Archaeological Test Pit Excavations in Longstanton, Cambridgeshire

ArchaeologicalArchaeological Test Pit Excavations Test Pit Excavations in Blythburgh, in Longstanton, CambridgeshireSuffolk, 2015 2017 &- 20192017

Catherine Collins

Archaeological Test Pit Excavations in Blythburgh, Suffolk in 2017, 2018 and 2019

Catherine Collins

2019

Access Cambridge Archaeology Department of Archaeology University of Cambridge Pembroke Street Cambridge CB2 3QG

01223 761519

[email protected]

http://www.access.arch.cam.ac.uk/

(Front cover images. Left: BLY/17/12 working shot. Right: BLY/18/2 group shot. Copyright ACA)

Contents

1 SUMMARY ...... 11 2 INTRODUCTION ...... 13 2.1 ACCESS CAMBRIDGE ARCHAEOLOGY ...... 13 2.2 THE INDEPENDENT LEARNING ARCHAEOLOGY FIELD SCHOOL (ILAFS) ...... 13 2.3 TEST-PIT EXCAVATION AND RURAL SETTLEMENT STUDIES ...... 14 3 AIMS, OBJECTIVES AND DESIRED OUTCOMES ...... 15 3.1 AIMS ...... 15 3.2 OBJECTIVES ...... 15 3.3 OUTCOMES ...... 15 4 METHODOLOGY ...... 16 5 BLYTHBURGH ...... 17 5.1 THE SETTLEMENT TODAY ...... 17 5.2 GEOLOGY AND TOPOGRAPHY ...... 19 6 ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL BACKGROUND ...... 20 6.1 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND ...... 20 6.2 ARCHAEOLOGICAL BACKGROUND ...... 25 6.2.1 Prehistoric ...... 25 6.2.2 Romano-British ...... 26 6.2.3 Anglo-Saxon ...... 26 6.2.4 Medieval ...... 27 6.2.5 Post medieval and later ...... 29 6.2.6 Undated ...... 31 7 RESULTS OF THE TEST PIT EXCAVATIONS IN BLYTHBURGH ...... 33 7.1 THE 2017 EXCAVATIONS ...... 34 7.2 THE 2018 EXCAVATIONS ...... 50 7.3 THE 2019 EXCAVATIONS ...... 67 8 DISCUSSION ...... 83 8.1 PREHISTORIC ...... 83 8.2 ROMANO-BRITISH...... 85 8.3 ANGLO SAXON...... 86 8.4 MEDIEVAL ...... 86 8.5 POST MEDIEVAL AND LATER ...... 88 9 CONCLUSION ...... 90 10 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...... 92 11 REFERENCES ...... 94 12 APPENDICES ...... 98 12.1 POTTERY REPORTS – PAUL BLINKHORN AND JOHN NEWMAN ...... 98 12.1.1 2017 Pottery Report (Paul Blinkhorn) ...... 100 12.1.2 2018 Pottery Report (Paul Blinkhorn) ...... 104 12.1.3 2019 Pottery Report (John Newman) ...... 108 12.2 OTHER FINDS – CATHERINE COLLINS AND JOHN NEWMAN ...... 112 12.2.1 2017 test pit finds (Catherine Collins) ...... 112

12.2.2 2018 test pit finds (Catherine Collins) ...... 120 12.2.3 2019 test pit finds (John Newman) ...... 128 12.3 MAPS ...... 134

List of Figures

Figure 1: Map of England with close-up insert of East Anglia and the approximate location of Blythburgh highlighted in red ...... 17 Figure 2: The extent of Blythburgh parish © Crown Copyright/database right 2019. An Ordnance Survey/EDINA supplied service, 1: 250,000 ...... 18 Figure 3: Modern OS map of Blythburgh village with the Conservation Area highlighted in blue © Crown Copyright/database right 2019. An Ordnance Survey/EDINA supplied service, 1: 5,000 ...... 18 Figure 4: 1880’s OS map of Blythburgh © Crown Copyright and Database rights/Ordnance Survey 2019, 1: 5,000 ...... 24 Figure 5: The Blythburgh whale bone writing tablet © British Museum ...... 27 Figure 6: The Blythburgh chess piece © John Newman ...... 29 Figure 7: The locations of the three years of test pitting in Blythburgh. Yellow for 2017, purple for 2018 and turquoise for 2019 (NB test pits not to scale) © Crown Copyright/database right 2019. An Ordnance Survey/EDINA supplied service, 1: 5,000 ...... 33 Figure 8: Blythburgh 2017 test pit location map (NB test pits not to scale) © Crown Copyright/database right 2019. An Ordnance Survey/EDINA supplied service 1: 5,000 ...... 34 Figure 9: Location map of BLY/17/1 ...... 35 Figure 10: Location map of BLY/17/2 ...... 36 Figure 11: Location map of BLY/17/3 ...... 37 Figure 12: Location map of BLY/17/4 ...... 38 Figure 13: Location map of BLY/17/5 ...... 39 Figure 14: Location map of BLY/17/6 ...... 40 Figure 15: Location map of BLY/17/7 ...... 41 Figure 16: Location map of BLY/17/8 ...... 42 Figure 17: Location map of BLY/17/9 ...... 43 Figure 18: Location map of BLY/17/10 ...... 44 Figure 19: The possible whet stone fragment excavated from BLY/17/10, context 5 © ACA ...... 45 Figure 20: Location map of BLY/17/11 ...... 46 Figure 21: Location map of BLY/17/12 ...... 47 Figure 22: The small metal link excavated from BLY/17/12, context 2 (scale in cm) © ACA ...... 48 Figure 23: Location map of BLY/17/13 ...... 49 Figure 24: Blythburgh 2018 test pit location map (NB test pits not to scale) © Crown Copyright/database right 2019. An Ordnance Survey/EDINA supplied service, 1: 5,000 ...... 50 Figure 25: Location map of BLY/18/1 ...... 51 Figure 26: Location map of BLY/18/2 ...... 52 Figure 27: Location map of BLY/18/3 ...... 53 Figure 28: Location map of BLY/18/4 ...... 54 Figure 29: Location map of BLY/18/5 ...... 55 Figure 30: Location map of BLY/18/6 ...... 56 Figure 31: Location map of BLY/18/7 ...... 57 Figure 32: The possible bone knife handle found from BLY/18/7, context 6 (front) © ACA ...... 58

Figure 33: The possible bone knife handle found from BLY/18/7, context 6 (back) © ACA ...... 58 Figure 34: Location map of BLY/18/8 ...... 59 Figure 35: The possible ‘winding key’ found in BLY/18/8, context 3 © ACA ...... 60 Figure 36: Location map of BLY/18/9 ...... 61 Figure 37: Location map of BLY/18/10 ...... 62 Figure 38: Location map of BLY/18/11 ...... 63 Figure 39: Glazed tile fragment excavated from BLY/18/11, context 4 © ACA ...... 64 Figure 40: Location map of BLY/18/12 ...... 65 Figure 41: Glazed tile fragment excavated from BLY/18/12, context 3 © ACA ...... 66 Figure 42: Blythburgh 2019 test pit location map (NB test pits not to scale) © Crown Copyright/database right 2019. An Ordnance Survey/EDINA supplied service, 1: 5,000 ...... 67 Figure 43: Location map of BLY/19/1 ...... 68 Figure 44: Possible path surface identified in BLY/19/1 © ACA ...... 69 Figure 45: Location map of BLY/19/2 ...... 70 Figure 46: The Tom Sayers clay pipe bowl excavated from BLY/19/2, context 5 © ACA ...... 71 Figure 47: Location map of BLY/19/3 ...... 72 Figure 48: The bone button excavated from BLY/19/3, context 4 © ACA ...... 73 Figure 49: Location map of BLY/19/4 ...... 74 Figure 50: Location map of BLY/19/5 ...... 75 Figure 51: Location map of BLY/19/6 ...... 76 Figure 52: Location map of BLY/19/7 ...... 77 Figure 53: Location map of BLY/19/8 ...... 78 Figure 54: Location map of BLY/19/9 ...... 79 Figure 55: Double looped buckle fragment excavated from BLY/19/9, context 2 © ACA ...... 80 Figure 56: Location map of BLY/19/10 ...... 81 Figure 57: Location map of BLY/19/11 ...... 82 Figure 58: The presence of burnt stone (shaded squares) from the Blythburgh test pits (NB: test pits not to scale) © Crown Copyright/database right 2019. An Ordnance Survey/EDINA supplied service, 1: 5,000 ...... 84 Figure 59: The presence of worked flints (shaded squares) from the Blythburgh test pits (NB: test pits not to scale) © Crown Copyright/database right 2019. An Ordnance Survey/EDINA supplied service, 1: 5,000 ...... 84 Figure 60: The presence of German Stoneware pottery (shaded squares) from the Blythburgh test pits (NB: test pits not to scale) © Crown Copyright/database right 2019. An Ordnance Survey/EDINA supplied service, 1: 5,000 ...... 88 Figure 61: Middle Anglo-Saxon pottery distribution map from the Blythburgh test pits © Crown Copyright/database right 2019. An Ordnance Survey/EDINA supplied service. 1, 5.000 ...... 135 Figure 62: Late Anglo-Saxon pottery distribution map from the Blythburgh test pits © Crown Copyright/database right 2019. An Ordnance Survey/EDINA supplied service. 1, 5.000 ...... 135 Figure 63: High Medieval pottery distribution map from the Blythburgh test pits © Crown Copyright/database right 2019. An Ordnance Survey/EDINA supplied service. 1, 5.000 ...... 136 Figure 64: Late medieval pottery distribution map from the Blythburgh test pits © Crown Copyright/database right 2019. An Ordnance Survey/EDINA supplied service. 1, 5.000 ...... 136 Figure 65: Post medieval pottery distribution map from the Blythburgh test pits © Crown Copyright/database right 2019. An Ordnance Survey/EDINA supplied service. 1, 5.000 ...... 137

Figure 66: 19th century and later pottery distribution map from the Blythburgh test pits © Crown Copyright/database right 2019. An Ordnance Survey/EDINA supplied service. 1, 5.000 ...... 137

List of Tables

Table 1: Population figures for Blythburgh ...... 23 Table 2: The pottery excavated from BLY/17/1 ...... 35 Table 3: The pottery excavated from BLY/17/2 ...... 36 Table 4: The pottery excavated from BLY/17/3 ...... 37 Table 5: The pottery excavated from BLY/17/4 ...... 38 Table 6: The pottery excavated from BLY/17/5 ...... 39 Table 7: The pottery excavated from BLY/17/6 ...... 40 Table 8: The pottery excavated from BLY/17/7 ...... 41 Table 9: The pottery excavated from BLY/17/8 ...... 42 Table 10: The pottery excavated from BLY/17/9 ...... 43 Table 11: The pottery excavated from BLY/17/10 ...... 44 Table 12: The pottery excavated from BLY/17/11 ...... 46 Table 13: The pottery excavated from BLY/17/12 ...... 47 Table 14: The pottery excavated from BLY/17/13 ...... 49 Table 15: The pottery excavated from BLY/18/1 ...... 51 Table 16: The pottery excavated from BLY/18/2 ...... 52 Table 17: The pottery excavated from BLY/18/3 ...... 53 Table 18: The pottery excavated from BLY/18/4 ...... 54 Table 19: The pottery excavated from BLY/18/5 ...... 55 Table 20: The pottery excavated from BLY/18/6 ...... 56 Table 21: The pottery excavated from BLY/18/7 ...... 57 Table 22: The pottery excavated from BLY/18/8 ...... 59 Table 23: The pottery excavated from BLY/18/9 ...... 61 Table 24: The pottery excavated from BLY/18/10 ...... 62 Table 25: The pottery excavated from BLY/18/11 ...... 63 Table 26: The pottery excavated from BLY/18/12 ...... 65 Table 27: The pottery excavated from BLY/19/1 ...... 68 Table 28: The pottery excavated from BLY/19/2 ...... 70 Table 29: The pottery excavated from BLY/19/3 ...... 72 Table 30: The pottery excavated from BLY/19/4 ...... 74 Table 31: The pottery excavated from BLY/19/5 ...... 75 Table 32: The pottery excavated from BLY/19/6 ...... 76 Table 33: The pottery excavated from BLY/19/7 ...... 77 Table 34: The pottery excavated from BLY/19/8 ...... 78 Table 35: The pottery excavated from BLY/19/9 ...... 79 Table 36: The pottery excavated from BLY/19/10 ...... 81 Table 37: The pottery excavated from BLY/19/11 ...... 82 Table 38: The non-pottery finds excavated from BLY/17/1 ...... 112 Table 39: The non-pottery finds excavated from BLY/17/2 ...... 112 Table 40: The non-pottery finds excavated from BLY/17/3 ...... 113 Table 41: The non-pottery finds excavated from BLY/17/4 ...... 113 Table 42: The non-pottery finds excavated from BLY/17/5 ...... 114 Table 43: The non-pottery finds excavated from BLY/17/6 ...... 114 Table 44: The non-pottery finds excavated from BLY/17/7 ...... 115 Table 45: The non-pottery finds excavated from BLY/17/8 ...... 116 Table 46: The non-pottery finds excavated from BLY/17/9 ...... 117 Table 47: The non-pottery finds excavated from BLY/17/10 ...... 118 8

Table 48: The non-pottery finds excavated from BLY/17/11 ...... 118 Table 49: The non-pottery finds excavated from BLY/17/12 ...... 119 Table 50: The non-pottery finds excavated from BLY/17/13 ...... 119 Table 51: The non-pottery finds excavated from BLY/18/1 ...... 120 Table 52: The non-pottery finds excavated from BLY/18/2 ...... 120 Table 53: The non-pottery finds excavated from BLY/18/3 ...... 121 Table 54: The non-pottery finds excavated from BLY/18/4 ...... 121 Table 55: The non-pottery finds excavated from BLY/18/5 ...... 122 Table 56: The non-pottery finds excavated from BLY/18/6 ...... 123 Table 57: The non-pottery finds excavated from BLY/18/7 ...... 124 Table 58: The non-pottery finds excavated from BLY/18/8 ...... 125 Table 59: The non-pottery finds excavated from BLY/18/9 ...... 126 Table 60: The non-pottery finds excavated from BLY/18/10 ...... 127 Table 61: The non-pottery finds excavated from BLY/18/11 ...... 127 Table 62: The non-pottery finds excavated from BLY/18/12 ...... 128 Table 63: The non-pottery finds excavated from BLY/19/1 ...... 128 Table 64: The non-pottery finds excavated from BLY/19/2 ...... 129 Table 65: The non-pottery finds excavated from BLY/19/3 ...... 130 Table 66: The non-pottery finds excavated from BLY/19/4 ...... 130 Table 67: The non-pottery finds excavated from BLY/19/5 ...... 131 Table 68: The non-pottery finds excavated from BLY/19/6 ...... 131 Table 69: The non-pottery finds excavated from BLY/19/7 ...... 132 Table 70: The non-pottery finds excavated from BLY/19/8 ...... 132 Table 71: The non-pottery finds excavated from BLY/19/9 ...... 132 Table 72: The non-pottery finds excavated from BLY/19/10 ...... 133 Table 73: The non-pottery finds excavated from BLY/19/11 ...... 134

1 Summary

Three two-day test pit excavations were undertaken in the village of Blythburgh, in east Suffolk, between April 2017 and May 2019. In that time a total of 36 1m2 archaeological test pits were excavated by 90 school pupils from six local secondary schools as part of the Independent Learning Archaeology Field School (ILAFS) programme run by Access Cambridge Archaeology (ACA) out of the Department of Archaeology at the University of Cambridge.

The test pitting in Blythburgh revealed a range of activity dating from later prehistory through to the modern day, both supporting what has already been found through historical research in the parish as well as providing new archaeological evidence. The nature of the test pits allows excavations in otherwise inaccessible places for the normal methods of commercial archaeological investigation, and it showed that some earlier phases of occupation in Blythburgh still exist under the present settlement, despite modern development.

A relatively large number of lithics were found from Blythburgh, hinting at the presence of previously unknown activity under the current village and possibly contemporary with the later prehistoric monuments situated along the valley of the River Blyth. No Iron Age or Romano-British pottery were excavated from any of the test pits, but further evidence for the Middle Anglo-Saxon original settlement here was found from at least two distinct areas, the largest being close to the crossing of the river, in the area of the White Hart pub today. This was seen to continue through the Late Anglo-Saxon and medieval periods, including in the latter, a large expansion of the settlement was found in relation to the construction of the priory in the 12th century. Blythburgh was affected by the various socio-economic factors of the 14th century, including the Black Death, after which it slowly recovered during the post medieval, but likely remained small, as seen today and never recovered its prosperity and wealth of during the medieval period.

2 Introduction

A total of 36 1m2 archaeological test pits were excavated over a three-year period between 2017 and 2019 in the village of Blythburgh in east Suffolk. All the test pitting was undertaken by 90 secondary school pupils as part of the Independent Learning Archaeology Field School (ILAFS) run by Access Cambridge Archaeology (ACA) out of the University of Cambridge. The test pitting was organised in conjunction with local residents and the unofficial ‘Blythburgh Archaeology Group’.

2.1 Access Cambridge Archaeology

Access Cambridge Archaeology (ACA) (http://www.access.arch.cam.ac.uk/) is an archaeological outreach organisation based in the Department of Archaeology in the University of Cambridge, which aims to enhance economic, social and personal well- being through active engagement with archaeology. It was set up in 2004 and specialises in providing opportunities for members of the public to take part in purposeful, research-orientated archaeological investigations including excavation. Educational events and courses range in length from a few hours to a week or more and involve members of the public of all ages.

Since 2015, ACA has been managed by the Cambridge Archaeological Unit (CAU) and thus have been able to work more closely with the unit to deliver outreach programmes such as the community excavations at Peterborough Cathedral in 2016, community test pitting activities in Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. The ACA and CAU collaboration has also enabled the continuation of the education outreach projects that involve work with both primary and secondary school pupils.

2.2 The Independent Learning Archaeology Field School (ILAFS)

The Independent Learning Archaeology Field School (ILAFS) programme, formerly known as the Higher Education Field Academy (HEFA) programme, aims to raise the aspirations, enthusiasm and attainment of 14-17 year-olds with regard to higher education by making a valuable contribution to current academic research at the University of Cambridge. The three-day learning-extension course has been run by Access Cambridge Archaeology (ACA) since 2005, aimed at UK students in state schools years 9, 10 and 12.

On ILAFS, participants spend two days running their own small (1m2) archaeological excavation within living villages, with the aim of applying and developing a wide range of learning skills, boosting their academic confidence and giving them a taste of life and learning at university level. They make new discoveries for and about themselves, and, in the process, contribute to the university's currently occupied rural settlement (CORS) research into the development of rural communities and settlements in the past. The third day is spent in the University of Cambridge analysing the excavation results in discursive learning sessions which aim to engage and challenge participants, prepare them to produce a written analysis for assessment as well as provide an inspirational and positive experience of higher education. After the field school, learners receive detailed individual feedback on their data collection, personal, learning and thinking skills developed during the fieldwork as well as their reporting and

research skills exhibited in the written assignment, which will support applications to further and higher education.

2.3 Test-pit Excavation and Rural Settlement Studies

Rural settlement has long been a crucial area of research for medieval archaeology (Gerrard 2003; Lewis et al 2001), notably since the pioneering work of W. G. Hoskins, Maurice Beresford and John Hurst in the 1940s and 1950s (Hoskins 1955; Beresford 1954; Beresford & Hurst 1971), but until recently, attention was focused largely on the minority of medieval settlements which are today deserted or extensively shrunken. Currently occupied rural settlements (CORS), overlain by domestic housing and related buildings of living secular communities – the villages, hamlets and small towns of today – were generally largely disregarded as targets for research-driven excavation. Very few regions have seen any systematic research-driven primary investigation aimed at CORS, and most that has taken place has not involved excavation, including those of a survey-based nature (Roberts 1987; Roberts and Wrathmell 2000; Roberts and Wrathmell 2003).

