Land Off Farrier's Road and Poplar Hill Stowmarket
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Land off Farrier’s Road and Poplar Hill Stowmarket Suffolk Archaeological Evaluation HER Event no: COM 041 OASIS no: Cotswold2-199142 for Construct Reason Ltd CA Project: 660405 CA Report: 15079 February 2015 © Cotswold Archaeology Land off Farrier’s Road, Stowmarket, Suffolk: Archaeological Evaluation Land off Farrier’s Road and Poplar Hill Stowmarket Suffolk Archaeological Evaluation CA Project: 660405 CA Report: 15079 HER Event no: COM 041 OASIS no: Cotswold2-199142 prepared by Ralph Brown, Project Supervisor date 10 February 2015 checked by Nicola Powell, Post-Excavation Manager date 18 February 2015 approved by Simon Carlyle, Principal Fieldwork Manager signed date 19 February 2015 issue 01 This report is confidential to the client. Cotswold Archaeology accepts no responsibility or liability to any third party to whom this report, or any part of it, is made known. Any such party relies upon this report entirely at their own risk. No part of this report may be reproduced by any means without permission. © Cotswold Archaeology Cirencester Milton Keynes Andover Building 11 41 Burners Lane South Stanley House Kemble Enterprise Park Kiln Farm Walworth Road Kemble, Cirencester Milton Keynes Andover, Hampshire Gloucestershire, GL7 6BQ MK11 3HA SP10 5LH t. 01285 771022 t. 01908 564660 t. 01264 347630 f. 01285 771033 e. [email protected] 1 © Cotswold Archaeology Land off Farrier’s Road, Stowmarket, Suffolk: Archaeological Evaluation CONTENTS SUMMARY ..................................................................................................................... 3 1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................ 4 2. RESULTS .......................................................................................................... 7 3 THE FINDS AND PALAEOENVIRONMENTAL EVIDENCE ............................... 12 4. DISCUSSION ..................................................................................................... 13 5. CA PROJECT TEAM .......................................................................................... 16 6. REFERENCES ................................................................................................... 16 APPENDIX A: WRITTEN SCHEME OF INVESTIGATION .............................................. 18 APPENDIX B: CONTEXT DESCRIPTIONS .................................................................... 19 APPENDIX C: THE FINDS AND PALAEOENVIRONMENTAL EVIDENCE ..................... 26 APPENDIX D: OASIS REPORT FORM .......................................................................... 27 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Fig. 1 Site location plan, 1:25,000 Fig. 2 Trench location plan showing archaeological features and geophysical survey results, 1:2000 Fig. 3 Trench location plan showing archaeological features in Fields 1 and 2, 1:1000 Fig. 4 Trench location plan showing archaeological features and geophysical survey results in Field 3, 1:750 Fig. 5 General view of Field 1, looking west Fig. 6 General view of Field 2, looking north Fig. 7 General view of Field 3, looking north Fig. 8 Trench 1, made-ground, looking east Fig. 9 Ditch 405, looking north-west Fig. 10 Ditch 605, looking south Fig. 11 Trench 27: section and photograph Fig. 12 Ditch 2803, looking south-west Fig. 13 Ditch 2203, looking south-west Fig. 14 Ditch 2503, looking south-east Fig. 15 Ditch 2303, looking south-east Fig. 16 Ditch 2103, looking south-east Fig. 17 Aerial photograph of 1946 Fig. 18 Detail from 1841 Tithe Map of the Parish of Combs 2 © Cotswold Archaeology Land off Farrier’s Road, Stowmarket, Suffolk: Archaeological Evaluation SUMMARY Project Name: Land off Farrier’s Road and Poplar Hill, Stowmarket, Suffolk Location: Stowmarket, Suffolk NGR: TM 0426 5715 Type: Evaluation Date: 19 January-3 February 2015 Location of Archive: Suffolk County Archaeological Stores Site Code: COM 041 During January and February 2015, Cotswold Archaeology carried out an archaeological evaluation of land off Farrier’s Road and Poplar Hill, Stowmarket, Suffolk. The evaluation, which was commissioned by Construct Reason Ltd, formed part of a programme of archaeological works being carried out prior to the residential development of the site. The evaluation comprised the excavation of twenty-eight 30m trial trenches in three fields. Possibly the earliest remains were encountered in the southern part of the site, where two sherds of Roman pottery were recovered from a ditch that may have formed part of a rectilinear enclosure on the crest of the hill. Further to the north, near the base of the slope that overlooks the small stream that forms the site’s northern boundary, a medieval ditch system was investigated. Sherds of 11th to 