Monument record IPS 2150 - Desk based assessment at The Former Holywells High School, off Lindbergh Road, Ipswich

2018: The study area includes the grounds and footings of the former Priory Heath (later Holywells) High School erected between 1938 and 1951. Prior to that the land had been marginal heathland and there is no historical evidence for previous settlement there. Documentary evidence indicates the land was extra parochial; it does not appear to have belonged to the neighbouring large estate and may therefore have been common land.
The study area is located on the north side of Nacton Road, on the south side of which Ipswich Airport was formerly located. Following closure in 1996-8, a programme of archaeological investigations demonstrated the potential of the area for the survival of archaeological evidence, in particular from the Neolithic, Bronze Age and Early Medieval periods, together with evidence from the WWII use of the airfield and surrounds. Investigations in other nearby development sites have confirmed this. (S1)