However, recent attempts to redress this bias in favour of inhabited medieval rural settlements have opened up new areas for debate. These are beginning to call into question established theories about the development of rural settlement in the historic period (Aston & Gerrard 1999; Jones & Page 2007). Despite recent advances, the number of CORS to have seen methodical research-orientated investigation, including excavation, remains very small. In order to resolve this problem, Access Cambridge Archaeology, working with members of the public including school pupils, has carried out test pit excavations in more than 50 CORS, most in eastern England. This will help allow the evidence of the medieval rural settlement pattern of eastern England to be more representative of the entire range of medieval settlements, not just on the minority of sites which are currently deserted (Lewis 2005, 2006; 2007a; 2007b, 2008, 2009, 2012 and 2013).

3 Aims, objectives and desired outcomes

3.1 Aims

The aims of the test pit excavations in Blythburgh were as follows:

 Raise the educational aspirations of participants by providing the opportunity to acquire, develop, refine and demonstrate new skills, experience and confidence.  Increase learners’ capacity to succeed in applying to and studying at university by providing activities which enable them to reinforce generic skills in team- working, problem solving, communication, presentation and planning.  To increase knowledge, understanding and appreciation of the setting, origins and development of Blythburgh and its environs.  To strengthen the village residents’ sense of heritage and community.  To inform future interpretation of the area.

3.2 Objectives

The test pit excavation objectives in Blythburgh were as follows:

 To provide the opportunity for participants to learn and develop cognitive, practical, personal and technical skills.  To investigate the archaeology of the environs of Blythburgh through test-pitting carried out by school students in properties throughout the village.

3.3 Outcomes

The desired outcomes of the test pit excavations in Blythburgh were as follows:

 Raise the educational aspirations of participants.  Provide an educational and vocational challenge allowing participants to develop transferable skills for life and learning in school and for higher education.  An improved knowledge and understanding of the archaeological resource of the village of Blythburgh.

4 Methodology

The three years of test pitting in Blythburgh was organised by ACA in conjunction with the Blythburgh Society. The excavation and records followed the standard Independent Learning Archaeology Field School (ILAFS), formerly known as the Higher Education Field Academy (HEFA), instruction handbook and recording booklet.

The test pit digging takes place over two days, which begins with an initial talk explaining the aims of the excavation, the procedures used in digging and recording the test pit and the correct and safe use of equipment. Participants are then divided into teams of three or four individuals, and each team is provided with a complete set of test pit excavation equipment, copies of the instruction handbook and a record booklet to enter excavation data into.

The test pits were all 1m2 and the turf, if present, was removed in neat squares by hand. Each test pit was excavated in a series of 10cm spits or contexts, to a maximum depth of 1.2m. The horizontal surface of each context/spit was then drawn at 1:10 scale before excavation, a photograph taken and the colour of the soil recorded with reference to a standardised colour chart. A pro-forma recording system was used by participants to record their test pit excavation. This comprised a 16-page Test Pit Record booklet which was developed by ACA for use by people with no previous archaeological experience. Each pit and context is described and noted using the site code BLY/year, so BLY/17 for 2017, BLY/18 for 2018 and BLY/19 for 2019.

During the excavation, 100% of the spoil is sieved through a 10mm mesh (with the occasional exception of very heavy clay soils which have to be hand-searched). All artefacts are retained, cleaned and bagged by context. Cut and built features are planned at 1:10 and excavated sequentially with latest deposits removed first. Pottery and most other finds are identified promptly by archaeological experts on site who visit the test pits regularly providing advice and checking that the excavation is being carried out and recorded to the required standard. Test pits are excavated down to natural or the maximum safe depth of 1.2m, whichever is encountered first. A minority of test pits will stop on encountering a feature, (ancient or modern) which archaeological staff deem inadvisable or impossible to remove, and occasionally excavation may cease at a level above natural due to time constraints. On completion of each test pit excavation, all four sections are drawn at 1:10 along with the unexcavated base of the test pit prior to backfilling by hand and the turf replaced neatly to restore the site.

After the two days of excavation are completed, the archaeological records and finds (all of which are kept and cleaned on site) are retained by ACA at the University of Cambridge for analysis, reporting, archiving and submission to HER’s, publication and ongoing research into the origins and development of rural settlement. Ownership of objects rests in the first instance with the landowner, except where other law overrides this (e.g. Treasure Act 1996, 2006, Burials Act 1857). ACA retain all finds in the short term for analysis and ideally also in the longer term in order that the excavation archives will be as complete as possible, but any requests to return finds to owners will be agreed.

5 Blythburgh

5.1 The settlement today

Blythburgh is situated in northeast Suffolk, situated just under 20km, as the crow flies, southwest of Lowestoft and 14km northeast of Saxmundham and just over 5km from Southwold on the North Sea coast (figure 1). The village straddles the A12, which runs the length of the county, connecting London and Ipswich with Great Yarmouth and the B1125 that diverges from it to run parallel with the coast. The settlement is concentrated to the south of the crossing of the River Blyth and close to the river; the village is between 1m and 3m OD on the edges of the marshes, rising to a maximum of 22m in the south of the parish (figure 2). Holy Trinity church is centred on TM 45071 75316.

Figure 1: Map of England with close-up insert of East Anglia and the approximate location of Blythburgh highlighted in red

Blythburgh today is a small village, connected by a network of narrow lanes and dominated by the Holy Trinity church, which stands to the northwest of the settlement, overlooking the River Blyth and surrounding marshes. With easy access to the coast and the facilities offered, Blythburgh is an attractive place to live with connecting bus routes to the larger towns. The village did have a small shop, although this was closed in early 2019, but it still boasts a pub and village hall, with a number of active local societies and groups.

Figure 2: The extent of Blythburgh parish © Crown Copyright/database right 2019. An Ordnance Survey/EDINA supplied service, 1: 250,000

Figure 3: Modern OS map of Blythburgh village with the Conservation Area highlighted in blue © Crown Copyright/database right 2019. An Ordnance Survey/EDINA supplied service, 1: 5,000

The conservation area in Blythburgh, encompasses the north of the village, excluding the modern development and expansion of the settlement to the far south (figure 3). There are also about 22 listed buildings registered in the parish, the majority of which are situated within the village itself and are Grade II listed farmhouses and cottages, dating from the 16th to 18th centuries. However, there is one Grade I listed building, the Holy Trinity Church, which dates from the 15th century. The full list of listed buildings can be seen on the National Heritage List for England website.1 Construction within the conservation area in particular, consists of the local Suffolk Red brick, with the harder Suffolk White brick being much less popular. Flintwork, rendering and black weatherboarding are also to be found in Blythburgh, whilst most of the roofs are red pantiles, some black pantiles and slate, which is more common on Victorian properties (Suffolk Coastal District Council 2012).

5.2 Geology and Topography

Blythburgh is situated within an area defined as the ‘Suffolk Coasts and Heaths’, a National Character Area Profile (NCA), number 82 that encompasses the coastline of Suffolk between Great Yarmouth in the north to Harwich in the south and extending inland in parts to between 10 and 20km.2 The NCA profile is characterised by the underlying geology and the effects of the sea and is mainly flat or gently rolling countryside for farming as well as low-lying and coastal heath land and is dissected by five tidal estuaries.

On a county scale, the Suffolk Landscape Character Assessment states Blythburgh village is within the ‘Estate Sandlands’ area, characteristic of a generally flat or gently rolling landscape with extensive areas of grassland and heathland. To the east of the A12, the River Blyth and marshes are classified as ‘Saltmarsh and Intertidal Flats’, that are classified as inter-tidal flats, fringing the upland or coastal grazing marsh with low vegetation and to the west, the river is part of ‘Coastal Levels’ landscape typology. This consists of an area of flat coastal grazing land that has been reclaimed from saltmarsh and so formed behind the A12 causeway, effectively blocking the river. Full definitions of all these are seen on the Suffolk Landscape Character Assessment Website.3

Blythburgh also sits within an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty,4 which extends from the Stour valley in the south of the county to Kessingland in the north and contains a varied landscape of coastline, estuaries, marshes, farmland, forests and heathland. The River Blyth itself rises in the high Suffolk village of Laxfield to join the North Sea between Southwold and Walberswick, although prior to the 13th century, the river turned sharply southwards just before Walberswick to flow behind a shingle spit and join the sea at Dunwich (Rees 2014).

The bedrock geology is recorded as Crag Group sand, laid down between 0 and 5 million years ago when the land here was under shallow seas. Superficial deposits, particularly under Blythburgh village, consist of Lowestoft Formation sand and gravel formed up to 2 million years ago. Along the estuary, are Tidal Flat Deposits of clay and silt from when the previous environment consisted of shorelines and Alluvium, when the landscape was previously dominated also by rivers, depositing clay, sand, silt and

1 https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/ 2http://publications.naturalengland.org.uk/publication/5626055104659456?category=587130 (Accessed May 2019) 3 http://www.suffolklandscape.org.uk/default.aspx 4 http://www.suffolkcoastandheaths.org/ 19

gravel, up to c.2 million years ago. Small areas of peat can also be found through the parish, formed in lagoons, bogs and swamps. 5

6 Archaeological and Historical Background

6.1 Historical Background

The first settlement at Blythburgh was founded during the Anglo-Saxon period and was one of the earliest centres of Christianity in Suffolk, the settlement itself was also the administrative centre of the hundred of Blything. A church may have been present here from at least AD 654 when King Anna was reportedly buried in Blythburgh, following his death in battle with his son again King Penda of Mercia (Greening undated). The discovery of an 8th century whalebone writing tablet (section 6.2.3 below), is the first evidence of literacy in the village, and is the type of artefact that is usually found from ecclesiastical sites and so the church here could have been one of King Aelfwald’s century minsters, when he ruled East Anglia in the 8th century (Mackley and Montague 2003).

At the time of the Norman Invasion, Blythburgh was a Royal Estate, a centre of local authority and was one of only 12 towns in Suffolk. The settlement here was prosperous and influential, with criminals being punished there and all money changed here, rather than at the thriving port down of Dunwich. It was recorded in the Domesday Book of AD 1086 as Blideburgh to mean ‘stronghold of the River Blyth’. This has been taken from Old English of the river name blithe that means ‘the gentle or pleasant one’ and ‘burh’ to describe a fortified settlement (Mills 2011). Alternative spellings of Blythburgh include Bledeburc, Blideburc, Blideburgh, and Blideburh and there are at least five separate mentions of Blythburgh in the Domesday Book, although most are referencing Blythburgh from another settlement. The Domesday survey, compiled in 1086 was undertaken to survey the land and land holdings of England by the new King William I. The translation of the Blythburgh entry can be seen below (Williams and Martin 2003). (Additional information about understanding the Domesday Book is available online.6)

The main entry of the Domesday Book refers to the land of King William that belongs to the Realm, which Roger Bigod keeps in Suffolk. ‘King Edward held Blythburgh as a manor with five carucates of land and 15 acres. Then as now eight villans and 39 bordars and one slave. Then one plough in demesne. Land for five ploughs in demesne but Roger acquired three oxen and now there are the same number. Then as now 21 ploughs belonging to the men. Woodland for 40 pigs, six acres of meadow. Seven sokemen subject to every customary due held three carucates of land and 84 acres. Then as now 16 bordars and nine ploughs and one market. Woodland for 30 pigs and two acres of meadow. To this manor belongs the fourth penny of rent of the enclosure of ‘Riseburc’, between the King and the Earl. All this rendered TRE £30 and one day’s supply of honey with every customary due; when Roger acquired it, £50 by weight, and now £23 by weight. A church with two carucates of land. Then as now nine villans and four bordars. Then one plough in demesne, now a half. Then four ploughs belonging to the men, now one. Woodland for 20 pigs, half an acre of meadow. Then it rendered

5 http://mapapps.bgs.ac.uk/geologyofbritain/home.html? (Accessed May 2019) 6http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/domesday/ (for general information and https://opendomesday.org/place/TM4575/blythburgh/ for Blythburgh specifically (Accessed May 2019)) 20

ten thousand herrings, now 50s and three thousand herrings. Osbern Masculus hold this is alms of the King. To this church belongs two others without land.’

It was the Augustinian cannons of St Osyth Priory in south Essex who founded the priory in Blythburgh by 1147. Henry I in c.1120 bestowed the tithes of the parish of Blythburgh to the abbey and so a small priory, a cell of St Osyth, was dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary on the site of the Anglo-Saxon church (Page 1975). The priory remained small, with the number of canons reportedly unlikely to ever have been in double figures, but it was wealthy and by the end of the 13th century, it held lands or rents in about 40 parishes in Suffolk, yielding a total income of £86 3s 1½d. £20 19s 6½d of the total came from the parishes of Blythburgh and Walberswick alone (Mackley pers comm; see also Collins 2017). It was likely that the location of the priory, situated on the River Blyth and at the lowest crossing point of the river, which contributed to its prosperity through the high medieval, due to the presence of additional of travellers passing through the parish. It was however, the arrival of the Black Death in Suffolk that contributed to the decline of the priory in the early-mid 14th century as well as encroachment of the sea, as records show that by 1407, the priory was in steady decline with only seven canons noted at Blythburgh, including the prior (Thompson 2009) and continued to decline so that the 1449 tax returns show that Blythburgh was granted tax relief as it was less prosperous and populated as it was 100 years previously (Mackley and Montague 2003).

A hospital (or Priory of Black Friars of Dunwich) was thought to be sited on the southern banks of the River Blyth, just to the east of Blythburgh Bridge (BLB 147). This was relocated from Dunwich to Blythburgh due to the encroachment of the sea and the high rate of erosion in Dunwich, in 1384. This also became known as the Chapel of Holy Cross (wayside chapel) in 1525 and was recorded to be in ruins by the 1750s (Gardner 1754).

A market was recorded in Blythburgh as early as 1066 (BLB 025) and the town was granted licence for the market to continue (on a Thursday), with the addition of three annual fairs during the 12th century. The market and two fairs continued through the 14th century, although it was said that by 1490, only one stall remained. The market had ceased to exist by 1679, but the annual fairs continued through to the mid-19th century (Goult 1990).

The Church of Holy Trinity (BLB 021), the current standing church in Blythburgh, is described as ‘a descendant of a daughter of the first church’ (Doney and Doney undated) and has an early 14th century tower, whilst the rest of the bulk of the church dates to the 15th century. It was around this time that there was a great surge of church building in Suffolk, the majority paid for by individuals, from the wealth generated by the cloth trade. In Blythburgh this was not the case. The money most likely derived from the local fishing industry, as well as from cheese and butter production (Mackley and Montague 2003). The Lord of the Manor at the time of the church building was a John Hopton, who lived at what is now Westwood Lodge. Records show that his Suffolk estates only produced £40 of his £300 annual income (the majority of his wealth deriving from his Yorkshire estates), so how he contributed to the construction of the church is not fully known, but it is thought that due to the slow nature of the build and so spreading the cost, would have played a factor (Ibid).

Blythburgh manor at Domesday was a Royal Estate, with lands also held by Roger Bigod. As well as granting some land to St Osyth Priory, King Henry I gave the manor here to the Bishop of Norwich, who instead exchanged it for the manor of Thorpe with William de Cheney (that also remained separate to the priory). The manorial lands were however extensive, including not only all of Blythburgh and nearby Walberswick,

but also large plots of land in Cratfield and Huntingfield. The manor also held the rights over the harbour at Walberswick, was able to charge individuals for a ferry passage between Walberswick and Southwold and to any wrecks along the coast between Southwold and Dunwich. This manor passed to the daughter of William, Margaret de Cheney, who married twice, first to Hugh de Cressi and secondly after Hugh’s death, to Robert Fitz Roger. The grandsons of her first marriage, through her son Roger, were Hugh and Stephen de Cressi, who were both successive lords of Blythburgh during the 13th century. With no male succession, the manor passed to King Edward II until King Edward III, during the 1320’s, granted the manor to Edmund De Clavering, whose successor, Sir John de Nevil sold the manor for 40 marks to Sir Robert de Swillington in 1367. It was his son, Sir Roger de Swillington, who was granted a licence for a parish church and cemetery in Walberswick. The manor then passed into the hands of Sir John Hopton during the 15th century and remained in the family until 1585, when the manor was sold to Sir Robert Brooke. The last male Brooke, died without an heir and his widow, upon remarriage to Sir William Blois in the late 1650’s, meant that the manor then remained with the Blois family through to the 20th century (Breen 2011 and Copinger 1905).

Westwood Lodge, the house of John Hopton (1430-1478) when he was Lord of Blythburgh, is located to the southeast of the village, along the parish boundary with Walberswick and it is marked on Ogilby’s map of 1675 (BLB 071). It was in the Hopton family that the land of the priory passed and continued with the rest of the manor of Blythburgh, when the priory was suppressed in 1537 by King Henry VIII (Copinger 1905). The manor of Hinton (BLB 144) to the southwest of the Blythburgh, was included in the land belonging to the priory, which also became incorporated into the main manor after the dissolution (Ibid). The dissolution meant that a lot of the buildings were robbed of valuable construction material, but the majority of the ruins reportedly remained until the 18th century when the stone was used for building repair in the village and for the foundations of the construction of the new turnpike road during the 1780’s (Mackley and Montague 2003). The priory remains today are a Scheduled Ancient Monument, Historic England List Number: 1005962.7

The hamlet of Bulcamp is also included in the parish of Blythburgh, and is situated to the north of the River Blyth. It is thought to have been a separate manor and held by Geoffrey Capra during the later 12th century and then through the rest of the medieval period in the hands of the Kerdeston family, who also held the manor in Henham, which passed to Sir John Rouse, also of Henham, by 1652 (Breen 2011). A Bulcum Street was marked on Ogilby’s map of 1675, Bulem Street on Bowen’s map of 1755 and as Bulchamp on Hodskinson’s map of 1783 (BLB 069).

The population of Blythburgh, prior to the first census in 1801, has mainly been calculated through tax returns. The changes in the calculated population can be seen in the table 1 below.8 Twice the records show the population of Blythburgh exceeding 1000 individuals, both during the 19th century. This soaring population at that time brought about the construction of the Blything Incorporated Workhouse (BLB 033 and 142), which was sited to the north of Blythburgh in Bulcamp. During its construction, it was partly destroyed by a mob and only rescued due to intervention from the military. It finally opened in 1756 to house 56 paupers. In 1767 there were 352 recorded inmates and 264 in the year 1843. Inmates were employed in spinning hemp and wool, weaving linen and woollen cloth for use at the workhouse as well as knitting stockings, mending

7 https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1005962 8 Taken from http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10250640/cube/TOT_POP; Goult 1990: [available online: https://heritage.suffolk.gov.uk/Data/Sites/1/media/parish-histories/blythburgh.pdf [accessed May 2019], Gardner (1754) and Mackley pers comm. 22

shoes and cultivating the garden and land. 9 The workhouse was converted into a hospital during the early 20th century, but the burial ground associated with the workhouse/hospital is thought to number at least 2000 individuals, when it was in use between 1767 and 1929 (BLB 052). The site was further redeveloped into housing in 2002. The 18th and 19th century figures below do not include the workhouse population.

Date Number of Inhabitants 1086 c.75 1327 71 taxpayers 1524 70 taxpayers 1603 230 adults 1674 71 households 1754 124 inhabitants 1801 563 inhabitants 1821 550 inhabitants 1841 622 inhabitants 1871 606 inhabitants 1881 603 inhabitants 1891 549 inhabitants 1901 481 inhabitants 1911 535 inhabitants 1921 500 inhabitants 1931 455 inhabitants 1951 478 inhabitants 1961 363 inhabitants 1971 300 inhabitants 1981 290 inhabitants 2011 298 inhabitants Table 1: Population figures for Blythburgh

From its height of prosperity during the Late Anglo-Saxon and high medieval periods, Blythburgh during the 15th century was a settlement in decline. The Black Death may have been the turning point for the town, likely effecting the once prevalent passing trade that the settlement benefited from, and in the post Black Death recovery, the population and economy were not able to fully recover (Mackley 1999). The priory and church were diminished, particularly with the dissolution in the mid-16th century, and by the 17th century, Blythburgh’s economic decline had gathered pace. The fire of 1676 added to the misfortunes of the town and caused so much damage that some families decided to leave rather than stay and rebuild (Mackley & Montague 2003).