14th-century pottery were recovered from two of the ditches, along with a small assemblage of animal bone; the other ditches in this area are undated but several are probably associated with the ditch system. Other features included former field boundary ditches, agricultural trenches and a modern quarry pit. 3 © Cotswold Archaeology Land off Farrier’s Road, Stowmarket, Suffolk: Archaeological Evaluation 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 During January and February 2015, Cotswold Archaeology (CA) carried out an archaeological evaluation of farmland off Farrier’s Road and Poplar Hill, Stowmarket, Suffolk (site centred on NGR: TM 0426 5715; Fig.1). The evaluation, which was commissioned by Construct Reason Ltd, formed part of a programme of archaeological works being carried out prior to the proposed residential development of the site. 1.2 The scope of the evaluation was outlined in a Written Scheme of Investigation (WSI) prepared by CA (2015; Appendix A), the details of which were based on discussions with Matthew Brudenell, Senior Archaeological Officer with Suffolk County Council’s Archaeological Service (SCCAS). The discussions were informed by a desk-based assessment of the site prepared by CA (2014) and a geophysical survey of the southern part of the site undertaken by ArchaeoPhysica (2014). The WSI was guided in its preparation by Standards for Field Archaeology in the East of England (Gurney 2003) and Requirements for a Trenched Archaeological Evaluation (SCCAS 2011). 1.3 The evaluation was undertaken in accordance with the WSI (CA 2015) and abided by the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists’ Standard and Guidance for Archaeological Field Evaluation (CIfA 2014) and the English Heritage (EH) procedural documents Management of Archaeological Projects 2 (EH 1991) and Management of Research Projects in the Historic Environment (MoRPHE): Project Manager’s Guide (EH 2006). The fieldwork was monitored by Matthew Brudenell, SCCAS, with a site visit being made on 26 January 2015. The site 1.4 The site, which covers an area of c. 11 ha, comprises a block of farmland on the southern edge of Stowmarket, to the south-west of the suburb of Combs Ford, approximately 1.3km to the south of the town centre (Figs. 1 and 2). The land straddles a spur of high ground that lies between two small streams that flow north- eastwards into Rattlesden River. On the north-facing slope the site comprises two fallow fields (Fields 1 and 2; Figs 5 and 6), partly overgrown with scrub and bordered by thick hedgerows; on the crest of the spur and on the south-east-facing slope it comprises parts of two large arable fields (Fields 3 and 4; Fig. 7), separated by Poplar Hill, the road that runs between Combs Ford and the village of Combs. 4 © Cotswold Archaeology Land off Farrier’s Road, Stowmarket, Suffolk: Archaeological Evaluation Ground level descends from c. 57m above Ordnance Datum (aOD) at the crest of the spur down to c. 42m at the stream that borders the northern edge of the site and 49m aOD at its south-eastern corner. With the exception of the land to the south- east of Poplar Hill (Field 4), which lies within the parish of Stowmarket, the site largely lies within the parish of Combs. 1.5 The solid geology of the site comprises Neogene/Quaternary sandstone of the Crag Group (BGS 2015). This is overlain by superficial chalky till deposits of the Lowestoft Formation, with poorly-sorted sand and gravel Head (a solifluction deposit formed under permafrost conditions) occurring adjacent to the small stream at the northern edge of the site. Archaeological and historical background 1.6 The archaeological and historical background of the site has been presented in detail in the Archaeological Desk-based Assessment prepared by CA (2014). In brief, this established that a Cold War Royal Observer Corps monitoring post, now demolished, was once located on the crest of the slope, near the site’s south- western boundary. No other designated or undesignated heritage assets where located within the site. In the wider landscape, extensive scatters of prehistoric worked flint were recovered by fieldwalking on land c. 300m to the south-east of the site and medieval earthworks are recorded nearby at Combs Hall, and at Combs Ford, approximately 200m to the north-east. 1.7 The results of the geophysical survey of the southern part of the site (Field 3), in the arable field to the north-west of Poplar Hill (ArchaeoPhysica 2014), showed no anomalies of archaeological significance within the surveyed area, other than a linear anomaly close to its southern edge. Other anomalies related to former field boundaries, modern services and the probable buried remains/debris of the Cold War monitoring station. Archaeological objectives 1.8 The objectives of the evaluation, as set out in the