Ipswich UAD child record record IPS 1068 - Building 0125

The north side of this sunken featured building was found at the southern edge of the site and the excavation was extended to expose the whole of the structure. Although later pits had extensively damaged the south and east sides of the building, enough survived to reveal its dimensions. The sunken feature was rectangular, flat-bottomed, 5.2m long, 4.2m wide and 60cm deep. An extension, in the north-west corner, is most likely a stepped entrance (0818).
There was a line of nine post holes (0135-0139, 0156, 0157, 0806, 0807) along the base of the north side of the sunken feature, but only single post holes were recorded on the other sides (0828 on the west edge, 0683 on the east edge, and 0805 on the south edge). There were also five stake holes (0186, 0851-0854) cutting the floor of the pit in the north-east corner. The lack of post holes along the west wall appears to be genuine as posthole 0828 was the only posthole in the 1.8m length of the surviving west side.
The fill of the sunken feature comprised two layers of identical brown sandy loam (0653, 0654), separated by a 10cm thick layer of yellow sand. Below this was a second layer of sand changing to clay (0158) towards the north edge, which may represent a floor surface or accumulation after its abandonment. A number of loom weights (0799), found together in one location, within the lower layer of loam (0653), and the probable stepped entrance in the north-west corner suggests occupation on the floor of the pit but a suspended floor over an under-floor space cannot be ruled out, (S1).