Monument record BAW 242 - Medieval to post-medieval agricultural activity, Manor Farm, The Street

The northern part of the site was found to contain little evidence for pre-modern activity, and may have been the location of a large quarry pit, apparently infilled during the post-medieval period. A truncated post-medieval feature, perhaps the remains of a ditch, was found within this area. At the southern end of the site, a number of medieval and early post-medieval features an deposits were encountered, dating from the 11th to the 16th centuries. This included a dark earth deposit, apparently the remains of a medieval cultivation plot, located in the SE corner of the site. This contained finds dated from the 11th to early 16th century. Several ditches were uncovered beneath and around this layer, some of which may have formed internal subdivisions and boundaries to this cultivation plot. To the north of this layer, five ditches were uncovered that appeared to relate to medieval agricultural boundaries. One of these contained 11th-12th century pottery, and another contained 2th-14th century pottery. The position of one ditch correlated with a large, circular cropmark, identified in aerial photographs as the possible location of a medieval windmill. No dating evidence was found within this . These medieval and early post medieval features were found to seal an earlier, undated layer only found at the southern end of the site. A feature identified as a possible ditch was apparently sealed beneath this (S1).

An archaeological excavation revealed extensive medieval and post-medieval features. Most of the features contained material consistent with a date range between the 10th and 16th centuries (Phase 1). Within this phase, three sub-phases were apparent, with most activity between the 12th and 14th centuries. This is unsurprising as the site is just to the north of the historic medieval core of Bawdsey, where 12th to 14th century artefact scatters have been recorded. Across the three sub-phases, continuation, re-use, and adaptation of a ditch system was evident. Three boundary ditches and a curvilinear ditch correlate to the cropmarks previously identified across the excavation area (S2).