The Holy Trinity church at Blythburgh was however fortunate enough to not suffer the same fate as the churches at both Walberswick and Covehithe, which after falling into ruin, were dramatically reduced in size to suit their now smaller congregations (Collins 2017; Lewis & Ranson 2015). Although the population and wealth of Blythburgh had suffered, the local population had no money to save the church, so a national campaign was launched during the 1880s to repair and restore Holy Trinity and its original size and grandeur can still be seen today.

An act for making the River Blyth navigable from Halesworth Bridge to Southwold was granted on 1st April 1757, with the first shallow draught wherries and keels recorded as sailing up to Halesworth by 1761 (Breen 2011). Coal would have been brought inland from Southwold to fuel the industries in Halesworth and grain and malt transported from Halesworth to much wider markets, with the added benefit of cheaper transportation costs. The mouth of the River Blyth would have originally entered the North Sea at Dunwich, but a series of severe storms during the 13th and 14th centuries,

9 http://www.workhouses.org.uk/Blything/ (Accessed June 2019) 23

caused Dunwich harbour to silt up and be completely blocked off, so ships had to dock initially at Walberswick, before a Royal Charter granted the status of Haven Port to the harbour at Southwold. To make the running of this new port at Southwold easier, a new cut of the River Blyth was hand-dug to enter the North Sea between Walberswick and Southwold and was made both wider and straighter than the original river, to ease access (Lewis and Ranson 2014).

A consequence of the original Act was presented to parliament in 1844 by a resident of Halesworth, stating that the changes to the river have caused ‘the influx of tide water to be diminished and the efflux consequently diminishing the velocity of the current’ (Breen 2011). The silting up of Southwold harbour became a big problem with the draining of the marshes, so much so that the river was rarely used as early as the 1850s, which was escalated by the introduction of the railway in the later 19th century (Mackley 2001). The last wherry came up the river in 1906, abandonment was suggested in 1911, but it was not formally closed until 1934 and the marshes reformed through neglect of the river walls. Today the river is only navigable up to Blythburgh.10

The main road, the A12 that runs through the centre of Blythburgh today, was actually constructed in 1785 as a Turnpike Road (Robertson 1999). This turnpike was on the main Ipswich to Yarmouth road and was the closest crossing of the River Blyth to the North Sea.11 The original village thoroughfare survives as curving lanes, with the traffic entering from the direction of Walberswick to pass the church, and then turn back east to cross over the river Blyth. The priory ruins were in relatively good condition up until this point, until the majority of the remaining stonework was utilised in the construction of this road, as hard-core.

Figure 4: 1880’s OS map of Blythburgh © Crown Copyright and Database rights/Ordnance Survey 2019, 1: 5,000

10 https://www.pastscape.org.uk/hob.aspx?hob_id=1342386 (Accessed June 2019) 11 http://www.turnpikes.org.uk/map Suffolk Turnpikes.jpg (Accessed June 2019) 24

Blythburgh Bridge carries the now A12 over the River Blyth and the first documentary to a bridge here are from c.1296 and its upkeep would have been the responsibility of the priory, until its Dissolution in 1537. Records show that the bridge was rebuilt in 1549 and again in 1759, in response to the Blyth Navigation Act. A hump-backed bridge was also built over the Southwold Railway, when it was constructed during the 1870s (Allen 1999).

The Southwold to Halesworth narrow gauge railway line opened in 1879 (SWD 041) and had intermediate stations at Wenhaston, Blythburgh and Walberswick. This was a branch line, built to connect Southwold with the East Coast Main Line that ran between Lowestoft and Ipswich and was built by the Southwold Railway Company, which was formed to raise the money for a line into Southwold. The station at Blythburgh opened in the same year (BLB 061) and was sited to the north of the village, but just south of the river. The line continued to show a profit up to 1925, but it was closed in 192912 and then in 1941 the track was removed to help with the war effort. The station building at Blythburgh has since been demolished, but one goods shed remains.

6.2 Archaeological Background

The archaeological record for Blythburgh is wide ranging and the archaeological data recorded here is based on Suffolk Historic Environment Record (HER) data found from a search for the parish of Blythburgh from the Suffolk Heritage website.13 The results are discussed through the following sections in chronological order.

6.2.1 Prehistoric

There are few records on the HER dating as prehistoric, consisting mainly as spot finds. Several cropmarks however are also known from the parish, some of which may represent prehistoric features in the landscape, although these remain undated (see section 6.2.6). A palaeo-environmental survey undertaken alongside the A12 to the north of the village during monitoring works to alleviate flooding of the road, identified peat beds up to 6.6m in depth (BLB 092). Radiocarbon dating of the peat has suggested that accumulation began during the Late Mesolithic (c.6000 BC) and continued through the Middle Anglo-Saxon period (Sommers 2014).

Three Neolithic (4000-2200 BC) flint axes have been found in the now marshes, to the west of Holy Trinity church (BLB 002) as well as in the far south of the parish (BLB 130), and close to Newdelight Covert (BLB 009). Additional spot finds to the south of the village include a small scatter of Neolithic scrapers and choppers (BLB 132) as well as a single find of a Bronze Age date (2200-700 BC), identified as a socketed axe (BLB 132). An evaluation within a property along Dunwich Road also found a stray sherd of Beaker pottery that was also likely to be Early Bronze Age in date (BLB 093).

A single Late Iron age coin (BLB 068) has also been found during a metal detecting rally in 2006 at Bulcamp, in fields just northwest of Blythburgh village.

12 https://www.southwoldrailway.co.uk/history/ (Accessed June 2019) 13 https://heritage.suffolk.gov.uk/advanced-search (Accessed May 2019) 25

6.2.2 Romano-British

A Romano-British (AD 43-410) salt working site (BLB 003) has been identified in Bulcamp Marshes to the east of the village that also had associated kilns and hearths that were likely utilised in both tile and brick making in this area.

Scatters of Roman finds have also been reported on the HER, all of which were recorded through metal detecting and in particular from the open fields to the south of the village. A large number of 2nd, 3rd and 4th century coins have been found, with a Colchester derivative type brooch (and fragments of three further), a bronze head-stud type brooch, a Langton Down type brooch, a bronze disc type brooch and further fragments of brooches (BLB 018 and 023). Also, to the south of the village, a report of labourers who found ‘several Roman urns and coins, with burials’ after clearing ground following a fire in Blythburgh in 1678 (BLB 141). Unfortunately, no further information is known of these finds.

To the northwest of Blythburgh, a metal detecting rally in Bulcamp in 1999 recorded several Romano-British finds of both brooches and coins (BLB 035) and additional metal detecting to the northeast of the village recorded two unidentifiable Romano- British coins (BLB 118 and 119).

6.2.3 Anglo-Saxon

Blythburgh itself is classed as having its origins during the Anglo-Saxon period (AD 410-1066), particularly from the Middle Saxon period onwards (AD 700-850), as an established settlement, with a church (BLB 025). It is recorded that Anna, King of the East Angles and Jurmin his son, were slain fighting Penda, the King of Mercia in Bulcamp forest to the north of the River Blyth and he is supposed to be buried there (BLB 146), although no archaeological evidence has yet been found to support this.

Small scatters of mainly pottery have been recorded on the HER, a lot of which in the area around the priory ruins that was the site of the original Saxon church. These include a single sherd of Middle Anglo-Saxon Ipswich Ware (BLB 001) and further sherds of both Middle and Late Anglo-Saxon pottery (AD 850-1066) that were also found with an Early Anglo-Saxon (AD 410-700) bronze sleeve clasp (BLB 016). Larger deposits of Anglo-Saxon pottery have also been just to the north of BLB 016, consisting of at least 50 sherds of Middle Anglo-Saxon Ipswich ware pot and 13 Thetford Ware Late Anglo-Saxon pottery fragments (BLB 075), with a single sherd of possible Early Anglo-Saxon pot.

Archaeological evaluation trenching along Amberley Close in south Blythburgh, recorded several medieval features but also one pit that produced a single sherd of Middle Anglo-Saxon Ipswich ware pottery (BLB 094). To the north of the River Blyth, were also found both Middle and Late Anglo-Saxon pottery (BLB 004) during fieldwalking in the 1960’s.

Also within the grounds of the medieval priory, an evaluation identified two graves with human remains that were sited under the priory walls, thus pre-dating the priory complex (BLB 076). This was confirmed by radiocarbon dating which dated one grave to AD 670-780 and the other to AD 890-1020 (roughly Middle to Late Anglo-Saxon in date) and further supporting the notion that the Anglo-Saxon church was originally located under the 12th century priory and not on the site of the now Holy Trinity Church (Thompson 2009). One of the most well-known finds from Blythburgh, also found from 26

the ruins of the medieval priory, was a writing tablet, made from whale bone (BLB 133). The tablet is small, measuring only c.9cm x 6cm (figure 5 below) and would have been one of a pair, fastened by two thongs at the side and is thought to date from the late 8th century. 14

Figure 5: The Blythburgh whale bone writing tablet © British Museum

6.2.4 Medieval

Evidence for occupation in Blythburgh during the medieval period (AD 1066-1539) is well documented on the HER, and relates to both the priory and the settlement. The remains of the priory (BLB 001), as stated above, was founded as an Augustinian priory in c. AD 1125. The Time Team television programme (Thompson 2009) surveyed and excavated the site in 2009 and geophysical survey was thought to have identified the original monastic boundary ditch around the medieval priory and at least one 14th century burial was also recorded (BLB 076). Additional human remains have also been recorded across the site, likely part of a much larger cemetery (BLB 001) that also extended to the east. Archaeological monitoring at Abbey Cottage, to the east of the priory today, recorded at least eight whole or part graves, believed to have been part of this extensive cemetery (BLB 082). Monitoring of footing trenches for an extension at The Priory house, revealed part of a human burial (BLB 070). It was considered to be later medieval or post medieval in date as it was found under a layer of 19th century pottery and waste and so remains unsure if this burial is related to the priory cemetery (Good 2007).

A return to the Time Team excavations in 2012 re-opened some of the original trenches as well as new targeted areas (BLB 081). The results were able to build on the previous excavations with additional information of the layout of buildings in the priory as well as commenting on the preservation of the site in general (Boulter 2012).

14https://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=8 9470&partId=1&searchText=wax+tablets&sortBy=imageName&page=1 27

Spot finds of medieval pottery, building material and metalwork are also recorded through the village on the HER, as either individual spot finds or deriving from archaeological fieldwork. During the cutting of foundation trenches for a new house on Angel Lane (BLB 008), medieval and post medieval pottery were found and multiple sherds of medieval pot were also found from a field to the north of Angel Marshes, close to the junction of the A12 and A1095 (BLB 012), along with medieval bricks, nails and an iron key.

Close to the site of the medieval priory when both fieldwalking and metal detecting have been undertaken, were found a large number of medieval artefacts. These consisted of pottery, glazed tile, lava quern stone fragments, a coin, a 13th century bull of Pope Martin IV, a noble coin weight, French jettons, a dogs-head bronze sprout, a buckle, a gilded strap end and a gilded box mount (BLB 016 and 075) with additional coins and a buckle found from land to the north west of the village (BLB 035 and 068). Also in this area, were recorded a small scatter of medieval pottery, dating to the 13th and 14th centuries (BLB 037), and a similar scatter of pot was found along a 40m stretch of the northern banks of Bulcamp Marshes to the northeast of the village (BLB 053), possibly part of an occupation layer with charcoal, brick and tile also present. In this area was also found a 13th century gilt bronze casket mount (BLB 120) and a gilded copper alloy casket mount (BLB 129). A scatter of medieval pottery was also found on the southern banks of the River Blyth, close to Holy Trinity Church, in an area of a small eroded bay (BLB 055). It has been suggested that as a track is seen to lead down to this inlet, the area may have been used for the launching and landing of vessels, particularly with the nearby presence of possible jetty remnants.

Additional metal detected finds from fields to the south of the village include a lead pilgrims ampulla, long cross pennies (BLB 018), 13th century seal matrixes, 13th to 16th century coins of varying denomination, a bronze token, bronze strap ends, bronze buckles and a bronze folding clasp fragment (BLB 023) with a number of keys (BLB 134). A scatter of medieval pottery was also recorded (BLB 140) from this general area to the south of Blythburgh, as was an early 14th century silver farthing. A medieval buckle and pottery fragments were also recorded from a property along Dunwich Road (BLB 135) and metal detected finds across both Blythburgh and Dunwich parishes were identified as coins, a horse harness pendant and mount and a dagger chape, but it was not recorded from which parish each find came from (BLB 137).

A trench excavation along the southern end of Chapel Road prior to the construction of a house in 1980, recorded evidence for medieval occupation in the form of post holes, hearths, pits and a ditch (BLB 011). In the same area, a ventilation funnel from a 13th or 14th century curfew (bell), were found during extension work on a property (BLB 117). Evaluation trenching and monitoring at The White Hart along Station Road also revealed a range of both medieval and post medieval features (BLB 038). The majority of the finds and features actually dated to the medieval period, consisting of post holes and ditches with pottery, animal remains, brick and tile. Residual sherds of Anglo-Saxon pottery were also identified.

During monitoring works at Pear Tree Cottage on Church Road (BLB 051), a probable north-south orientated ditch was found that was believed to be of a later medieval date, based on the presence of pottery of that date in the soil nearby. An evaluation on Amberley Close recorded possible medieval quarrying in the form of large pits (BLB 094), one of these pits may have been related to nearby occupation as it contained domestic waste and a later medieval ditch was also recorded, also containing domestic waste from nearby activity.

Later medieval (AD 1400-1539) pottery and glazed tiles (BLB 004) were found along the northern banks of the River Blyth, including imports from Siegburg in Germany. The presence of a cross was recorded on a map of Blythburgh from c.1500 (BLB 073) at the western end of Blind Lane, and now close to the much more modern A12.

Probable medieval or post medieval field systems have also been recorded on the HER, including in the far south of the parish at Hinton Lodge, speculated to perhaps represent an area of common edge settlement (BLB 007). To the south of the village, on an area of higher ground just west of the junction of the B1125 and B1387 is the probable location of a medieval windmill, known as Prior’s Mill, recorded in AD 1400 (BLB 024). The construction of the main bridge crossing the River Blyth is not known (where the A12 crosses the river), although the possible first reference to a bridge here is recorded in 1502, which hints at least to a later medieval construction date (BLB 026). References to older bridges, now destroyed, include Campys Bridge (BLB 072) that perhaps dates as early as the 13th century and likely the responsibility of the priory. Its location is thought to have been to the west of Blythburgh Bridge today and immediately north of Holy Trinity Church, at the end of Blind Lane. A third bridge in the parish, known as Bulcamp Bridge, likely crossed the marshes and the river to the east of the village (BLB 149) and it is possibly the same bridge known as Walberswick Bridge, although previous references have cited this bridge as far back as 1286.

6.2.5 Post medieval and later

The artefacts and features dating to the post medieval period and later (AD 1540 onwards), are numerous on the HER and have again been identified through archaeological surveys, metal detecting, field walking and aerial surveys.

Artefact scatters have been recorded over the parish, including on the northern banks of the River Blyth, just west of the bridge (BLB 004) as a scatter of pottery with additional pottery recovered from within the scheduled area of the old priory (BLB 016 and 075). Post medieval finds identified through metal detecting consist of a copper alloy spur, two 16th century silver pennies, several Nuremberg tokens dating to the late 15th/early 16th century, two copper alloy double buckles and assorted coins and thimbles (BLB 018). In fields to the south of the village, metal detecting identified a large number of post medieval coins, dating from between the 16th and 19th centuries, including one 17th century Spanish coin, a silver Soldino from Venice, dated to 1618- 1623 and six Nuremberg tokens with buckles, buttons, suspension rings, military shoulder fittings, thimbles, harness fittings, lead weights, a lead token and toy fragments (BLB 023). Under the floor in Holy Trinity Church was found a piece from a high-class chess set; a knight, made of either walrus ivory or bone (BLB 124) and is thought to date to perhaps the 17th to 19th century (figure 6).

Figure 6: The Blythburgh chess piece © John Newman

A probable suicide grave was also recorded as ‘Deadman’s Gulley’ and located on the footpath through Blythburgh Covert, along the parish boundary with Walberswick in 1644 (WAL Misc.).

During archaeological monitoring of the foundations of a new house construction on Angel Lane, several sherds of post medieval pottery were identified (BLB 008). In the back garden of 1 Angel Lane, a scatter of 16th to 17th century pottery was also found with clay pipe bowls, a Nuremberg token and an Irish halfpenny, dated 1766 (BLB 116). Monitoring of works at 1 Station Road revealed a series of post medieval and later pits, some of which contained residual medieval material (BLB 036) and archaeological work undertaken at the White Hart at the start of the 21st century found a selection of mainly medieval features, with only a small amount of possible post medieval material, in the form of a ditch, pottery, tile and brick (BLB 038). During the monitoring of underpinning and additional strip foundations at Church Farm (BLB 060) was found a small wall stub that pre-dates the existing house (which is 17th century) and so thought to be early post medieval in construction. A small amount of redeposited human bone was also recorded from a large pit or make up deposit under the house foundations and to the rear of the property was found at least 0.8m of post medieval overburden with a single brick lined storage pit (Gardner and Everett 2004).

Extension works on The Priory found part of a human burial that was recorded beneath a layer of 19th century pottery and waste and so is believed to date as late or post medieval (BLB 070). Additional later monitoring at the same house revealed the footings of the chapel walls and a small rectangular masonry structure in the centre of the chapel that may have been used to house the charnel remains (BLB 123). The back of this masonry structure also contained fragments of post medieval peg tile (Barlow 2016). Monitoring work at Byfield Cottage on Chapel Road (BLB 089) uncovered a small area of a flint cobbled yard or path with a few extraction-type pits and residual Roman and medieval pottery (Newman 2013) and sherds of post medieval pottery (BLB 080) were found during foundation trenching at Cherry Tree Cottage (Newman 2012).

Cropmark features are also recorded on the HER that may have their origins in the post medieval period. These include a series of linear ditch features to the east of Hinton Lodge (BLB 007) and may represent field systems/enclosures or even perhaps common edge settlement with associated trackway and to the south of the village as additional field boundaries, crossing the field on a NW-SE axis and as they were not recorded on the 1884 map of the village, a post medieval origin for these is the most likely (BLB 056). Several earthwork banks are also recorded as sea defences, along both the northern and southern edges of the River Blyth as well as around Bulcamp Marshes (BLB 046, 047, 048, 049 and 050). These varied in length but were all present on the 1884 OS map so would have had their origins in the post medieval period and could still be seen on 1945 aerial photographs. To the south of Westwood Lodge were identified possible post medieval sheep folds or stock enclosures, visible as earthwork banks on aerial photographs (BLB 109). A rabbit warren is also known from Blythburgh, but the location of which has never been recorded (BLB 150).

On the first OS map in 1837, a lime kiln was recorded in the far north east of the parish next to Wolsey Bridge (BLB 022), and next to houses that were known as Lime Kiln Cottages during the 20th century. These were situated next to disused pits, suggesting additional kilns there also. The site of a medieval and post medieval windmill is also known on an area of higher ground to the immediate south of the village (BLB 024), potentially first recorded in AD 1400, then on various 17th and 18th century maps, with rebuilding in 1782 and was subsequently replaced by a smock mill nearer the village in 1792 (BLB 074), which itself was subsequently demolished in 1937. Another

probable windmill mound (BLB 106) was identified just to the south of Blythburgh Covert as a ring ditch cropmark, but could also be much earlier in date. In Bulcamp, a rectangular enclosure has been recorded that would have likely contained two semi- detached cottages and two outbuildings (BLB 029), as shown on the 1927 OS map, but were gone by 1971.

