Ipswich UAD child record record IPS 1175 - Oven 3405

A clay lined feature interpreted as an oven (3405) was included in this phase based primarily on its juxtaposition with hall building 2976 located c.5 metres to the north-east, and to a lesser extent on stratigraphic grounds as it cut Period II.a. and II.b. (Roman) ditches. Artefactual evidence for an Early Anglo Saxon date was limited to a single sherd of handmade pottery.
The oven had an irregular shaped, stepped, pit at its eastern end providing access to a curving clay lined flue that terminated in a circular chamber (Plate 7). The pit had maximum width and length of 2 metres with a maximum depth of 0.6 metres. The flue was approximately 3 metres in length, curving from a north-east to south-west alignment round to a north to south orientation, with an internal width reducing from 0.5 metres down to 0.25 metres at the mouth of the circular chamber. The chamber itself had an internal diameter of 0.6 metres with a rounded profile. Interpretation of the feature as a form of oven rather than a kiln was based on the fact that the surface of the clay lining was heavily heat-reddened, but not vitrified as could be expected if it been involved with a more industrial process. The intensity of the heat-reddening reduced towards the chamber end of the flue. Initial cleaning revealed that the roof of the structure had collapsed down into the flue and chamber. The presence of stake-holes within the in situ clay lining suggested that a wooden framework was used as a support during construction. While a small amount of charcoal was present in the fill of the feature, the absence of any concentrations or discrete layers suggests that the oven had been cleaned out after its final use, (S1).