Monument record BRF 158 - Bronze Age cremations and later prehistoric and Saxon-Medieval activity at Fitzgerald Rd, Bramford

2018: Magnitude Surveys undertook a fluxgate magnetometer survey of a c.9ha area of land off Fitzgerald Road in Bramford, Suffolk. The survey successgully identified three groups of anomalies classified as of archaeological origin across the northern, north-eastern and eastern ends of site. The archaeological responses were mainly indicative of ditches, enclosures and possible debris. The different groups might also reflect different phases of activity, potentially late prehistoric to Medieval/Post-Medieval. In addition to the archaeological responses, natural variations and agricultural activity were also been identified. A buried service ran through the western end of site, but overall the impact of modern interference on the results was minimal. (S1)

2018: Archaeological evaluation ahead of residential development identified three distinct 'foci' of activity: the south, the north-eastern corner, and the east.

The southern foci consisted of two Middle Bronze Age cremations; one urned within a Deverel-Rimbury Urn (1,700-1,200BC) the second unurned. These cremations were cut into colluvium, making identification of grave cuts difficult, but it is likely that they were deposited into pits specifically dug for the deposition of the cremation, a common rite of the period. These cremations were, potentially, focused around a watercourse or hollow present in Trenches 27, 29 and 37. Proximity of watercourses to burial evidence is commonplace in the prehistoric period. Part of an enclosure/ boundary system, pertaining to later agricultural activities, was also identified in this area.
The north-eastern foci related to ditched boundaries and enclosures dating to the later Saxon- early medieval period. Anomalies identified in the geophysical survey which appeared to be large boundary ditches in fact related to multiple re-cuts of the same ditch. This demonstrates that the settlement was extant for a sustained period with continuous development and adjustment.
The eastern foci appeared to relate to later Saxon- early medieval settlement 'edge' activity with further ditched enclosures identified. The limited finds assemblages suggest that the settlement core lay beyond the limits of the excavation to the east. However, the site still provides a valuable insight into activities undertaken on the rural settlement edge, and how it interacts with its associated agricultural landscape. (S2)

Included in the Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History annual round up of individual finds and discoveries for 2018. (S3)

Included in the Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History annual round up of individual finds and discoveries for 2023 (S4).

Excavation of three areas totalling 1.78ha was carried out prior to residential development. Evidence for Late Mesolithic/Early Neolithic activity was encountered, there was a large, steep-sided pit that contained a sizeable assemblage of flint-working debris. A Middle Bronze Age barrow cemetery was located on a slight rise in the sand and gravel substrate. It consisted of five ring-ditches and an accumulation of mound material, from which were recovered 21 cremation burials contained in urns of Ardleigh/Deverel–Rimbury type , in addition to approximately 30 unurned cremations. The cremated skeletal remains belong to c.53 individuals. Another cluster of unurned cremation burials was found c.150m NE of the main cemetery site.
In the Late Saxon period a ditch system, probably field boundary ditches, was established in the SE part of the site. Pottery from these ditches dates from the late 9th to 11th centuries. Two pits containing pottery of similar date were also recorded. In around the late 11th century the arrangement of land boundaries was reorganised with a regular, rectilinear enclosure and ditch system being established and lasting until the 13th century. There was some evidence for domestic ‘backyard’ activity in the N part of the site, adjacent to Fitzgerald Road; this consisted of a complex of small ditches and pits and an oven housed either behind a windbreak or within a small post-built structure. In the later 13th century there was a further reorganisation of land boundaries, with successive rectilinear enclosures being established in the N part of the site and a working area, consisting of a stone-lined well, oven and post-built structure, being constructed. In the latest enclosure there was a wide spread of material, interpreted as the bottom of a midden, which contained sherds of late 13th- to 14th-century pottery and four partial animal skeletons, probably either butchery waste or the carcasses of diseased livestock.