The initial construction of the original bridges in Blythburgh remain undated. Blythburgh Bridge, crossing over the River Blyth (BLB 026) and on the now A12, was first recorded in 1502, so likely has at least later medieval origins that continued through the post medieval. Wolsey’s Bridge, crossing the River Waveney was first mapped in 1587 so could have its construction sometime in the very early post medieval (BLB 027). Campys Bridge, at the end of Blind Lane, has medieval origins, but continued to be used during the post medieval also (BLB 072) and Walberswick Bridge was described in 1754 as connecting Walberswick with Bulcamp Heath and is shown on the 1587 map as being close to Bulcamp Bridge, so it may be the same bridge (WLB Misc.). A milestone (BLB 034) was visible on the first edition OS map at Ling Hill in the north of the parish and would have been one of a series along the A145. To the north west of the village is a canal, or substantial drainage ditch, seen as earthworks today with banks either side of the River Blyth on the way to Halesworth (BLY 010). These were recorded on the 1783 map of the area but on the 1755 map, the earthworks were either not clearly drawn or were not present, so it has been suggested that there could have been a construction date of the mid to later 18th century for these banks and associated side channels.

A number of features remain in the Blythburgh landscape dating from the Second World War. These include anti-glider ditches (BLB 040), gun emplacements (BLB 040), pillboxes (BLB 083, 086, 087), an anti-tank ditch (BLB 102) and a radar station (BLB 088). Possible practice trenches have also been noted at numerous locations (BLB 041, 097, 099, 103 and 104) as has the area of an unfortunate and fatal crash site of a United States military aircraft over the woods of Newdelight Covert (BLB 090). Several bomb crater sites have also been recorded in the parish (BLB 098, 100 and 101).

6.2.6 Undated

The majority of the records not able to be dated on the HER for Blythburgh consist of unexcavated cropmarks and earthworks that have been identified through aerial photography and mapping.

To the north of the River Blyth and Bulcamp Marshes, a small square enclosure was noted through aerial photography (BLB 006), as was a small pair of earthworks (BLB 045), both of which were thought to perhaps relate to the nearby Roman saltings, although excavations here would be needed to prove this. Also to the north of the river have been found additional ring ditches or circular ditched enclosures, some of which have possible narrow entrances that may represent Bronze Age or Iron Age activity (BLB 014) as well as other small indescript enclosures, boundaries (BLB 032 and 143) and trackways (BLB 043).

In the far south of the parish, complexes of enclosures have been identified, some rectangular in nature (BLB 019, 020), some circular (BLB 039), whilst further possible round barrows (BLB 028 and 107) and field boundaries (BLB 059) were recorded to the south and west of Westwood Lodge, and some earthwork linear banks to the east of Westwood Lodge (BLB 108). Additional linear features were also recorded as cropmarks to the south of Blythburgh Covert (BLB 042) and as ring ditches (BLB 063)

and possible enclosures (BLB 064) in the west and south of the parish (BLB 064 and 096), along with possible trackways (BLB 105 and 111). An earthwork mound was recorded as a possible barrow in Newdelight Walks (BLB 066) as well as several linear features in the same area, possibly as ditches or field boundaries (BLB 110).

From within Blythburgh village, to the east of Angel Lane, have been recorded a number of linear features (BLB 044), thought to perhaps be part of a ditched enclosure or previous land divisions, with the addition of pit like features among the linears. Evaluation trenching along Dunwich Road revealed a gravel extraction pit, although the lack of finds meant the feature was undatable (BLB 077) and another undated quarry pit or pond was noted during monitoring at Bay Cottage on Church Road (BLB 091). Along the river bank to the north of Holy Trinity Church, some wooden posts have been found and are thought to perhaps be part of a jetty, but the age of the timbers and their full extent remain unknown (BLB 054).

Areas of ancient woodland are also known from around the parish, including in the far southwest, close to what is now High Lodge golf course (BLB 030), at Hinton Long Spring (BLB 031) and at Big Wood/Common Wood (TNG 024).

The discovery of a skeleton alongside the hedge of the A12 and close to new housing estate gardens, has remained undated (BLB 005 and 139), particularly because of its location outside all the known burial grounds and so could have been another suicide burial as recorded in section 6.2.5. In 1763, at least 500 bodies were said to have been found in a field near the church, at the time thought to be related to the ‘Battle of Blythburgh’ between Kings Anna and Penda, but more recent suggestions have been that it was a plague pit or a charnel deposit, made when the church was enlarged (BLB 138). In 1879, additional burials were supposedly found during the construction of the Halesworth to Southwold Railway Bridge, but the exact location and description of this find has been lost (BLB 145). A small fragment of a socketed axe was also recorded during a metal detecting rally (BLB 035), which could be Bronze Age in date, although further examination would be needed to prove this.

7 Results of the test pit excavations in Blythburgh

The approximate locations of the 36 test pits excavated in Blythburgh between April 2017 and May 2019 can be seen figure 7 below (please note that the test pits are not to scale). Yearly, this figure breaks down to 13 test pits excavated in 2017, 12 in 2018 and 11 test pits dug in 2019, all part of the University of Cambridge’s ILAFS programme. The data from each test pit is discussed in this section and set out in numerical order and by year. Most excavation was in spits measuring 10cm in depth, but in cases when a change in the character of deposits indicated a change in context, a new spit was started before 10cm.

An assessment of the overall results, synthesizing the data from all the pits, including deductions about the historic development of Blythburgh and the potential of the buried heritage resource of the village is presented in the following Discussion section (Section 8). Finds from each test pit are discussed in summary in this section and listed in detail in the relevant appendices (Section 12). Photographs of the test pits under excavation are included in the archive, but not included in this report for reasons of space.

Figure 7: The locations of the three years of test pitting in Blythburgh. Yellow for 2017, purple for 2018 and turquoise for 2019 (NB test pits not to scale) © Crown Copyright/database right 2019. An Ordnance Survey/EDINA supplied service, 1: 5,000

7.1 The 2017 excavations

The 2017 test pit excavations in Blythburgh were undertaken over the 26th and 27th of April, where a total of 13 1m2 archaeological test pits were excavated by 47 Year 8 and Year 9 pupils from five local secondary schools. The test pits were excavated as part of the Independent Learning Archaeology Field School (ILAFS) run by ACA and funded by Cambridge Admissions Office out of the University of Cambridge. The test pits were sited across the north of the village, either side of the A12, but excluding the area of modern development to the south. The test pit locations were found by local residents and members of the Blythburgh Archaeology Group.

Figure 8: Blythburgh 2017 test pit location map (NB test pits not to scale) © Crown Copyright/database right 2019. An Ordnance Survey/EDINA supplied service 1: 5,000

Test Pit one (BLY/17/1)

Test pit one was excavated in the large enclosed rear garden of a possible Grade II listed 17th century cottage and just west of the remains of the Augustinian Priory (The Green, Priory Road, Blythburgh. TM 45166 75394 - Guestimate).

Test pit one was excavated to a depth of 0.4m, with a sondage in corner 3 to 0.6m. Natural was found so excavations were halted at this level and the test pit was recorded and backfilled.

All the pottery dates to the 16th century and later, with Figure 9: Location map of BLY/17/1 two sherds of Glazed Red Earthenware and the rest of the pottery identified as 19th century ‘Victorian’ wares.

GRE VIC TP Cntxt No Wt No Wt Date Range 1 1 1 4 1800-1900 1 2 2 7 3 6 1550-1900 1 3 1 12 1800-1900 Table 2: The pottery excavated from BLY/17/1

Despite the location of the test pit immediately to the west of the original Priory site in Blythburgh as well as being along the higher ground overlooking the River Blyth just to the north, very few finds were excavated from BLY/17/1, suggesting there was no activity here until the after the current house was built during the 17th century and even then has only been marginally utilised, peaking during the 19th century. The few finds also excavated consist of ceramic building material (CBM), tile, clay pipe, and mortar, an iron nail, animal bone, oyster shell, glass, coal and slag, suggestive of metal working and were found through the upper three contexts only.

Test Pit two (BLY/17/2)

Test Pit two was excavated in an enclosed garden area known locally as ‘the sanctuary’ set immediately opposite a Grade II listed 17th century cottage with the remains of the Augustinian priory in the back garden. It was also the northern of two pits excavated here; see also BY/17/13 (The Sanctuary, opposite The Priory, Priory Road, Blythburgh. TM 45205 75320 - Guestimate).

Test Pit two was excavated to a depth of 0.85m. Natural was not found, but due to time constraints, excavations were halted at this level and the test pit was recorded and backfilled. Figure 10: Location map of BLY/17/2 All the pottery excavated from BLY/17/2 dates to the 15th century and later and has been identified as Late Medieval Ware, Glazed Red Earthenware, German Stoneware, Midland Blackware, Delft Ware, English Stoneware, Staffordshire White Salt Glazed Stoneware and as 19th century ‘Victorian’ wares.

LMT GRE GS MB DW EST SWSG VIC TP Cntxt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt Date Range 2 1 3 12 7 24 1600-1900 2 2 1 9 1 3 2 2 1400-1900 2 3 1 4 4 6 1650-1900 2 4 1 1 1 25 1 2 1 10 1 13 6 12 1400-1900 2 5 1 3 2 3 1450-1900 2 7 3 13 1 77 3 57 1400-1600 2 8 2 7 1600-1700 Table 3: The pottery excavated from BLY/17/2

The results from BLY/17/2 suggest that there has been almost continual activity on site from the 15th century to the present day, although originally this land would have been part of White Cottage, fronting The Street to the southeast, and also a 17th century property. A great deal of disturbance was noted through the test pit also with a mix of finds and pottery found through the depth of the test pit; the finds consisting of fragments of sewer drain, modern glazed tile, concrete, plastic, glass, CBM, clay pipe, iron nails, coal and animal bone. The presence of a single piece of possible worked flint may also hint at later prehistoric activity also on site, although analysis of the lithics would be needed to confirm this.

Test Pit three (BLY/17/3)

Test pit three was excavated in a small triangular piece of grass land immediately west of the A12 in the centre of the village (‘The Triangle’, off The Street, Blythburgh. TM 45244 75289).

Test pit three was excavated to a depth of 1m, at which natural was found. Excavations were halted at this depth and the test pit was recorded and backfilled.

The majority of the pottery excavated from BLY/17/3 dates as 19th century ‘Victorian’ wares, with an additional three sherds of Glazed Red Earthenware also recorded. Figure 11: Location map of BLY/17/3

GRE VIC TP Cntxt No Wt No Wt Date Range 3 1 2 3 1800-1900 3 2 2 14 7 22 1550-1900 3 3 1 1 3 3 1550-1900 Table 4: The pottery excavated from BLY/17/3

Although this site is now along the main road through the village, this road was only built during the later 18th century, as a turnpike and it seems that only since that time has there been an increase of activity on site, prior to which the land was likely marginal to the original settlement core. A mix of finds were found through to 0.8m, although the majority of the finds were from the upper three contexts with the Victorian pottery; consisting of glass, CBM, iron nails, coal, the end of a shotgun cartridge, clay pipe, a metal loop, charcoal and a number of pieces of oyster shell and animal bone, particularly through the lower levels of the test pit. An additional 17 pieces of burnt stone were also excavated through the test pit and hint at potentially quite intense later prehistoric activity on site, although analysis of the lithics would be needed to confirm this.

Test Pit four (BLY/17/4)

Test pit four was excavated in a small enclosed field to the rear of the Old Station House, a likely 19th century property along the main road in the centre of the village (White Hart Cottage, Station Road, Blythburgh. TM 45342 75354).

Test pit four was excavated to a depth of 0.6m. Natural was not found, but due to time constraints, excavations were halted at this level and the test pit was recorded and backfilled. Figure 12: Location map of BLY/17/4

The vast majority of the pottery excavated from BLY/174 dates to the medieval period with large amounts of both Early Medieval Sandy Ware and Late Medieval Ware found mixed through the test pit. A number of post medieval wares were also identified as Glazed Red Earthenware, German Stoneware, Border Ware and English Stoneware with also some 19th century ‘Victorian’ wares also recorded.

EMW LMT GRE GS BW EST VIC TP Cntxt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt Date Range 4 1 1 11 11 57 1 25 2 12 2 9 3 8 1100-1900 4 2 3 6 11 29 4 43 1 2 3 3 1100-1900 4 3 3 6 20 67 1 11 2 5 2 11 7 14 1100-1900 4 4 1 1 16 83 2 28 1 1 3 15 1100-1900 4 5 7 52 11 152 1100-1550 4 6 8 39 14 175 4 29 1100-1550 Table 5: The pottery excavated from BLY/17/4

The results from BLY/17/4 suggest that there was occupation on site through the medieval period until the 16th century, perhaps due to the change in land use; the White Hart Inn immediately to the north of the site was constructed around this time also. The pottery suggests that during the post medieval the land likely was utilised as open fields, with varying degrees of intensity and much like as its use today. The more recent activity has also led to a lot of disturbance on site and through the depth of the test pit with a range of finds also recorded. These consist of CBM, glass, tile, clay pipe, and fragments of linoleum, shell, coal, and slag, pieces of scrap metal and animal bone.

Test Pit five (BLY/17/5)

Test pit five was excavated in the enclosed front garden of a modern house set back to the west of the original main road through the village (The Birdhouse, Angel Lane, Blythburgh. TM 45332 75279).

Test pit five was excavated to a depth of 0.6m. Natural was not found, but due to time constraints, excavations were halted at this level and the test pit was recorded and backfilled.

A small number of both medieval and post medieval pottery wares were excavated from BLY/17/5 and have been identified as Early Medieval Sandy Ware, Late Medieval Ware, Glazed Red Earthenware, Staffordshire White Salt-Glazed Stoneware and as 19th century ‘Victorian’ Figure 13: Location map of BLY/17/5 wares.

EMW LMT GRE SWSG VIC TP Cntxt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt Date Range 5 3 1 1 1 1 1550-1750 5 4 1 4 1 12 3 16 1100-1900 5 5 1 1 1 2 1100-1550 5 6 3 37 1400-1550 Table 6: The pottery excavated from BLY/17/5

The location of BLY/17/5 is along the original main road through the village but had limited evidence for activity, suggesting that this area may have been marginal to more intense medieval and post medieval occupation elsewhere. A lot of disturbance was also noted through the depth of the test pit with a mix of finds found from all six contexts that may relate to the construction of the modern house. The finds excavated consist of glass, coal, modern nails, CBM, tile, pieces of scrap metal, slate, mortar/cement, slag, iron nails, animal bone, shell and a possible small piece of daub, which hints at the presence of an earlier structure on or near site. A couple of pieces of burnt stone were also excavated from the bottom context that suggests there would also have been later prehistoric activity on site, although analysis of the lithics would be needed to confirm this.

Test Pit six (BLY/17/6)

Test pit six was excavated in the open front garden of a modern house set along the original main road through the village (1 Angel Lane, Blythburgh. TM 45342 75236).

Test pit six was excavated to a depth of 0.9m, at which natural was found. Excavations were halted at this level and the test pit was recorded and Figure 14: Location map of BLY/17/6 backfilled.

All the pottery excavated from BLY/17/6 dates to the 15th century and later with a range of wares identified. These consist of Late Medieval Ware, Glazed Red Earthenware, German Stoneware, Delft Ware, Cologne Stoneware, Staffordshire Slipware, English Stoneware and Staffordshire White Salt-Glazed Stoneware. An additional single sherd of 19th century ‘Victorian’ ware pot was also recorded.

LMT GRE GS DW WCS SS EST SWSG VIC TP Cntxt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt Date Range 6 1 1 1 1400-1550 6 2 1 2 1 5 1 1 1 5 1 7 1 2 1 5 1450-1900 6 3 1 2 1 9 1400-1700 6 4 1 13 1550-1600 Table 7: The pottery excavated from BLY/17/6

The results from Bly/17/6 are similar to those recorded from BLY/17/5 in that the slightly limited pottery and finds that were excavated suggest that despite again being along the original thoroughfare through the village, the activity appears marginal to more intense occupation elsewhere. The activity that was here however was more or less continuous from the 15th century through to the present day with a small mix of finds also recorded through six contexts, consisting of concrete, clay pipe, CBM, glass, tile and a possible piece of slag. A number of pieces of both burnt stone and worked flint were also identified, suggesting the presence of later prehistoric activity on site, although analysis of the lithics would be needed to confirm this.

Test Pit seven (BLY/17/7)

Test pit seven was excavated in the enclosed rear garden of a mid-16th century Grade II listed farmhouse set along the original main road in the south of the village (Hawthorn Farmhouse, Dunwich Road, Blythburgh. TM 45345 75117).

Test pit seven was excavated to a depth of 0.6m. Natural was not found, but due to time constraints, excavations were halted at this level and the test pit was recorded and backfilled. Figure 15: Location map of BLY/17/7 A range of pottery types were excavated from BLY/17/7 that dated from the 12th century onwards and have been identified as Early Medieval Sandy Ware, Late Medieval Ware, Glazed Red Earthenware, German Stoneware, Delft Ware, Cologne Stoneware, Staffordshire White Salt-Glazed Stoneware and a number of sherds recorded as 19th century ‘Victorian’ wares.

EMW LMT GRE GS DW WCS SWSG VIC TP Cntxt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt Date Range 7 1 1 2 8 16 1400-1900 7 2 1 2 6 41 1600-1900 7 3 2 6 1 14 6 47 1400-1900 7 4 2 13 4 69 3 7 1 9 2 6 1 1 8 17 1100-1900 7 5 1 4 3 52 1 3 1100-1650 Table 8: The pottery excavated from BLY/17/7

The results from BLY/17/7 indicate that there was occupation on site through the medieval period, with perhaps a change in land use from the 16th century onwards, relating to the construction of the current house at that time as there was a slight decline in the post medieval pottery recorded from the test pit. There was then a great increase in disturbances on site from the 19th century onwards, also through the depth of the test pit with a mix of finds recorded through each context. The finds identified consist of clay pipe, CBM (some of which was burnt), tile, coal, glass, iron nails and bolts, a metal button mortar, a bullet casing, fragments of Bakelite and plastic animal bone, a possible piece of slag, oyster shell and a thick metal chain link. The presence of burnt stone and worked flint also mixed in with the finds may indicate later prehistoric activity on site, although analysis of the lithics would be needed to confirm this.

Test Pit eight (BLY/17/8)

Test pit eight was excavated in the enclosed rear garden of a probable mid-19th century house set in the south of the village and on the corner of two of the original roads through the village (Swallows Corner, Chapel Road, Blythburgh. TM 45287 78115).

Test pit eight was excavated to a depth of 0.6m. Natural was not found, but due to time constraints, excavations were halted at this level and the test pit was recorded and backfilled.

A single sherd of Middle Anglo- Saxon Ipswich Ware was Figure 16: Location map of BLY/17/8 excavated from the base of the test pit and was mixed in with a range of medieval and later wares. These have been identified as Early Medieval Sandy Ware, Late Medieval Ware, Glazed Red Earthenware, German Stoneware, English Stoneware and Staffordshire White Salt- Glazed Stoneware. A number of sherds of 19th century ‘Victorian’ wares were also recorded.

IPS EMW LMT GRE GS EST SWSG VIC TP Cntxt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt Date Range 8 2 3 23 12 47 1550-1900 8 3 1 9 15 43 1680-1900 8 4 3 17 1 2 8 29 1400-1900 8 5 3 39 1 3 5 10 1550-1900 8 6 2 15 8 124 1 8 1100-1550 8 7 1 7 3 9 1 11 750-1900 Table 9: The pottery excavated from BLY/17/8

The single sherd of Middle Anglo Saxon Ipswich Ware was the only pottery of this date to be excavated from the 2017 Blythburgh test pitting, but does show that the settlement associated with the early priory here, extended further south to this location. Occupation on site was again evident through the medieval period but appeared to decline from the 16th century, perhaps due to a change in land use. Activity again picked up again when the current house was likely built during the 19th century which also caused a lot of disturbance on site; a mix of finds were excavated through the depth of the test pit. These finds consist of coal, pieces of plastic, modern CBM, glass, mortar, tile, CBM, clay pipe, a small clay ball, iron nails, metal hoops, a metal washer, metal screws and pieces of scrap metal with animal bone and a possible large piece of slag. A couple of pieces of burnt stone were also identified that maybe later prehistoric in date, although analysis of the lithics would be needed to confirm this.

Test Pit nine (BLY/17/9)

Test pit nine was excavated in the enclosed rear garden of a modern house set along one of the original roads through the south of the village (Wolsey House, Chapel Road, Blythburgh. TM 45316 75166).

