Monument record IPS 2120 - OUTLINE RECORD: Prehistoric circular enclosure, Saxon cemetery and post medieval features 22-31 and Dairy Crest, Boss Hall Rd, Ipswich (CAS) EXC

Following evaluation in 2014, 0.63ha was excavated at the former dairy. A circular enclosure, probably of prehistoric date and possibly of henge or hengiform type, was located in the SE corner. It comprised a large ditch, with a causewayed entrance on the E side, that encircled an area approximately 20m in diameter containing a circle of substantial post settings. A circular gulley, approximately 4.3m in diameter, around a central post hole or small pit, was also present although these may be later. No datable artefacts were recovered, but scientific dating techniques are proposed to help phase the various components that make up this monument. It has tentatively been attributed to the Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age by its form alone. In the Early Anglo-Saxon period the area was used for human burials, primarily inhumations although a small number of urned cremations were also recovered. The numbers and density of the burials suggests the area was used as a formal cemetery between the 6th and 8th centuries AD, undoubtedly a continuation of the previously identified Anglo-Saxon cemetery at Boss Hall, which was discovered and partly excavated in 1990 on land immediately to the W. A Bronze Age ring-ditch lies c.150m to the SW of the site and it is possible that (with the possible henge) these monuments may have acted as a focus for burial. Later features comprised post-medieval field boundaries and occasional pits that probably relate to 18th-19th century agriculture. During this period the area was acquired by the Co-Operative Society for use as a nursery and was later the site of a large factory scale dairy, much of which was demolished in the late 20th and early 21st centuries although occasional footings were evident. The broken remains of a Second World War air-raid shelter recorded during the excavation would have been for employees of the dairy.
Included in the Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History annual round up of individual finds and discoveries for 2021 (S1)