Stowupland High School Stowupland Suffolk
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Stowupland High School Stowupland Suffolk Archaeological Excavation for Concertus CA Project: SU0114 CA Report: SU0114_1 OASIS ID: cotswold2-384957 HER Ref: SUP 048 October 2020 Stowupland High School Stowupland Suffolk Archaeological Excavation, Archive Report CA Project: SU0114 CA Report: SU0114_1 OASIS ID: cotswold2-384957 HER Ref: SUP 048 Document Control Grid Revision Date Author Checked by Status Reasons for Approved revision by A 15.10.2020 L. Everett S. Boulter Internal review 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 © Cotswold Archaeology Stowupland High School, Suffolk: Archaeological Excavation CONTENTS SUMMARY ........................................................................................................................ 3 1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................. 4 2. ARCHAEOLOGICAL BACKGROUND ................................................................. 5 3. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES .................................................................................... 6 4. METHODOLOGY ................................................................................................. 7 5. RESULTS (FIGS 4–23) ........................................................................................ 7 6. THE FINDS .......................................................................................................... 11 7. THE BIOLOGICAL EVIDENCE ............................................................................ 14 8. DISCUSSION ....................................................................................................... 15 9. CA PROJECT TEAM ........................................................................................... 17 10. STORAGE AND CURATION ............................................................................... 17 11. REFERENCES .................................................................................................... 17 APPENDIX A: CONTEXT DESCRIPTIONS APPENDIX B: THE FINDS APPENDIX C: OASIS REPORT FORM APPENDIX D: BRIEF APPENDIX E: WSI 1 © Cotswold Archaeology Stowupland High School, Suffolk: Archaeological Excavation LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Fig. 1 Site location plan Fig. 2 Site location with surrounding HER entries Fig. 3 Plan of excavation within Proposed Development Area Fig. 4 Ditch 744: sections and photographs Fig. 5 Ditch 721: sections and photographs Fig. 6 Ditch 721: section and photograph Fig. 7 Ditch 719: sections and photographs Fig. 8 Ditch 719: section and photograph Fig. 9 Ditch 723: section and photograph Fig. 10 Ditch 714: sections and photographs Fig. 11 Ditch 714: sections and photographs Fig. 12 Gully 750: section and photograph Fig. 13 Ditch 704: sections and photographs Fig. 14 Ditch 704: sections and photographs Fig. 15 Ditch 710: section and photograph Fig. 16 Ditch 702: sections and photographs Fig. 17 Ditch 702: section and photograph Fig. 18 Ditch 754: sections and photographs Fig. 19 Ditch 754: section and photograph Fig. 20 Ditch 773: section and photograph Fig. 21 Gully 717: sections and photographs Fig. 22 Gully 717: section and photograph Fig. 23 Gully 769: section and photograph Fig. 24 Registered Artefact 2: photographs 2 © Cotswold Archaeology Stowupland High School, Suffolk: Archaeological Excavation SUMMARY Project Name: Stowupland High School Location: Stowupland, Suffolk NGR: 606873 259883 Date: March 2020 Planning Reference: SCC/0051/19MS; DC/19/04608 Location of Archive: To be deposited with SCCAS County Store OASIS ID: Cotswold2-384957 Site Code: SUP 048 Client: Concertus An archaeological excavation was undertaken by Cotswold Archaeology in March 2020 at Stowupland High School, Suffolk. The excavation took place at the south of the development area, targeted on medieval features identified during previous evaluation of the site. Part of what may have been a single field system was identified which appears to align with the medieval Thorney Green edge to the southwest and an assumed medieval or earlier route, Church Road, to the southeast. Ceramic dating evidence suggests a 12th- 14th century date and what may be continuous occupation through the early to high medieval period. No settlement evidence was identified within the excavation area, although the finds assemblage included concentrated and localised deposits of domestic waste likely to have come from occupation in the near vicinity, possibly from road or green-side settlement. 