Test pit nine was excavated to a depth of 0.85m. Natural was not found, but due to time constraints, excavations were halted at this level and the test pit was recorded and backfilled. Figure 17: Location map of BLY/17/9 A single sherd of Late Anglo-Saxon Thetford Ware was recorded from BLY/17/9, whilst the rest of the pottery excavated dates from the 15th century and later as Late Medieval Ware, Glazed Red Earthenware, Midland Blackware, Delft Ware, English Stoneware and Staffordshire White Salt- Glazed Stoneware. A large number of 19th century ‘Victorian’ wares were also recorded.

THET LMT GRE MB DW EST SWSG VIC TP Cntxt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt Date Range 9 1 2 4 1 1 13 57 1550-1900 9 2 3 24 1 1 10 43 1550-1900 9 3 1 3 1 5 5 26 1 1 1 1 18 58 900-1900 9 4 2 27 1 6 9 19 1550-1900 9 5 1 7 1 11 6 18 1550-1900 9 6 1 5 1400-1550 9 7 2 7 1 1 12 34 1550-1900 9 8 1 2 5 7 1720-1900 Table 10: The pottery excavated from BLY/17/9

The Late Anglo Saxon pottery identified from BLY/17/9 was one of only two sherds excavated during the 2017 test pitting and shows that albeit limited, the Late Saxon occupation of Blythburgh continued this far south, much like the Middle Anglo Saxon settlement. This part of the village may then have had little in the way of activity until the 15th and 16th centuries, despite its location along the original main road through the village, before being left as perhaps a field until the 19th century. The more recent activity on site has caused a great deal of disturbance on site, with a mix of finds recorded from the depth of the test pit. These finds consist of tile, CBM, clay pipe, glass, charcoal, oyster shell, animal bone, mortar, concrete, pieces of polystyrene, coal, plastic, fabric, slate, iron nails and bolts, a squashed metal decorative possible mould and part of a horseshoe. The presence of both worked flints and burnt stone may also indicate the presence of later prehistoric activity on site, although analysis of the lithics would be needed to confirm this.

Test Pit 10 (BLY/17/10)

Test pit 10 was excavated in the northwest corner of a grass field, south of and close to the junction of Chapel Road and the A12 (field south of Chapel Road, Blythburgh. TM 45174 75193).

Test pit 10 was excavate to a depth of 0.7m. Natural was not found, but due to time constraints, excavations were halted at this level and the test pit was Figure 18: Location map of BLY/17/10 recorded and backfilled.

The majority of the pottery excavated from BLY/17/10 dates as 19th century ‘Victorian’ wares, with a small number of both medieval and post medieval wares also recovered. These have been identified as Early Medieval Sandy Ware, Late Medieval Ware, Glazed Red Earthenware and English Stoneware.

EMW LMT GRE EST VIC TP Cntxt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt Date Range 10 1 1 10 1800-1900 10 2 2 9 7 31 1550-1900 10 3 1 9 7 23 1680-1900 10 4 1 2 3 5 1400-1900 10 5 1 10 1400-1550 10 7 1 12 1 4 1100-1600 Table 11: The pottery excavated from BLY/17/10

The small amount of pre-19th century finds suggest that this site may always have been open fields, with limited activity identified dating to the medieval and post medieval periods. This site likely remained as an open field during the 19th century also, despite the increase in domestic rubbish identified through the upper half of the test pit. Some of the finds may have been utilised for manuring, whereas some were likely dumped along the field edge. The finds identified consist of CBM, coal, glass, animal bone, clay pipe, mortar, pieces of plastic, a possible fragment of whet stone (figure 19), pieces of scrap metal as well as likely fragments of daub. The presence of seven pieces of burnt stone also suggests that there may have later prehistoric activity on site, although analysis of the lithics would be needed to confirm this.

Figure 19: The possible whet stone fragment excavated from BLY/17/10, context 5 © ACA

Test Pit 11 (BLY/17/11)

Test pit 11 was excavated in the enclose rear garden of a grade II listed 17th century farmhouse immediately south of Holy Trinity Church in the west of the village (2 Church Cottage, Church Road, Blythburgh. TM 45076 75261).

Test pit 11 was excavated to a depth of 0.6m, at which natural was found. Excavations were halted at this level and the test pit was recorded and backfilled. Figure 20: Location map of BLY/17/11 A small amount of pottery was excavated from BLY/17/11 that was mixed through the test pit and identified as both Glazed Red Earthenware and as 19th century ‘Victorian’ wares.

GRE VIC TP Cntxt No Wt No Wt Date Range 11 2 1 12 1 2 1550-1900 11 3 1 2 1550-1600 11 4 2 18 7 68 1550-1900 11 5 1 4 1800-1900 Table 12: The pottery excavated from BLY/17/11

Despite the proximity of the site to the 15th century church immediately to the north, there was little in the way of activity on site until the post medieval and the construction of the cottages during the 17th century. There was particular disturbance noted through the test pit with a large deposit of flints and cobbles and big pieces of metal, including part of a bucket. Other finds also recorded consist of tile, coal, glass, CBM, iron nails, fragments of sewer drain, concrete, pieces of plastic, black fabric, shell and a small complete green glass bottle. One possible piece of worked flint was also identified that may be later prehistoric in date, although analysis of the lithics would be needed to confirm this.

Test Pit 12 (BLY/17/12)

Test pit 12 was excavated in the enclosed rear garden of a modern house bordering the southern extent of the churchyard to Holy Trinity Church (Church Cottage, Church Lane, Blythburgh. TM 45036 75289).

Test pit 12 was excavated to a depth of 1m, at which natural was found. Excavations were halted at this level and the test pit was recorded and backfilled.

All the pottery excavated from BLY/17/12 dates to the 15th century and later with small amounts of Late Figure 21: Location map of BLY/17/12 Medieval Ware, Glazed Red Earthenware and English Stoneware all found. A larger number of 19th century ‘Victorian’ wares were also recorded through the test pit.

LMT GRE EST VIC TP Cntxt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt Date Range 12 2 1 15 1 9 5 9 1400-1900 12 3 1 14 4 4 1550-1900 12 4 3 6 1800-1900 12 5 1 6 4 25 1680-1900 12 7 1 2 1800-1900 12 8 2 5 1800-1900 Table 13: The pottery excavated from BLY/17/12

The pottery recorded from BLY/17/12 matches the date for the construction of the church immediately to the north and suggests that this area may have been open during construction and generally not utilised much until the 19th century, when perhaps the front part of the property was constructed. This later activity also caused a great deal of disturbance through the entire depth of the test pit, although the majority of the finds were generally excavated through the upper five contexts of the test pit. These finds consist of CBM, glass, iron nails, animal bone, iron nails, part of a horseshoe, a tiny metal link (figure 22) and an iron bolt. The presence of burnt stone and possible worked flints may be evidence for later prehistoric activity on site (or from the flint facing on the church), analysis of the lithics would be needed to confirm this.

Figure 22: The small metal link excavated from BLY/17/12, context 2 (scale in cm) © ACA

Test Pit 13 (BLY/17/13)

Test pit 13 was excavated in an enclosed garden area known locally as ‘the sanctuary’ set immediately opposite a Grade II listed 17th century cottage with the remains of the Augustinian priory in the back garden. It was also the southern of two pits excavated here; see also BY/17/2 (The Sanctuary, opposite The Priory, Priory Road, Blythburgh. TM 45211 75307 - Guestimate).

Test pit 13 was excavated to a depth of 0.7m. Natural was not found, but due to time constraints, excavations were halted at this level and the test pit was recorded and backfilled.

A range of pottery types were excavated from BLY/17/13 dating from the 10th century onwards and Figure 23: Location map of BLY/17/13 have been identified as Late Anglo- Saxon Thetford Ware, Early Medieval Sandy Ware, Late Medieval Ware, Glazed Red Earthenware, Delft Ware, Staffordshire Slipware and Staffordshire White Salt-Glazed Stoneware. An additional 11 sherds of 19th century ‘Victorian’ wares were also recorded.

THET EMW LMT GRE DW SS SWSG VIC TP Cntxt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt Date Range 13 2 4 17 4 21 2 5 1 1 1 2 4 9 1400-1900 13 4 7 237 5 7 1400-1900 13 5 1 15 1 6 1 2 900-1900 13 6 3 22 3 10 1 1 1100-1900 Table 14: The pottery excavated from BLY/17/13

Much like the results of BLY/17/2 excavated just to the north of test pit 13, the majority of the finds date from the 15th century onwards, although this site also yielded the second sherd of Late Anglo Saxon pottery from the 2017 excavations, which was also the closest site to the priory that yielded pottery of this date. The same is true for the evidence for high medieval activity, BLY/17/13 was the only site on the western side of the A12 to yield pottery of high medieval date and so does suggest that there was activity on this site, contemporary with the priory. There is also quite a lot of disturbance noted on site that was also noted through the depth of the test pit with a mix of finds also recorded, consisting of tile, CBM, iron nails and bolts, clay pipe, pieces of plastic, oyster shell, animal bone, a plastic button, charcoal and glass. A number of pieces of burnt stone were also recorded with a possible worked flint that may be indicative of later prehistoric activity on site, although analysis of the lithics would be needed to confirm this.

7.2 The 2018 excavations

The 2018 excavations in Blythburgh were undertaken over the 16th and 17th of May, when a total of 12 1m2 archaeological test pits were excavated by 48 Year 8 and Year 9 pupils from five local secondary schools; Pakefield High School, Bungay High School, Benjamin Britten School, Sir John Leman High School and Ormiston Denes Academy (school names correct at time of excavation). The test pits in 2018 brought the total excavated in the village so far to 25, but this year were sited to the west of the A12 and only one site dug in the east of the village. The test pit locations were found by local residents and members of the Blythburgh Archaeology Group.

Figure 24: Blythburgh 2018 test pit location map (NB test pits not to scale) © Crown Copyright/database right 2019. An Ordnance Survey/EDINA supplied service, 1: 5,000

Test Pit one (BLY/18/1)

Test pit one was excavated in the enclosed rear garden of a possible 18th century cottage set to the south of the church (Fern Cottage, Church Lane, Blythburgh. TM 45013 75234).

Test pit one was excavated to a depth of 0.7m. Natural was not found, but due to time constraints, excavations were halted at this level and the test pit was recorded and backfilled. Figure 25: Location map of BLY/18/1

The vast majority of the pottery excavated from BLY/18/1 dates from the 15th century onwards, although single sherd of both Early Medieval Sandy Ware and Yarmouth Ware were both recorded from the upper contexts of the test pit. The rest of the pottery has been identified as Late Medieval Ware, Glazed Red Earthenware, German Stoneware, Midland Blackware, Delft Ware and as 19th century ‘Victorian’ wares.

EMW YAR LMT GRE GS MB DW VIC TP Cntxt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt Date Range 1 1 1 2 2 2 4 5 6 13 1100-1900 1 2 3 33 1 3 6 16 1550-1900 1 3 1 5 9 26 1550-1900 1 4 1 4 1 2 1 5 8 42 1300-1900 1 5 2 7 3 6 1550-1900 1 6 3 32 1 16 2 27 1 17 1400-1900 1 7 2 32 1400-1550 Table 15: The pottery excavated from BLY/18/1

The results from the excavations suggest that there was continuous activity on site from the 12th century, although during the high medieval period this may have been marginal to more intense medieval activity further to the east, as already identified through the test pitting strategy. This part of the village likely had settlement from the 15th century onwards and the most recent occupation with the current house has caused a lot of disturbance on the surrounding gardens. The mix of finds recorded through the test pit consist of CBM, tile, roof tile, a fragment of brick, iron nails, strips of scrap metal, clay pipe, glass, coal, slag, animal bone and oyster shell with burnt stone and possible pieces of worked flint, possibly of a later prehistoric date, although analysis of the lithics would be needed to prove this.

Test Pit two (BLY/18/2)

Test pit two was excavated in the enclosed rear garden of a Grade II listed 17th century cottage set immediately south of the church. It was also the western of two pits excavated here; see also BLY/18/3 (2 Church Farm Cottages, Church Road, Blythburgh. TM 45080 75267).

Test pit two was excavated to a depth of 0.4m, with a sondage excavated in corner four to 0.5m, at which natural was Figure 26: Location map of BLY/18/2 found. Excavations were halted at this level and the test pit was recorded and backfilled.

A small amount of pottery was excavated from BLY/18/2, the majority of which was identified as 19th century ‘Victorian’ wares, although a single sherd of Glazed Red Earthenware was also found.

GRE VIC TP Cntxt No Wt No Wt Date Range 2 2 1 4 9 43 1550-1900 2 3 1 1 1800-1900 Table 16: The pottery excavated from BLY/18/2

This part of the property has likely had a lot of disturbance, most likely due to its previous use as part of the farm yard with outbuildings and any evidence of earlier occupation has likely been removed already. The finds recorded consist of a lot of building material (CBM, tile and mortar) with glass, coal, pieces of tarmac, iron nails, oyster shell, animal bone and a fragment of plastic pipe found in context three.

Test Pit three (BLY/18/3)

Test pit three was excavated in the enclosed rear garden of a Grade II listed 17th century cottage set immediately south of the church. It was also the eastern of two pits excavated here, the closest to the house; see also BLY/18/2 (2 Church Farm Cottages, Church Road, Blythburgh. TM 45096 75269).

Test pit three was excavated to a depth of between 0.5m and 0.5m. Natural was not found, but due to time constraints, excavations were halted at this Figure 27: Location map of BLY/18/3 level and the test pit was recorded and backfilled.

The majority of the pottery excavated from BLY/18/3 dates as 19th century ‘Victorian’ wares although a range of earlier pottery was also recorded through the test pit. These have been identified as Early Medieval Sandy Ware, Late Medieval Ware, Glazed Red Earthenware, German Stoneware, Delft Ware, English Stoneware and Staffordshire White Salt-Glazed Stoneware.

EMW LMT GRE GS DW EST SWSG VIC TP Cntxt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt Date Range 3 1 1 3 5 8 1600-1900 3 2 2 6 1 1 1 1 1550-1900 3 3 8 31 1800-1900 3 4 1 4 2 23 1700-1900 3 5 1 5 1 3 1 4 1400-1900 3 6 4 17 1 1 6 17 1100-1900 3 7 1 16 1 1 1100-1900 Table 17: The pottery excavated from BLY/18/3

Compared to the results from BLY/18/2 excavated just to the west in the lower garden of the property, the land closer to the house has likely had less in the way of disturbance when the property was an active farm. There was however, a sewer or water pipe found at 0.2m in corner four and during the excavations at least three possible animal (cat?) burials were noted, with the recovery of three animal skulls in context seven. The pottery however suggests that there was likely activity on site in the high medieval in particular, which then may have been more sporadic or marginal until the current house was built during the 17th century. The finds excavated consist of coal, CBM, glass, pieces of plastic, animal bone, a corroded metal key, iron nails, metal hoops, oyster and snail shell, plant tags, clothes peg fragments, mesh metal material, metal bolts, slate, slag and mortar.

Test Pit four (BLY/18/4)

Test pit four was excavated in the enclosed rear garden of a probable 19th century cottage set opposite the church to the east (Marsh End, Church Road, Blythburgh. TM 45158 75278).

Test pit four was excavated to a Figure 28: Location map of BLY/18/4 depth of 0.62m, at which natural was found. Excavations were halted at this level and the test pit was recorded and backfilled.

A number of both medieval and post medieval wares were excavated from BLY/18/4 and have been identified as Early Medieval Sandy Ware, Late Medieval Ware, Dutch Redware, Glazed Red Earthenware and Midland Blackware. An additional 18 sherds of 19th century ‘Victorian’ wares were also recorded through the upper contexts of the test pit.

EMW LMT DUTR GRE MB VIC TP Cntxt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt Date Range 4 2 1 21 4 18 10 20 1400-1900 4 4 1 6 2 8 1 6 1 6 8 30 1100-1900 4 5 2 13 1 1 1 7 1100-1550 Table 18: The pottery excavated from BLY/18/4

There was most likely occupation on site throughout the medieval and early post medieval periods, after which a change in land use or settlement pattern meant that there was little in the way of activity recorded until the 19th century and later. This possible change of land use in the early post medieval, may have been related to the construction of the Holy Trinity Church, opposite the current property, just to the northwest, from the 15th century. The construction of this new church may have changed the layout of the settlement in this area, although further excavations would be needed in the village to prove this. A small number of finds were also recorded from the upper four contexts of the test pit here, hinting that context five may have been an undisturbed medieval layer. The finds consist of a central battery core, iron bolts and nails, strips of corroded metal, tile, CBM, clay pipe, coal, glass, cement, and animal bone.

Test Pit five (BLY/18/5)

Test pit five was excavated in the enclosed front garden of a probable 19th century cottage set immediately east of the church. It was also the western of two pits excavated here; see also BLY/18/6 (Chancel End, Priory Road, Blythburgh. TM 45146 75321).

Test pit five was excavated to a depth of 0.8m, at which natural was found. Excavations were halted at this level and the test pit was recorded and backfilled. Figure 29: Location map of BLY/18/5

The vast majority of the pottery excavated from BLY/18/5 dates as 19th century ‘Victorian’ wares, although two sherds of Late Medieval Ware and two sherds of 18th century English Stoneware were also recovered.

LMT EST VIC TP Cntxt No Wt No Wt No Wt Date Range 5 1 1 3 1400-1550 5 2 14 47 1800-1900 5 3 2 7 10 23 1700-1900 5 4 1 2 1800-1900 5 8 1 24 1400-1550 Table 19: The pottery excavated from BLY/18/5

The location of BLY/18/5, according to local knowledge, is on the site of a former medieval market place. The test pit excavations proved that there was activity here from the 15th century (also around the time the church was built), but no structural evidence for market stalls were found during the dig. The mix of finds excavated through the depth of the test pit do indicate quite a level of disturbance, before the current house was built as well as after. Tile, CBM, mortar, clay pipe and possibly burnt CBM fragments were all recorded with pieces of scrap metal, iron nails, coal, glass, a metal button, a battery core, part of a horseshoe, animal bone, oyster shell and a number of pieces of slag, which hint at the presence of metal working on or close to site. Also recorded were pieces of burnt stone and possible worked flint flakes, likely to be later prehistoric in date, although this cannot be confirmed with analysis of the lithics by an expert.

Test Pit six (BLY/18/6)

Test pit six was excavated in the enclosed rear garden of a probable 19th century house set immediately west of the church. It was also the eastern of two pits excavated here; see also BLY/18/5 (Chancel End, Priory Road, Blythburgh. TM 45172 75319).

Test pit six was excavated to a depth of 0.6m. Natural was not Figure 30: Location map of BLY/18/6 found, but due to time constraints, excavations were halted at this level and the test pit was recorded and backfilled.

A range of both medieval and post medieval wares were excavated from BLY/18/6 that have been identified as Early Medieval Sandy Ware, Late Medieval Ware, Glazed Red Earthenware, Midland Blackware, Delft Ware and Staffordshire White Salt-Glazed Stoneware. The vast majority of the pottery recorded however, dates as 19th century ‘Victorian’ wares and was found through the depth of the test pit.

EMW LMT GRE MB DW SWSG VIC TP Cntxt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt Date Range 6 1 1 5 3 13 1 3 7 46 1400-1900 6 1A 3 7 1 9 9 45 1400-1900 6 2 1 8 6 100 11 35 1400-1900 6 2A 1 2 3 15 40 172 1100-1900 6 3A 2 9 2 18 1 1 1 1 32 84 1400-1900 6 4A 3 8 3 30 8 41 1400-1900 6 5A 2 19 1 5 2 3 1400-1900 6 6A 4 36 1 1 1 4 1100-1900 Table 20: The pottery excavated from BLY/18/6

A layer of plastic was found in context two, believed to have been part of a pond liner, so the test pit was moved 1m to the south and excavations continued again using the letter A with each context number to denote it was the new pit. A much larger amount and greater date range of pottery was recorded from BLY/18/6 compared to BLY/18/5 in the front garden. In the high medieval the site may have been marginal to more intense activity elsewhere, but from the 15th century, as noted in the front garden, was when there was an increase of activity on site which lasted until the early post medieval, perhaps until the 17th century. A lot of disturbance was noted through the test pit with 19th century finds recorded through the depth of the test pit. The finds recorded consist of brick and CBM fragments, tile, clay pipe, glass, coal, mortar, oyster shell, animal bone, a metal thimble, a very worn coin or token (that may be related to the market that was said to have been located on this land), iron nails, part of a horseshoe, a glass bottle stopper and coal. Also found were pieces of burnt stone and possible worked flints, likely to be later prehistoric in date, although analysis of the lithics would be needed to confirm this.

