Monument record BLB 172 - OUTLINE RECORD: Archaeological Test Pit Excavations in Blythburgh (ACA)

In a three-year project 2017-19, Access Cambridge Archaeology brought local secondary school year 8 and 9 pupils to excavate 36 archaeological test pits in Blythburgh village. A key objective was to map the development of the settlement from Anglo-Saxon times. Evidence of prehistoric activity came from burnt stone found in 26 of the pits, in a dispersed spread across the village, and lithics were recorded in 15 pits. No finds of Romano-British (AD 43-410) were excavated, although Roman activity in the area is known from other sources. Six test pits yielded Ipswich ware pottery, hinting at two distinct groupings, dating from the Middle Anglo-Saxon period, consistent with other evidence for a Blythburgh settlement by that date. Twenty-two of the pits yielded pottery made in the East of England in the high medieval period, showing an expansion of the settlement from the original one close to the river crossing. Pottery from the late medieval period was recovered from 27 of the pits. Only one sherd of continental European origin was found and the test pits did not provide evidence of more than local market activity. Thirty-five of the pits yielded post-medieval pottery. German stoneware, mostly from mugs, was found in 17 test pits, with a particular concentration just south of the river crossing. About half of the excavated pottery dated from the nineteenth century or later. The results from test pits in Angel Lane suggest that the sites, built on from the 1950s onwards, were always open fields, the early village having developed on slightly higher ground from The Street southwards towards Dunwich Road. There is potential for more excavations to fill gaps. The ACA scheme has ended however test pitting in 2020 will be supported by Granta Heritage (S1).