Monument record WBG 119 - Middle Saxon and Medieval settlement, rural and industrial activity at East Anglia One Area 27

2017: Excavation identified Middle Anglo-Saxon and medieval remains consisting of settlement-edge and arable activity, within a small but prosperous Domesday estate called ‘Kingston’ within the hinterland of Rendlesham and close to a potential crossing point of the river Deben. The Saxon settlement comprised a field system, structures and oven/hearth features. The agricultural and settlement activity continued into the 14th century. The presence of a road leading towards the Deben, a possible livestock pen and storage facilities suggest that the site may still have had a role in regional infrastructure, relating to the river crossing. A large assemblage of metal working debris from the medieval features is likely to be evidence of blacksmithing on a substantial scale occurring very near – and potentially just within – the site. The waste from the blacksmithing then seems to have been used as construction material for the buildings and paving for the road. Activity on the site sharply declined after the 14th century, with both the settlement and arable field being abandoned, perhaps being used for pasture during the later medieval and into the post-medieval periods. (S2). Included in the Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History annual round up of individual finds and discoveries for 2017 (S1).