Test Pit seven (BLY/18/7)

Test pit seven was excavated in the enclosed side garden of a Grade II listed 17th century cottage fronting the road to the east of the church and immediately north of the original priory ruins (The Priory, Priory Road, Blythburgh. TM 45212 75333).

Test pit seven was excavated to a depth of 0.7m at which natural was found. Excavations were halted at this level and the test pit was recorded and backfilled.

The vast majority of the Figure 31: Location map of BLY/18/7 pottery excavated from BLY/18/7 dates as 19th century ‘Victorian’ wares. A single sherd of Early Medieval Sandy Ware was also found with two sherds of post medieval Glazed Red Earthenware.

EMW GRE VIC TP Cntxt No Wt No Wt No Wt Date Range 7 1 1 6 1100-1300 7 2 1 25 7 31 1550-1900 7 3 2 6 1800-1900 7 4 2 10 1800-1900 7 5 1 2 2 5 1550-1900 Table 21: The pottery excavated from BLY/18/7

The location of BLY/18/7 just outside the scheduled area of the Anglo Saxon church which became the 12th century Augustinian Priory, now in ruins, situated to the north of the house, but finds dating to the Anglo Saxon or medieval period were extremely limited. A lot of disturbance in this part of the garden was evident, the majority from the 19th and 20th centuries, with domestic power cables found in the western side of the pit at 0.3m and then a sewer pipe was recorded in corner three at 0.6m; although there was some evidence for occupation dating from when the house was built in the 17th century with two sherds of Glazed Red Earthenware pottery and an undated bone handle (perhaps for a knife – figures 32 and 33) that was excavated from context six, and could be at least post medieval in date. The rest of the finds consist of clay pipe, CBM, iron nails (some of which were handmade), glass, coal, animal bone, a shotgun cartridge, a metal tag, metal wire and bolts with burnt stone that may be of a later prehistoric date.

Figure 32: The possible bone knife handle found from BLY/18/7, context 6 (front) © ACA

Figure 33: The possible bone knife handle found from BLY/18/7, context 6 (back) © ACA

Test Pit eight (BLY/18/8)

Test pit eight was excavated in the enclosed rear garden of a probable 19th century house fronting the main road through the village, just south of the river (The Old Custom House, Priory Road, Blythburgh. TM 45273 75372).

Test pit eight was excavated to a depth of 1.1m, at which natural was found. Excavations were halted at this level and the test pit was recorded and backfilled.

A wide range of pottery wares were excavated from BLY/18/8 with both Middle Anglo-Saxon Ipswich Ware and Late Anglo- Saxon Thetford Ware both Figure 34: Location map of BLY/18/8 recorded with Early Medieval Sandy Ware and Late Medieval Ware. The post medieval and later pottery identified consists of Glazed Red Earthenware, German Stoneware, Border Ware and 19th century ‘Victorian’ wares.

IPS THET EMW LMT GRE GS BW VIC TP Cntxt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt Date Range 8 1 1 10 1 7 1550-1900 8 2 1 14 8 26 1400-1900 8 3 1 10 2 4 1 8 3 81 1100-1900 8 4 5 14 1 8 3 13 3 4 1400-1900 8 5 2 11 2 9 3 13 1400-1900 8 6 1 4 3 15 3 52 850-1600 8 7 2 13 2 8 2 34 2 16 1100-1550 8 8 1 2 1 9 1100-1550 8 9 1 13 1 3 4 15 2 23 720-1550 8 10 6 32 1 51 1 12 1 11 1100-1600 8 11 1 1 1 6 850-1550 8 12 1 1 2 19 850-1200 Table 22: The pottery excavated from BLY/18/8

The presence of the Ipswich Ware pottery from BLY/18/8 shows that there was also likely settlement here, contemporary with the foundation of the first church in the village during the mid-7th century AD. Settlement continued through the Late Anglo Saxon period and expanded into the high medieval, with likely continuous occupation recorded here until the early post medieval, perhaps around the start of the 17th century and potentially due to a change in land use. The current property relates to after the Turnpike road was built in 1785 and is ideally situated to control travel over the River Blyth and through the village. More recent disturbance through the test pit reached to at least 1m in depth with a mix of finds recorded through the upper 10 contexts of the test pit. These consisted of CBM, clay pipe, tile, mortar, iron nails and bolts, coal, glass, a small possible winding key (figure 35), a “Lodge” light bulb fitting, strips of scrap

metal, oyster shell and animal bone. A number of fragments of animal bone were only recorded from contexts 11 and 12, although a tiny piece of green bottle glass was also found in context 11, the lowest two contexts remain relatively undisturbed.

Figure 35: The possible ‘winding key’ found in BLY/18/8, context 3 © ACA

Test Pit nine (BLY/18/9)

Test pit nine was excavated in the enclosed rear garden of a likely 19th century property fronting the main road through the village to the south of the river and pub (White Hart Cottage, Station Road, Blythburgh. TM 45339 75373).

Test pit nine was excavated to a depth of 0.9m. Natural was not found, but due to time constraints, excavations were halted at this level and the test pit was recorded and backfilled.

Figure 36: Location map of BLY/18/9 A wide range of pottery wares were excavated from BLY/18/9, mainly dating to the medieval and early post medieval periods as Early Medieval Sandy Ware, Late Medieval Ware, Glazed Red Earthenware, German Stoneware and Midland Blackware. Single sherds of both Middle Anglo-Saxon Ipswich Ware and Late Anglo-Saxon Thetford Ware were also recorded with four sherds of 19th century ‘Victorian’ wares.

IPS THET EMW LMT GRE GS MB VIC TP Cntxt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt Date Range 9 1 8 48 1 1 1550-1900 9 2 6 17 1 2 1 2 1400-1600 9 3 1 1 2 6 1400-1600 9 4 1 1 2 2 3 18 1 1 1 6 2 4 850-1900 9 5 4 40 1 1 1 31 2 6 1 2 1 2 1100-1900 9 6 2 20 4 11 2 4 1100-1600 9 7 16 163 2 28 1100-1550 9 8 6 54 2 12 1100-1550 9 9 3 49 1 1 1100-1550 9 10 1 13 12 68 720-1300 Table 23: The pottery excavated from BLY/18/9

The pottery results from BLY/18/9 are very similar to those found from BLY/18/8 just to the west limited evidence for settlement relating to the Middle and Late Anglo Saxon period, just after the first church was built in the village during the mid-7th century. Occupation was also at its peak through the medieval and early post medieval period, perhaps until the 17th century, when there may have been a change in land use to the open field that it still is today. The majority of the disturbances noted through the test pit were up to context seven with clay pipe found with CBM, tile, bolts and nails (some of which were handmade), glass, coal, a possible fragment of daub, with animal bone and slag, suggestive of metal working on or close to site. In contexts eight to 10, animal bone was found with both fragments of tile, CBM and coal with nine pieces of burnt stone and four pieces of probable worked flints that may hint at the presence of later

prehistoric activity on site, although analysis of the lithics would be needed to prove this.

Test Pit 10 (BLY/18/10)

Test pit 10 was excavated in open scrubland immediately north of the village hall, alongside the main road to the south of the river (Land to the north of the village Hall, Station Road, Blythburgh. TM 45253 75423).

Test pit 10 was excavated to a depth of 0.8m, at which natural was found. Excavations were halted at this level and the test pit was recorded and Figure 37: Location map of BLY/18/10 backfilled.

A small amount of pottery was excavated from BLY/18/10, with a single sherd of Late Anglo-Saxon Thetford Ware found with Late Medieval Ware, Glazed Red Earthenware, German Stoneware and four sherds of 19th century ‘Victorian’ wares.

THET LMT GRE GS VIC TP Cntxt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt Date Range 10 2 1 1 2 4 1550-1900 10 4 1 2 1 2 2 3 1400-1900 10 5 1 4 1550-1600 10 6 1 11 850-1100 10 7 1 5 1400-1550 Table 24: The pottery excavated from BLY/18/10

The location of BLY/18/10 is situated outside the scheduled area of the Priory ruins, just to the northeast, but with the few finds recorded it is possible that this area could have been marginal to the core of both the Anglo Saxon and medieval settlements. The finds excavated consist of CBM, tile, coal, glass, clay pipe, a bent strip of metal, three nails (two of which were handmade), oyster and snail shells, animal bone and two large pieces of slag, suggestive of metal working on or close to site. The presence of possible worked flints and burnt stone also hint that there was later prehistoric activity on site, although analysis of the lithics would be needed to prove this.

Test Pit 11 (BLY/18/11)

Test pit 11 was excavated on open grassland between the old Blythburgh Station house and the river in the north of the village (Land between the railway line and the river, off Station Road, Blythburgh. TM 45193 75502).

Figure 38: Location map of BLY/18/11 Test pit 11 was excavated to a depth of 0.7m. Natural was not found, but as the water table was encountered, excavations were halted at this level and the test pit was recorded and backfilled.

A large sherd of Middle Anglo-Saxon Ipswich Ware was excavated from the lowest context of BLY/18/11, above which were also found single sherds of early post medieval Glazed Red Earthenware and Germans Stoneware with two sherds of 19th century ‘Victorian’ wares.

IPS GRE GS VIC TP Cntxt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt Date Range 11 3 1 10 1 6 1550-1900 11 4 1 16 1 12 1550-1900 11 5 1 61 720-850 Table 25: The pottery excavated from BLY/18/11

The large sherd of Middle Anglo Saxon pottery is the most northerly to be found through the test pitting strategy in Blythburgh and does suggest that there was activity here in the 8th century, although today the land is very much flood plain, which also explains why so few finds were excavated from BLY/18/11. The majority of the later activity on site was recorded from the mid-16th century onwards with sporadic activity likely through until the 19th century. The finds recorded consist of a number of fragments of both CBM and tile, with one possible glazed tile fragment (figure 39) and one that may have been burnt. Also recorded were large pieces of slag and a number of fragments of animal bone with five pieces of burnt stone.

Figure 39: Glazed tile fragment excavated from BLY/18/11, context 4 © ACA

Test Pit 12 (BLY/18/12)

Figure 40: Location map of BLY/18/12

Test pit 12 was excavated alongside a footpath leading from the church to the river, and quite close to the river’s edge (Land between the old railway line and the river, Blythburgh. TM 45023 75381).

Test pit 12 was excavated to a depth of 0.8m, with the eastern half of the test pit then excavated to 0.9m. Natural was not found, but due to time constraints, excavations were halted at this level and the test pit was recorded and backfilled.

All the pottery excavated from BLY/18/12 dates to the 12th century and later as Early Medieval Sandy Ware, Late Medieval Ware, Glazed Red Earthenware, German Stoneware and Midland Blackware. A single small sherd of 19th century ‘Victorian’ pottery was also recorded from context two.

EMW LMT GRE GS MB VIC TP Cntxt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt Date Range 12 1 1 2 1550-1900 12 2 1 2 1 3 1450-1900 12 3 2 20 1 1 1100-1600 12 4 1 15 1100-1300 12 5 3 15 5 56 1 1 1100-1600 12 6 1 1 1 18 1100-1550 12 7 3 7 3 15 1100-1550 12 8 1 2 1100-1300 Table 26: The pottery excavated from BLY/18/12

Despite the location of BLY/18/12 away from the core of the village and close to the River Blyth, there excavation yielded a large amount of medieval pottery, indicating that there was likely occupation here from the 12th century until about the 16th century. This abandonment may have been due to the relatively fast erosion of the river banks that are in evidence today, due to the sandy nature of the soil and is therefore reasonable to expect that there could have been a similar issue, becoming more of a

problem during the 15th century. After the 16th century, the land has remained marginal, even after the railway cutting came relatively close by, with little in the way of activity. The majority of the finds were excavated from the upper three contexts of the test pit to include plastic wire covering, glass, a small metal valve cover, foil, CBM, tile (including one glazed piece, figure 41), coal, a half New Penny coin dated 1971, iron nails, a plastic wrapper and pieces of scrap metal. In contexts four to nine, a number of pieces of animal bone were found with oyster shell, a small amount of both CBM and tile, a handmade nail, coal and a possible small piece of slag. A single piece of burnt stone was also recorded from context three that may be of later prehistoric date, although analysis of the lithics would be needed to prove this.

Figure 41: Glazed tile fragment excavated from BLY/18/12, context 3 © ACA

7.3 The 2019 excavations

The 2019 excavations in Blythburgh were undertaken over the 1st and 2nd of May, when a total of 11 1m2 archaeological test pits were excavated by 42 Year 8 and Year 9 pupils from four local secondary schools; Bungay High School, Benjamin Britten Academy of Music and Mathematics, Sir John Leman High School and Ormiston Denes Academy (school names correct at time of excavation). The test pits were again sited through the north of the village only, filling in gaps from previous years excavations both sides of the A12. The test pit locations were found by local residents and members of the Blythburgh Archaeology Group.

Figure 42: Blythburgh 2019 test pit location map (NB test pits not to scale) © Crown Copyright/database right 2019. An Ordnance Survey/EDINA supplied service, 1: 5,000

Test Pit one (BLY/19/1)

Test pit one was excavated on an open area of grass immediately east of Holy Trinity Church and adjacent to the village sign (‘The Knoll’, Church Road, Blythburgh. TM 45113 75333).

Test pit one was excavated to a depth of between 0.6m and 0.76m. Natural was Figure 43: Location map of BLY/19/1 not found, but due to time constraints, excavations were halted at this level and the test pit was recorded and backfilled.

A small amount of pottery was excavated from the lower half of the test pit only, and has been identified as Early Medieval Sandy Ware, German Stoneware as 19th century ‘Victorian’ wares.

EMW GS VIC TP Cntxt No Wt No Wt No Wt Date Range 1 7 2 5g 4 6g 1200-1900 1 8 1 9g 2 3g 1500-1900 Total 2 5g 1 9g 6 9g Table 27: The pottery excavated from BLY/19/1

A possible surface was identified at top of context two (figure 44 below), but as fragments of tarmac were found underneath this compact layer of stones and brick, it probably dates to the later 20th century and was an earlier pathway leading around the churchyard. Evidence for activity on site prior to the construction of the church is evident in the form of two sherds of high medieval activity, and likely relates to nearby medieval settlement opposite the priory to the north. The finds excavated from the test pit consist of CBM, glass, fragments of concrete and clinker, asphalt, oyster shelly, clay pipe, a plastic button, iron nails, slate and a metal disc/cap.

Figure 44: Possible path surface identified in BLY/19/1 © ACA

Test Pit two (BLY/19/2)

Test pit two was excavated in the enclosed rear garden of a likely 19th century cottage situated to the south of Holy Trinity Church and adjacent to the marshes (Cavell Cottage, Church Lane, Blythburgh. TM 44994 75257).

Test pit two was excavated Figure 45: Location map of BLY/19/2 to a depth of 0.6m. Natural was not found, but due to time constraints excavations were halted at this level and the test pit was recorded and backfilled.

All the pottery excavated from BLY/19/2 dates to the 16th century and later and has been identified as Late Medieval Ware, Staffordshire White Salt-Glazed Stoneware, Glazed Red Earthenware and as 19th century ‘Victorian’ wares.

SWSG LMT GRE VIC TP Cntxt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt Date Range 2 1 1 3g 2 8g 1500-1900 2 2 17 46g 1800-1900 2 3 2 30g 31 105g 1700-1900 2 4 2 3g 29 64g 1700-1900 2 5 10 20g 1800-1900 2 6 19 120g 1800-1900 2 7 1 4g 1 8g 12 38g 1700-1900 Total 3 34g 1 3g 3 11g 120 401g Table 28: The pottery excavated from BLY/19/2

The excavations have shown that there was little in the way of activity on site until the current house was built during the 19th century, prior to which the land was likely on the edge of the marshes, until it was ‘stabilised’ with the coming of the Southwold to Halesworth railway. A mix of finds were also recorded through the test pit, consisting of iron nails, oyster shell, CBM, glass, coal, fragments of concrete and clinker, hearth waste, scrap metal, slag and a slate pencil. Fragments of clay pipe were also found, with a complete bowl showing the image of Tom Sayers, a British bare-knuckle boxer who died in 1865 (figure 46). In the same context was also found a sherd of pottery of 1800-1900 date that has a partial inscription which is legible a ‘FIGH’ which can be finished as fight or fighter so perhaps a mid-19th century boxing enthusiast lived here. A single possible flint flake was also found, likely to be of a later prehistoric date, although analysis of the lithics would be needed to prove this.

Figure 46: The Tom Sayers clay pipe bowl excavated from BLY/19/2, context 5 © ACA

Test Pit three (BLY/19/3)

Test pit 3 was excavated in the enclosed garden to the south of a likely 19th century cottage, situated just south of Holy Trinity Church (Bay Cottage, Church Road, Blythburgh. TM 45143 75219).

Test pit 3 was excavated to a depth of 0.7m. Natural was not found, but due to time constraints, excavations were halted at this level and the test pit was recorded and backfilled.

A range of pottery types were excavated from BLY/19/3, the earliest dating to the Middle Figure 47: Location map of BLY/19/3 Anglo-Saxon period as two sherds of Ipswich Ware. The rest of the pottery then dates from the high medieval period onwards, recorded as Early Medieval Sandy Ware, Late Medieval Ware, Glazed Red Earthenware, German Stoneware and Staffordshire White Salt-Glazed Stoneware. The largest number of pottery excavated from test pit three dates as 19th century ‘Victorian’ wares that were found through the depth of the test pit.

IPS EMW SWSG LMT GRE GS VIC TP Cntxt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt Date Range 3 1 3 6g 1800-1900 3 2 1 4g 17 28g 1700-1900 3 3 1 2g 8 24g 1700-1900 3 4 1 8g 1 3g 1 2g 8 40g 1200-1900 3 5 1 15g 1 2g 2 10g 1 4g 4 38g 4 5g 700/850-1900 3 6 1 65g 2 4g 3 7g 1500-1900 3 7 1 12g 4 32g 1 10g 1 2g 700/850-1900 Total 2 27g 2 10g 3 13g 2 69g 13 82g 1 10g 44 112g Table 29: The pottery excavated from BLY/19/3

The presence of Middle Anglo-Saxon pottery from BLY/19/3 is the furthest indication of the original Saxon settlement of Blythburgh to the south and west, whereas the majority of the other test pits yielding pottery of this date are clustered by the river crossing in the north of the village. Activity was evident here during the high medieval, with more intense occupation on site, as settlement, from the early 16th century onwards. There is a lot of disturbance on site with a mix of finds recorded through the depth of the test pit. These have been identified as animal bone, iron nails, glass, clay pipe, CBM, strips of metal, hearth waste fragments, a bone button (figure 48), metal wire, iron bar fragments and coal. Several pieces of burnt stone were also identified with a possible flint flake that are likely to be later prehistoric in date, although analysis of the lithics are needed to confirm this.

Figure 48: The bone button excavated from BLY/19/3, context 4 © ACA

Test Pit four (BLY/19/4)

Test pit four was excavated in the enclosed rear garden of a probable 19th century house set along one of the original main roads through the village. It was also the northern of two pits excavated here, see also BLY/19/5 (Lion House, The Street, Blythburgh. TM 45193 275305).

Test pit four was excavated to a depth of 0.6m. Natural was not found, but due to time constraints, Figure 49: Location map of BLY/19/4 excavations were halted at this level and the test pit was recorded and backfilled.

A single sherd of Late Anglo-Saxon Thetford-type Ware was excavated from the lower contexts of BLY/19/4. The rest of the pottery identified from test pit four dates to the 16th century and later as Late Medieval Ware, Glazed Red Earthenware and 19th century ‘Victorian’ wares.

