

2014: An archaeological evaluation revealed a quite dense spread of features on the western of the site. In total seven ditches were identified. The features are possibly all field boundaries with two sets of parallel features suggesting a fence or hedge line bounded on each side by a ditch. The only find from any of the ditches was a single sherd of Roman pottery (S1). Included in the Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History annual round up of individual finds and discoveries for 2014 (S2).


2015:Excavation revealed a number of ditches, which are likely to represent evidence of at least three phases of field systems. Datable evidence was scarce but comprised a small assemblage of Roman and medieval pottery, the former redeposited in later contexts. A single pit was also recorded, which had a charcoal-dense fill and heat-altered base. Similar pits are well documented from archaeological investigations in the former heathlands around east Ipswich and whilst this example is undated at the time of writing, several others have returned radiocarbon dates for the Early and Middle Saxon period (S3).