3 © Cotswold Archaeology Stowupland High School, Suffolk: Archaeological Excavation 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 In March 2020, Cotswold Archaeology (CA) carried out an archaeological investigation at the request of Concertus, at Stowupland High School, Suffolk (centred at NGR: 606873 259883; Figure 1). 1.2 Planning permission was granted by Mid Suffolk District Council (ref: SCC/0051/19MS; DC/19/04608) for buildings and associated parking for a new sixth form centre within the existing school grounds. This was conditional on a programme of archaeological work, comprising a wider evaluation followed by targeted excavation focused on medieval features identified close to the southern limit of the proposed development area. The archaeological condition was recommended by Matthew Baker of Suffolk County Council Archaeological Service (SCCAS). 1.3 The excavation was undertaken in accordance with a detailed Written Scheme of Investigation (WSI) produced by CA according to a Brief issued by Matthew Baker of SCCAS. The fieldwork also followed Standard and Guidance: Archaeological Excavation (CIfA 2014; updated 2020); Standards for Field Archaeology in the East of England (Gurney 2003), Requirements for Archaeological Excavation (SCCAS 2017) the Management of Research Projects in the Historic Environment (MORPHE): Project Manager’s Guide and accompanying PPN3: Archaeological Excavation (Historic England 2015). The fieldwork was monitored by Matthew Baker. The site 1.4 Stowupland High School is bounded by properties which front Church Road to the southeast, by Thorney Green to the southwest and housing elsewhere. The development area itself, a proposed car park, covered approximately 0.1ha and was located to the southeast of the main school building at a height of approximately 60m AOD. At the time of the excavation, the area was under grass. 1.5 The underlying geology of the site is mapped as being Crag Group, a sedimentary bedrock formed approximately 0 to 5 million years ago in the Quaternary and Neogene Periods. This is overlain by the Lowestoft Formation, an extensive sheet of chalky till, together with outwash sands and gravels, silts and clays. The till is characterised by its chalk and flint content and formed up to 2 million years ago in the Quaternary Period. (British Geological Survey). 4 © Cotswold Archaeology Stowupland High School, Suffolk: Archaeological Excavation 2. ARCHAEOLOGICAL BACKGROUND 2.1 An HER search (invoice No. 9232673) was undertaken as part of the trenched evaluation which revealed a total of fifteen entries situated within 1km of the site (Figure 2). The following text has been taken directly from the earlier report (Sommers 2020). 2.2 No evidence for any prehistoric activity in the local area is recorded on the HER. The earliest activity recorded is the very tentatively dated fragments of quernstone (SUP 041), which have been attributed to the Roman period, although this is far from conclusive. 2.3 Late Saxon activity is suggested by the discovery of Thetford ware on a site to the far west (SUP 034), which was recorded along with medieval wares. 2.4 The greatest majority of sites recorded on the HER in the local vicinity are of medieval date. Of major interest is Thorney Green (SUP 022), a medieval green situated to the west of the evaluation areas, and the moated site of Columbine Hall (SUP 003), just to the northwest of the green. These suggest the existence of a medieval settlement that would have been situated around the green’s circumference. This settlement continued into the post-medieval period, as suggested by the 16th and 17th century structures at SUP 024 and 026, and has formed the basis of the present village. The discovery of medieval features on sites off Gipping Road (SUP 025), Thorney Green Road (SUP 034) and Church Road (SUP 036), and the presence of 13th century pottery at The Croft (SUP 004), would suggest that occupation was not just concentrated on the green edge but that it also extended along the frontages of the roads approaching the green. 2.5 Also recorded on the HER is the site of a moat at Crown Farm, on the north side of Church Road. (SUP 002), a location that overlaps with parts of the evaluation areas (i.e. the whole of Area 3 and part of Area 2). The HER entry is very brief and gives little indication as to the evidence for a moat at this site. It is possibly based on the extant, ‘L’-shaped pond adjacent to Crown Farm, a now filled stretch of ditch that ran parallel to Church Road, and a small section of pond within the mapped HER entry’s northwest corner. Together these features could be interpreted as the remnants of a former moat, although the possibility they are simple unconnected ponds and ditches should not be discounted. No further evidence is recorded on the