TTW LMT GRE VIC TP Cntxt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt Date Range 4 1 1 2g 1800-1900 4 2 1 3g 3 12g 1700-1900 4 3 1 12g 1 2g 3 10g 1500-1900 4 4 1 9g 4 8g 1500-1900 4 5 1 36g 11 171g 3 60g 6 16g 900/100-1900 4 6 6 52g 1 60g 3 4g 1500-1900 Total 1 36g 19 244g 6 125g 20 52g Table 30: The pottery excavated from BLY/19/4

The presence of a single sherd of Late Anglo-Saxon pottery excavated is close to the site of probable occupation of that date as found from BLY/17/13 just to the north. Activity was again evident on site from the late medieval and early post medieval periods, with a likely increase again of activity from when the current house was built. A mix of finds were found through the depth of the test pit, consisting of animal bone, a sheet of metal, a malting tile fragment, CBM, glass, clinker, coal, iron nails, a copper alloy staple, a strip of metal, charcoal and oyster shell. Two pieces of burnt stone were also found that are likely to be of later prehistoric date, although analysis of the lithics are needed to prove this.

Test Pit five (BLY/19/5)

Test pit five was excavated in the enclosed rear garden of a probable 19th century house set along one of the original main roads through the village. It was also the southern of two pits excavated here, see also BLY/19/4 (Lion House, The Street, Blythburgh. TM 45215 75262).

Test Pit five was excavated to a depth of 0.7m, at which natural was found. Excavations were halted at this level and the test pit was Figure 50: Location map of BLY/19/5 recorded and backfilled.

The majority of the pottery excavated from BLY/19/5 dates to the 19th century and later and found through the depth of the test pit. A small number of both medieval and post medieval wares were also identified as Early Medieval Sandy Ware, Late Medieval Ware, Glazed Red Earthenware and Staffordshire White Salt-Glazed Stoneware.

EMW SWSG LMT GRE VIC TP Cntxt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt Date Range 5 1 2 8g 5 6g 1700-1900 5 2 3 5g 1800-1900 5 3 2 3g 12 50g 1700-1900 5 4 2 12g 1 2g 5 22g 1200-1900 5 5 1 2g 1 3g 2 4g 1500-1900 5 6 1 1g 1800-1900 Total 2 12g 2 8g 1 2g 4 8g 28 88g Table 31: The pottery excavated from BLY/19/5

The majority of the evidence for activity on site is similar to BLY/19/4 also excavated in the same garden, dating from the likely construction of the house during the 19th century, prior to which the site may have been slightly marginal to medieval and post medieval settlement. A mix of finds were recorded through the depth of the test pit, identified as CBM, glass, clay pipe, pieces of plastic, clinker, slag and animal bone, some of which was burnt. A small amount of burnt stone were also found, likely to be later prehistoric in date, although analysis of the lithics would be needed to confirm this.

Test Pit six (BLY/19/6)

Test pit six was excavated in the enclosed rear garden of a modern house set in the east of the village (1 Angel Lane, Blythburgh. TM 45376 75240).

Test pit six was excavated to a depth of 0.6m, at which natural was found. Excavations were halted at this level and the test pit was recorded and backfilled.

All the pottery excavated from Figure 51: Location map of BLY/19/6 BLY/19/6 dates to the 18th century and later had been identified as Glazed Red Earthenware, Staffordshire Salt- Glazed Stoneware and 19th century ‘Victorian’ wares.

SWSG GRE VIC TP Cntxt No Wt No Wt No Wt Date Range 6 2 3 24g 7 44g 9 10g 1700-1900 6 3 1 3g 1 2g 1700-1900 6 4 1 2g 1700-1900 Total 4 27g 7 44g 11 14g Table 32: The pottery excavated from BLY/19/6

There was little in the way of evidence for activity on site prior to the 18th century, and therefore likely on the fringe of the medieval village, as also noted through the test pitting strategy. A small number of finds also excavated consist of clay pipe, CBM, slate and glass with two pieces of burnt stone that are likely to be later prehistoric in date, although analysis of the lithics are needed to confirm this.

Test Pit seven (BLY/19/7)

Test pit seven was excavated in the enclosed rear garden of a modern property set in the east of the village (The Birdhouse, Angel Lane, Blythburgh. TM 45362 75240).

Test pit seven was excavated to a depth of between 0.63m and 0.69m, at which natural was found. Excavations were halted at this level Figure 52: Location map of BLY/19/7 and the test pit was recorded and backfilled.

Two sherds of pottery were only excavated from BLY/19/7, both from context two and have been identified as Early Medieval Sandy Ware and a 19th century ‘Victorian’ ware.

EMW VIC TP Cntxt No Wt No Wt Date Range 7 2 1 2g 1 2g 1200-1900 Total 1 2g 1 2g Table 33: The pottery excavated from BLY/19/7

The few finds excavated from BLY/19/7 suggest that this part of the village has had little in the way of activity until the current house was built and has likely always been open fields. With the single sherds of both medieval and 19th century pottery were found bottle glass, oyster shell and a number of fragments of CBM. An additional five pieces of burnt stone were also excavated with a possible worked flint that are likely to be of a later prehistoric date, although analysis of the lithics would be needed to confirm this.

Test Pit eight (BLY/19/8)

Test pit eight was excavated in the enclosed rear garden of a probable 19th century cottage fronting the road in the east of the village (Red House Cottage, Angel Lane, Blythburgh. TM 45349 75321).

Test pit eight was excavated to a depth of 0.6m. Natural was not found, but due to Figure 53: Location map of BLY/19/8 time constraints, excavations were halted at this level and the test pit was recorded and backfilled.

Two sherds of medieval pottery were identified as Early Medieval Sandy Ware and Late Medieval Ware, whilst the rest of the pottery found from BLY/19/8 dates to the post medieval and later as Glazed Red Earthenware, Staffordshire White Salt-Glazed Stoneware and 19th century ‘Victorian’ wares.

EMW SWSG LMT GRE VIC TP Cntxt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt Date Range 8 1 1 15g 1 2g 7 28g 1200-1900 8 2 2 5g 1700-1800 8 3 1 4g 1 6g 1700-1900 8 4 1 40g 1 170g 1700-1900 8 5 1 3g 1 3g 1500-1600 Total 1 15g 2 5g 1 3g 4 49g 9 204g Table 34: The pottery excavated from BLY/19/8

The two sherds of medieval pottery found hint at the use of the site as open fields outside the core of the medieval settlement, further to the west. Occupation was probably evident on site from the 18th century onwards and more recent disturbances contributed to a mix of finds through the depth of the test pit. These include animal bone, clay pipe, glass, an iron bracket, iron nails, coal, CBM, fragments of concrete, a copper alloy pipe fragment, oyster shell, slate and a single piece of burnt stone that is likely to be later prehistoric in date, although analysis of the lithics would be needed to confirm this.

Test Pit nine (BLY/19/9)

Test pit nine was excavated in the enclosed rear garden of a probable 19th century cottage fronting the road in the east of the village (Riverview, Station Road, Blythburgh. TM 45348 75344).

Test pit nine was Figure 54: Location map of BLY/19/9 excavated to a depth of 0.7m, at which natural was found. Excavations were halted at this level and the test pit was recorded and backfilled.

A single sherd of Middle Anglo-Saxon Ipswich Ware pottery was found from context four of BLY/19/9 that was mixed through the test pit with a range of medieval and post medieval wares. These have been identified as Early Medieval Sandy Ware, Late Medieval Ware, German Stoneware, Glazed Red Earthenware and 19th century ‘Victorian’ wares.

Ips W EMW LMT GRE GS VIC TP Cntxt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt Date Range 9 1 1 12g 1500-1600 9 2 8 23g 2 6g 3 4g 2 4g 200-1900 9 3 3 24g 1 3g 1 2g 1200-1700 9 4 1 12g 1 2g 3 12g 3 4g 700/800-1900 9 5 1 4g 1 20g 1200-1700 9 6 3 25g 1200-1500 Total 1 12g 16 78g 4 21g 6 16g 2 22g 5 8g Table 35: The pottery excavated from BLY/19/9

The Middle Anglo-Saxon pottery identified is part of a larger area of probable occupation of this date in the north of the village, as defined by the test pitting strategy. During the medieval period there is evidence for occupation on site, again clustering around the crossing point of the river, although from the 15th century onwards there was a likely change in land use here, until the current house was built. A mix of finds were also excavated through the test pit that have been identified as clay pipe, animal bone, a fragment of a copper alloy pipe, glass, iron nails, a strip of lead, clinker, plastic, an iron bracket and sheet fragment, CBM and a copper alloy double loop buckle fragment (figure 55).

Figure 55: Double looped buckle fragment excavated from BLY/19/9, context 2 © ACA

Test Pit 10 (BLY/19/10)

Test pit 10 was excavated in an enclosed grassed field to the rear of a probable 19th century cottage set along the road in the north east of the village (White Hart Cottage, Station Road, Blythburgh. TM 15339 75375).

Test pit 10 was excavated to a depth of 0.8m. The eastern half of the test pit was then excavated to a depth of between 0.95m and Figure 56: Location map of BLY/19/10 1.1m, at which natural was found. Excavations were halted at this level and the test pit was recorded and backfilled.

A range of pottery was excavated from BLY/19/10, the earliest of which dates to the Late Anglo-Saxon period, as Thetford-type Ware, with then a number of medieval and post medieval wares. The identified pottery has been identified as Early Medieval Sandy Ware, Late Medieval Ware, German Stoneware, Glazed Red Earthenware, Staffordshire White Salt-Glazed Stoneware and as 19th century ‘Victorian’ wares.

TTW EMW SWSG LMT GRE GS VIC TP Cntxt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt Date Range 10 1 1 3g 2 3g 1 3g 2 5g 1500-1900 10 2 2 4g 1 2g 3 6g 3 4g 1500-1900 10 3 1 2g 1 23g 1 2g 1600-1900 10 4 1 4g 1 3g 3 8g 1 2g 1 2g 1200-1900 10 5 3 32g 5 34g 1500-1800 10 6 1 2g 3 12g 2 2g 900-1800 10 7 6 88g 1 3g 1200-1800 10 8 2 14g 1 2g 900-1900 10 9 5 13g 3 11g 1200-1600 Total 3 16g 12 105g 3 7g 14 57g 15 52g 2 26g 8 15g Table 36: The pottery excavated from BLY/19/10

There was settlement at BLY/19/10 during the Late Anglo-Saxon period, supporting what has been found from other test pits in the immediate area and close to the river crossing. Settlement likely continued here through the medieval and post medieval periods, until a change of land use into the 19th century, perhaps relating to the construction of the current house. The land here has seen a lot of disturbance with a mix of finds through the depth of the test pit, including the presence of 303 bullet shell casing fragment that was excavated from context nine. The rest of the finds consist of a metal button, a copper alloy fastener fragment, clay pipe, animal bone (including some burnt bone), glass, iron nails, clinker, slag, CBM, coal, slate and CBM. A single piece of burnt stone was also found, likely to be later prehistoric in date, although analysis of the lithics would be needed to confirm this.

Test Pit 11 (BLY/19/11)

Test pit 11 was excavated in the enclosed rear garden of a probable 19th century cottage fronting the main road in the north of the village (The Old Custom House, Station Road, Blythburgh. TM 45274 75379).

Test pit 11 was excavated to a depth of 0.71m. Natural was not found, but due to time constraints, excavations were halted at this level and the test pit was recorded and backfilled.

A range of medieval and Figure 57: Location map of BLY/19/11 post medieval wares were excavated through the depth of BLY/19/11 and have been identified as Early Medieval Sandy Ware, Late Medieval Ware, German Stoneware, Glazed Red Earthenware, Staffordshire White Salt-Glazed Stoneware, Midland Blackware and 19th century ‘Victorian’ wares.

EMW SWSG LMT GRE GS MB VIC TP Cntxt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt Date Range 11 1 3 11g 2 3g 3 36g 10 30g 1200-1900 11 2 2 12g 1 2g 6 47g 5 12g 1200-1900 11 3 1 7g 3 10g 1 2g 1 2g 1200-1900 11 4 2 18g 1 50g 4 50g 3 55g 1200-1800 11 5 1 3g 3 17g 1 19g 1200-1800 11 6 2 19g 2 55g 1 8g 1500-1800 11 7 2 63g 2 57g 2 8g 1 26g 1 19g 1200-1800 11 8 1 19g 1500-1700 Total 11 114g 2 21g 17 200g 12 137g 8 125g 1 19g 16 44g Table 37: The pottery excavated from BLY/19/11

The test pit excavations at BLY/19/11 suggest that there was settlement on site during the medieval and post medieval periods, likely due to the proximity of the priory and again the river crossing. There was a change in land use dating from the 19th century, likely in relation to the construction of the current house and there was a mix of finds also found through the test pit. These consist of clay pipe, animal bone (some of which was burnt), glass, iron nails, slag, oyster shell, coal, CBM, a possible window fitting, metal sheet fragments, a metal bracket, a fragment of horseshoe and pieces of scrap metal.

8 Discussion

The test pitting in Blythburgh has contributed greatly to the wider understanding of the history and archaeology of the parish. The results from the three years of test pitting in the settlement are included in the analysis below. The pottery has been utilised as the main source of dating in this report, as pottery can be the most accurately dated, often within a hundred years or so and it is one of the most frequent finds recovered from the test pitting strategy. The results will be discussed in historical order below.

8.1 Prehistoric

No prehistoric pottery or features were excavated from the 36 test pits, although the presence of burnt stone, or pot boilers as was their use, and probable worked flints were found from multiple test pits. As the format of this writing is at the grey report stage a full analysis of the lithics has not been undertaken and only the presence of any lithics has been recorded here.

Fragments of burnt stone were found from 26 of the 36 test pits (figure 58), in a quite dispersed spread across the village. Pieces of probable worked flints were also found, but from 15 of the test pits (figure 59), although these were mostly in the same areas. All of the lithics have been recorded as residual in both the top and subsoil layers with a range of other finds. Though a definite date cannot be assigned to the lithics, partly due to the limitations of this report and the nature of the test pitting strategy, some inferences can be made.

The evidence for prehistoric activity in this part of Suffolk is known from the Neolithic period in particular, and no doubt people would have been attracted to this area by the light sandy soils and proximity to the coast as well as the river valleys. Woodland would have been extensively cleared, which then led to the creation of large areas of heather that are still present today (Alison Farmer Associates 2012). The sites of numerous round barrows (or cropmarks of probable ring ditches), have been recorded on the HER, and research has shown that these were often sited in relation to the surrounding topography and were more often than not positioned on higher ground as well as overlooking water courses. More widely, this is seen across the lighter sandlands of eastern Suffolk, with less activity noted on the Suffolk claylands further west, which likely remained more wooded at this time (Martin 1999).

It is likely that the land clearance from the Neolithic period onwards and the position of Blythburgh on the river today would mean that this area was probably ideal for later prehistoric settlement. The lithics that were found through the test pitting are therefore most probably of Neolithic and Bronze Age in date (4000-700 BC), and are likely contemporary to the finds and monuments that have already been identified through the parish and although no evidence for prehistoric settlement has so far been recorded in Blythburgh, the amount of lithics present here, does suggest that there was contemporary activity with these monuments, the sites of which are yet to be found, or remain under the current village layout.

Figure 58: The presence of burnt stone (shaded squares) from the Blythburgh test pits (NB: test pits not to scale) © Crown Copyright/database right 2019. An Ordnance Survey/EDINA supplied service, 1: 5,000

Figure 59: The presence of worked flints (shaded squares) from the Blythburgh test pits (NB: test pits not to scale) © Crown Copyright/database right 2019. An Ordnance Survey/EDINA supplied service, 1: 5,000

No Iron Age (700 BC – AD 43) activity was recorded through the test pitting and only limited finds of this date have previously been recorded on the HER. This may be partly due to the much larger territories that had developed in the Iron Age where tribes controlled large swathes of land, and the population was not big enough to fill it all. The coastal area here may also have been quite marshy during the Iron Age and even perhaps prone to flooding so was perhaps not as intensively worked or occupied as other areas of the county. It is though highly probable that the Romano-British salt working sites that have been identified along the River Blyth may have had their origins during the Iron Age, although there is no archaeological evidence yet to support this theory.

8.2 Romano-British

No finds of a Romano-British (AD 43-410) date were excavated from the three years of test pitting in Blythburgh. This is despite the known presence of Roman activity in this, and the immediately surrounding parishes; including probable major activity at the time on the salt working sites along the River Blyth and the major 2nd century Roman Settlement identified at Wenhaston, just to the west of Blythburgh. This town also sited on the southern banks of the River Blyth and close to a palaeochannel that led from a spring in the town to the valley of the River Blyth (Clarke 2017).

Wenhaston would have been an ‘urban-like centre’, a small town at its peak and differed from other nearby Roman settlements which were generally positioned along both Roman roads as well as river crossings. Wenhaston is close to a river crossing, although not along a Roman road, but it is known that both the river and road network in Roman Britain played a big part in the location of settlements at this time. A number of recorded Roman roads seem to head towards the Suffolk coast but appear to have no fixed destination in mind (Steerwood 2003). The presence of the spring at Wenhaston may have likely dictated its position away from the A12 (a known Roman road) to the east, as well as its proximity to Stone Street that heads into Norfolk. It has also been suggested that the River Blyth was navigable up to Wenhaston in the Roman period, thus enabling additional communication and trade links, which was supported by the imports of pottery that were identified during the 2015 excavation there (Ibid). If the river was navigable that far upriver, it does bring into question the feasibility of a river crossing at Blythburgh at this time and also the possibility that the salt workings were actually closer to a Roman road than the town of Wenhaston was. It has also been suggested that in general, Romano-British settlement in rural Suffolk did not follow the usual town layouts, i.e. along roads, but possibly favouring the locations for settlement that were utilised during the Iron Age (Hegarty & Newsome 2005). This may be part of the reason that no Romano-British settlement and little in the way of finds have so far been recorded from Blythburgh, as very little Iron Age settlement evidence has been found.

Results from the same test pitting strategy utilised by Access Cambridge Archaeology (ACA) in Southwold, Reydon and Walberswick, have also yielded a mix in results dating to the Roman period, although interestingly, the 2014 test pitting in Southwold and Reydon (Lewis and Ranson 2014) recorded no Romano-British pottery from any of the 16 test pits excavated. However, over the four years of test pitting in Walberswick, between 2013 and 2016 (Collins 2017), a total of 20 sherds of Romano- British pottery were identified. The majority of these likely related to agricultural activities, but small clusters of Roman pot hinted at the possibility of perhaps an isolated farmstead (Ibid) and suggests that this landscape was utilised during the Roman period, albeit sparsely.

8.3 Anglo Saxon

The earliest pottery evidence recorded from the test pitting in Blythburgh, dates to the Middle Anglo-Saxon period (AD 700-850) with a total of seven sherds of Ipswich Ware pottery, found from six test pits, and accounting for only 0.44% of all the pottery excavated. Four test pits in the north of the village yielded a single sherd each and two test pits in the south, yielded three sherds, which hints at two distinct groupings during the Middle Saxon period (appendix 12.3).

Blythburgh is the supposed burial place of King Anna in AD 654, so preceding the date of the earliest Anglo-Saxon pottery identified through the test pitting strategy. The early settlement here would have been an important central place in the Blything Hundred at the head of the Blyth estuary, and as well by the Late Anglo-Saxon period, a Royal residence (Good and Plouviez 2007). A preference into the Anglo-Saxon period for settlement on the lighter sandy soils characteristic of the Blythburgh area and river terraces has been shown through previous archaeology along the Suffolk coast (Newman 1992). The two distinct areas of activity identified through the deposition of the pottery, may represent contemporary areas of settlement, both at the river crossing and another further inland. It may however also represent a trend towards the ‘shifting settlements’ that was particularly evident during the 5th to 7th centuries, as put forward by Hamerow (2014), and may have continued beyond that date here in rural Suffolk.

