Monument record BOT 053 - Prehistoric activity, Land South of Diss Road

Three pits were identified as being of possible Prehistoric date, in Trenches 2, 18 and 19. A ditch terminus in Trench 18, which produced a struck flint was possibly of Prehistoric date. The finding of these pits fits in with the picture of scattered prehistoric activity in the wider area, for example Neolithic flints were found at neighboring site land at Back Hills, Botesdale (BOT004), c. 300m to the west. A pit and ditch uncovered in the southern half of the site date to the Post-medieval period. The ditch recorded in Trenches 25 and 29 corresponded to a footpath marked on an 1885 1st Edition OS map of Botesdale, and so is likely part of a field system that dates at least as far back as the Post-medieval period. The evaluation also identified several undated ditches and two pits. These ditches represent field boundaries/drainage ditches (S1).

2020: A trial trench evaluation found three possible prehistoric pits and a ditch terminus, which contained a struck flint. The presence of prehistoric features would fit in with the evidence for dispersed prehistoric activity in the area around the site, for example, the Neolithic flints found c.300m to the W at Back Hills (SHER BOT 004). A pit and ditch uncovered in the S half of the site date to the post-medieval period, the ditch corresponds with a footpath marked on the 1885 1st-edition Ordnance Survey map. Included in the Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History annual round up of individual finds and discoveries for 2020 (S2).