Pottery dating as Late Anglo-Saxon (AD 850-1066) numbered 12 sherds of Thetford- Type ware, which were found from seven test pits and accounting for 0.76% of all the pottery found. By far the largest concentrations were found in the north of the village, again close to the river crossing and in the area of White Hart pub today. This does suggest a continuation of settlement in the north of the village and close to the most likely site of the minster church (under the medieval priory), with new areas being occupied to the south of the church, in what is now the centre of the village.

The evidence from the test pitting strategy does not aid historical sources which refer to Blythburgh as a place of great importance at the river crossing, an Anglo-Saxon Royal residence or a high status monastic site (Bailey 1997; Alison Farmer Associates 2012), with no high status finds recovered. It has however supported previous evidence for associated settlement at this central meeting place, with the presence of common Thetford-Type ware pottery (produced first in Ipswich, then Thetford) which can be found all over East Anglia (appendix 12.1) and would have been utilised for domestic purposes. There is a record of a market in Blythburgh at the time of the Normal Conquest in 1066 and it would have had a port here during the medieval period, which could well have had its origins in the Anglo-Saxon period that shows just how well connected this settlement was before the medieval period.

8.4 Medieval

A total of 169 sherds of pottery were recorded from 22 of the 36 test pits in Blythburgh to date to the high medieval period (AD 1066-1399), equating to 10.72% of all the pottery found through the test pitting strategy here. The wares identified were locally made from the East of England, with one specific site identified from Great Yarmouth (see appendix 12.1). The distribution of the high medieval pottery across the test pits can be seen in appendix 12.3, from which there was a definite expansion from the original focus of the Anglo-Saxon settlement close to the river crossing, in the area of White Hart pub today. The data from test pitting over East Anglia (Lewis 2014), has shown that generally, if five or more sherds of pottery are excavated from a single test

pit, it is likely indicative of settlement in the immediate vicinity. Nine test pits yielded five or more sherds of high medieval pottery, seven of these had high medieval pot recorded in double figures; the highest number deriving from BLY/18/9 with 45 sherds of Early Medieval Sandy Ware pottery found. This test pit was sited in the rear garden of White Hart Cottage, immediately south of the pub and further supports the notion of a cluster of likely settlement extending further east than today, following the river and marsh edge.

At the time of the Domesday Survey, Blythburgh was already considered to be quite large, which it would have to have been to justify the presence of a market there. There was also likely a port or harbour, relatively close to the priory to the west of the town (Good and Plouviez 2007), which would have added to the wealth and status of the settlement. BLY/18/12 was situated on the now water’s edge, to the north of the Holy Trinity church, from which were found 11 sherds of high medieval pottery, including a fragment of medieval glazed tile that may have derived from the priory itself and also could have been situated close to the potential harbour area, given the large amount of medieval pottery excavated from the test pit. BLY/18/11 was also excavated close to the river and also yielded a glazed tile fragment as well as several large pieces of slag. Again, these may be of a medieval or earlier date, when the settlement was at its height and there was likely a lot of activity present along the water’s edge.

The original thoroughfare through the village was on Dunwich Road/ Angle Lane. The route of the Pilgrims way is also said to have passed through the parish, likely utilising the crossing of the river here (Warner 1982, Haslam 1992) that may also have had its origins during prehistory. The test pits that were able to be excavated along this original routeway have shown a continuation of the medieval village and if additional archaeological fieldwork is able to be undertaken on land to the east of the A12, it is expected that the results will support this notion. An increase in activity from the west of the village was also noted and probably directly relates to the founding of the Augustinian Priory there in the early 12th century.

There is a significant increase noted in the pottery recorded from the Blythburgh test pits dating to the late medieval (AD 1400-1539), compared to the high medieval. A total of 271 sherds of later medieval pottery were recorded from 27 of the 36 test pits, accounting for 17.19% of all the pottery excavated. The pottery identified was again local in origin and probably derived from nearby production sites, apart from one sherd of Dutch Redware that was found in BLY/18/4, sited in Marsh End along Church Road. This location is close to the supposed site of the market area, to the south of what is now Priory Road and the location of Chancel End Cottage (Greening undated) and given what is known about the wealth and importance of Blythburgh at this time, it is perhaps surprising that more evidence for imports were not recovered through the test pits.

As noted through other test pitting excavations across East Anglia by ACA, the socio- economic upheavals of the 14th century, including the Black Death, usually affected large areas of the population (Lewis 2016). Results of these numerous test pit excavations have been compared, and it was noted that there is a general trend in the decline in the amount of pottery found from the test pits between from the high medieval to the late medieval. This trend has been seen in the nearby test pit excavations in Southwold and Reydon (Lewis and Ranson 2014) and to a lesser extent in Walberswick (Collins 2017), although the results from Blythburgh seem to contradict this. The amount of pottery found in test pits cannot be equated to population levels of the settlement during the later medieval, but the data can give a sense of the scale and use of land in each village and although historical sources tend to agree that the Black Death was a turning point for Blythburgh, especially in terms of its wealth and

prosperity, the test pitting has shown that there was still a significant amount of activity in Blythburgh during the later medieval that was also recorded in ‘new’ areas of the settlement where no high medieval activity was found.

8.5 Post Medieval and later

The amount of pottery excavated from the Blythburgh test pits increased slightly into the post medieval period (AD 1540-1799), with a total of 328 sherds of post medieval wares, recorded from 35 of the 36 test pits. The only test pit not to produce pottery of this date was BLY/19/7, excavated along Angel Lane. This pottery accounts for 20.81% of all the pottery found and the distribution of these sherds can be found in appendix 12.3. Specific production sites identified for this pottery include Staffordshire, the Surrey/Hampshire area, the east of England and Norwich as well as the Midlands and imports from Germany (appendix 12.1). The imported pottery was identified as German Stoneware, which were made at various places along the Rhine Valley in Germany from the mid-15th century onwards. In total, 49 sherds of German Stoneware were excavated from 17 test pits (figure 60) and although the start date for production was in the later medieval, the results are included in this section as exact manufacture dates are not able to be identified.

Figure 60: The presence of German Stoneware pottery (shaded squares) from the Blythburgh test pits (NB: test pits not to scale) © Crown Copyright/database right 2019. An Ordnance Survey/EDINA supplied service, 1: 5,000

The largest concentrations of the German Stoneware derived from the northern test pits, five of these containing four sherds or more; BLY/17/2 (five sherds), BLY/17/4 (eight sherds), BLY/18/8 (eight sherds), BLY/18/9 (four sherds) and BLY/19/11 (eight sherds). The two test pits that produced eight sherds each were both excavated in the same garden at The Old Custom House, situated prominently in the settlement, along the original main road and just south of the river crossing. The remaining 12 test pits yielded one or two sherds of German Stoneware only. The most common form of

German Stoneware was mugs, most likely utilised in taverns (appendix 12.1) and therefore hinting at potentially multiple inns in Blythburgh during the post medieval.

Also imported at this time, was Cologne Stoneware and similarly produced in the Rhineland area of Germany, from c.AD 1600 onwards. Only two sherds of this pottery were excavated from the test pitting, one from BLY/17/6 and the other from BLY/17/7, both of which were sited along the eastern side of Angel Lane and Dunwich Road.

The recovery of the settlement after the 14th century upheavals was a relatively slow process and from one which Blythburgh never fully recovered. Early 15th century tax records show that Blythburgh was entitled to a tax reduction of 10s, a 14.83% decrease of what the settlement had paid previously (Dymond and Virgoe 1986). With the loss of the weekly markets, the port, the priory and with the severe fires recorded at this time, it is perhaps not surprising that the total number of pottery sherds identified to the post medieval are only three percent up from what was found during the later medieval, despite the pottery being recorded from across the village as a whole. There was some re-building at this time, not only post-fires, as new areas are seen to have activity, compared to the medieval period, but the community remained small.

Overall, about half of all the pottery excavated from the Blythburgh test pits dated to the 19th century and later. These were identified as ‘Victorian’ wares, with a total of 789 sherds found (50.06% of all the pottery recorded) and varying amounts of this pottery were recorded from all 36 test pits (appendix 12.3). As stated earlier however, the amount of pottery present cannot be equated to population figures and this data must be considered with the historical and cartographical information. For example, the census data shows a sharp population increase related with the coming of the railways, although this however did not last long and the 19th century maps still show Blythburgh as a small and sparse settlement, with clusters of settlement along the roads, much like the village today; its shape has remained constant since the turnpike road was built in the late 18th century.

9 Conclusion

The 36 archaeological test pits that were excavated in the village of Blythburgh, as part of the ILAFS programme, have yielded archaeological evidence for settlement in the parish dating from the later prehistoric through to the modern day. All the test pit results have also added to the ‘bigger picture’ of the development of Blythburgh, as well as providing new insight into the level of archaeological remains that are still present under the village.

The location of Blythburgh, on a crossing point of the River Blyth, its proximity to the coast and the light sandy soils has meant that this area has likely always been an attractive place to settle and these factors have all contributed to the development of Blythburgh as a settlement. A spread of both burnt stone and worked flints were recorded across the current village layout, hinting at perhaps a more widespread extent of later prehistoric activity than was previously known, although the absence of any Iron Age and Romano-British activity in the parish may have contributed to the development of Blythburgh as an important settlement from the Middle Anglo-Saxon period. Concentrations of Middle and Late Anglo-Saxon pottery were recorded from the north of the village, close to the river crossing, hinting that this area may have been one of the original cores of settlement during the Anglo-Saxon period, which was continued to be seen through the medieval period with an expansion to the west. This spread was seen through test pits over the extent of the current village and a significant increase in occupation was found as the settlement thrived as the centre of the hundred and the presence of both the priory and a likely port/harbour area. Historically, Blythburgh was affected by the various social and economic factors of the 14th century, including the Black Death, but occupation was found to be still widespread across the village, although some shifts in the settlement were also noted. Blythburgh’s recovery was slow into the post medieval and was at this time that the village began to take the form as seen today, in particular with the A12 built originally as a turnpike during the late 18th century, the railway during the 19th century and modern infilling from the 20th century, particularly in the south of the village.

There is plenty of scope for further archaeological work in Blythburgh. It would be useful for the lithics to be analysed by an expert who would be able to more accurately identify and date the lithics and relate them back to the archaeology of the village. The test pitting strategy is also heavily reliant on people volunteering gardens and open spaces for the excavations so there is also potential for additional excavations in the village to ‘fill in the gaps’. Re-examining some of the test pits that did not reach natural (20 of the 36 were not excavated to natural in the time available) would also add to the picture of the archaeology in Blythburgh, and although much of the archaeology has been disturbed by later developments, there is still extensive evidence under the current settlement.

10 Acknowledgements

The test pit excavations in Blythburgh were directed by Alison Dickens of the Cambridge Archaeological Unit (CAU), with on-site supervision provided by Catherine Collins and Emily Ryley (Access Cambridge Archaeology), with additional support from John Newman and Kathryn Singleton (SLO St Catharine’s College, Cambridge). Paul Blinkhorn analysed the pottery for 2017 and 2018, whilst John Newman analysed the 2019 results. The Independent Learning Archaeology Field School was funded by the Admissions Office at the University of Cambridge and ACA are very grateful for their continued support.

Our local coordinators in the village were Alan Mackley, Sonia Boggis, Jenny Allen, Chiara Saunders and Meryl Doney, who found all the test pit sites prior to excavation and were on hand during the two-days of digging each year for further advice and support, for which we very much appreciated! The base for each excavation was the Holy Trinity Church.

Our gratitude must also go to all the property owners in Blythburgh who allowed the excavations to continue in their gardens, occasionally more than once! Thank you also to the 90 Year 8 and Year 9 pupils who excavated the test pits and the staff and volunteers who supervised them. The schools involved with the excavations were Sir John Leman High School, Benjamin Britten Academy of Music and Mathematics, Bungay High School, Hobart High School, Ormiston Denes Academy and Pakefield High School (school names correct at the time of the excavations).

11 References

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12 Appendices

12.1 Pottery Reports – Paul Blinkhorn and John Newman

All Pottery Types (in alphabetical order)

BW: Border Ware. AD1550-1700. Everyday pottery made from a white clay, with a green, yellow or brown glaze. The potters worked in the Surrey/Hampshire border region, at places such as Farnborough Hill, Cove, Ash and Hawley. Lots of different types of pots were made, catering for all the household needs of the people of the time.

CP: Chinese Porcelain. Very hard, thin and light white pottery, usually with blue painted decoration. First imported from China around AD1650, and still is nowadays.

DUTR: Dutch Redware, 1500-1700. Red sandy pottery with a metallic orange glaze. Wide range of different vessel types, including cauldron-like specialist cooking pots.

DW: Delft ware. The first white-glazed pottery to be made in Britain. Called Delft ware because of the fame of the potteries at Delft in Holland which were amongst the first to make it. Soft, cream coloured fabric with a thick white glaze, often with painted designs in blue, purple and yellow. First made in Britain in Norwich around AD 1600 and continued in use until the 19th century. The 17th century pots were expensive table wares such as dishes or bowls, but by the 19th century, better types of pottery were being made, and it was considered very cheap and the main types of pot were such as chamber pots and ointment jars.

EMW: Early Medieval Sandy Ware. AD1100-1400. Hard fabric with plentiful quartz sand mixed in with the clay. Manufactured at a wide range of generally unknown sites all over eastern England. Mostly cooking pots but bowls and occasionally jugs also known.

EST: English Stoneware. Very hard, grey fabric with white and/or brown surfaces. First made in Britain at the end of the 17th century, became very common in the 18th and 19th century, particularly for mineral water or ink bottles and beer jars.

GRE: Glazed Red Earthenwares. Fine sandy earthenware, usually with a brown or green glaze, usually on the inner surface. Made at numerous locations all over England. Occurs in a range of practical shapes for use in the households of the time, such as large mixing bowls, cauldrons and frying pans. It was first made around the middle of the 16th century, and in some places continued in use until the 19th century.

GS: German Stonewares. First made around AD1450, and still made today. Made at lots of places along the river Rhine in Germany, such as Cologne, Siegburg and Frechen. Very hard grey clay fabric, with the outer surface of the pot often having a mottled brown glaze. The most common vessel type was the mug, used in taverns in Britain and all over the world. Surviving records from the port of London (‘port books’) show that millions such pots were brought in by boat from Germany from around AD1500 onwards.

IPS: Ipswich Ware. The first industrially produced pottery to be made after the end of the Roman period. Made in Ipswich, and fired in kilns, some of which have been excavated. Most pots were jars, but bowls also known, as are jugs. It is usually grey and quite smooth, although some pots have varying amounts of large sand grains in

the clay. Very thick and heavy when compared to late Saxon pottery. Dated AD720 – 850.

LMT: Late Medieval Ware. AD1400 – 1550. Very hard red pottery with lots of sand visible in the clay body. Main type of pots were big glazed jugs, some with geometric designs painted on them in white liquid clay (‘slip’).

MB: Midland Blackware. AD1550 – 1700. Similar to GRE but has a black glaze on one or both surfaces. Vessels usually tall cups, jugs and bowls.

SS: Staffordshire Slipware. Made between about AD1640 and 1750. This was the first pottery to be made in moulds in Britain since Roman times. The clay fabric is usually a pale buff colour, and the main product was flat dishes and plates, but cups were also made. These are usually decorated with thin brown stripes and a yellow glaze, or yellow stripes and a brown glaze.

SWSG: Staffordshire White Salt-Glazed Stoneware. Hard, white pottery with a white glaze with a texture like orange peel. Made between 1720 and 1780, pots usually table wares such as tea bowls, tankards and plates.

THET/TTW: Thetford-Type ware. So-called because archaeologists first found it in Thetford, but the first place to make it was Ipswich, around AD850. Potters first began to make it in Thetford sometime around AD925 and carried on until around AD1100. Many kilns are known from the town. It was made in Norwich from about AD1000, and soon after at many of the main towns in England at that time. The pots are usually grey, and the clay has lots of tiny grains of sand in it, making the surface feel a little like fine sandpaper. Most pots were simple jars, but very large storage pots over 1m high were also made, along with jugs, bowls and lamps. It is found all over East Anglia and eastern England as far north as Lincoln and as far south as London.

VIC: ‘Victorian’. A wide range of different types of pottery, particularly the cups, plates and bowls with blue decoration which are still used today. First made around AD1800.

WCS: Cologne Stoneware. Hard, grey pottery made in the Rhineland region of Germany from around 1600 onwards. Usually has lots of ornate moulded decoration, often with blue and purple painted details. Still made today, mainly as tourist souvenirs.

YAR: Yarmouth Ware, 13th – 15th century. Glazed sandy ware, mainly jugs but other medieval vessels also made.

12.1.1 2017 Pottery Report (Paul Blinkhorn)

No = number of sherds Wt = weight of sherds in grams

Test Pit 1

GRE VIC TP Cntxt No Wt No Wt Date Range 1 1 1 4 1800-1900 1 2 2 7 3 6 1550-1900 1 3 1 12 1800-1900

This test-pit produced very little pottery, and it suggests that people did not really use the site before the 19th century.

Test Pit 2

The range of pottery from this test-pit shows that people have been continuously using the site since the late medieval period.

Test Pit 3

GRE VIC TP Cntxt No Wt No Wt Date Range 3 1 2 3 1800-1900 3 2 2 14 7 22 1550-1900 3 3 1 1 3 3 1550-1900

This test-pit produced very little pottery, and it suggests that people did not really use the site before the 19th century.

100

Test Pit 4

The range of pottery form this test-pit shows that the site was occupied throughout the medieval period. It then seems to have been largely abandoned during or soon after the 16th century, and had a marginal use, such as fields, until the 19th century.

Test Pit 5

EMW LMT GRE SWSG VIC TP Cntxt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt Date Range 5 3 1 1 1 1 1550-1750 5 4 1 4 1 12 3 16 1100-1900 5 5 1 1 1 2 1100-1550 5 6 3 37 1400-1550

The range of pottery form this test-pit shows that the site had a marginal use (such as fields) throughout the medieval period. It then seems to have been largely abandoned during or soon after the 16th century until the Victorian era.

Test Pit 6

LMT GRE GS DW WCS SS EST SWSG VIC TP Cntxt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt Date Range 6 1 1 1 1400-1550 6 2 1 2 1 5 1 1 1 5 1 7 1 2 1 5 1450-1900 6 3 1 2 1 9 1400-1700 6 4 1 13 1550-1600

The range of pottery from this test-pit shows that it had a marginal use, perhaps as fields, from the late medieval period onwards.

101

Test Pit 7

The range of pottery form this test-pit shows that the site was occupied throughout the medieval period. It then seems to have had a more marginal use, such as fields, until the 19th century.

Test Pit 8

The pottery from this test-pit shows that the site had a marginal use in the middle Saxon period, after which time the site was abandoned. It then seems to have been re-occupied during the late medieval period but had a marginal use during the 17th and 18th century.

Test Pit 9

This site appears to have had a marginal use during the late Anglo-Saxon period, but was then abandoned until the late medieval period, after which it had a largely marginal use until the Victorian era.

102

Test Pit 10

EMW LMT GRE EST VIC TP Cntxt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt Date Range 10 1 1 10 1800-1900 10 2 2 9 7 31 1550-1900 10 3 1 9 7 23 1680-1900 10 4 1 2 3 5 1400-1900 10 5 1 10 1400-1550 10 7 1 12 1 4 1100-1600

This pottery from this test-pit suggests that the site had a marginal use from the medieval period until the Victorian era.

Test Pit 11

GRE VIC TP Cntxt No Wt No Wt Date Range 11 2 1 12 1 2 1550-1900 11 3 1 2 1550-1600 11 4 2 18 7 68 1550-1900 11 5 1 4 1800-1900

This test-pit produced very little pottery, and it suggests that people did not really use the site before the 19th century.

Test Pit 12

LMT GRE EST VIC TP Cntxt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt Date Range 12 2 1 15 1 9 5 9 1400-1900 12 3 1 14 4 4 1550-1900 12 4 3 6 1800-1900 12 5 1 6 4 25 1680-1900 12 7 1 2 1800-1900 12 8 2 5 1800-1900

The pottery from this test-pit shows that the site had a marginal use from the late medieval period until the Victorian era.

Test Pit 13

This site appears to have had a marginal use in the late Saxon and early medieval period. It then seems to have been occupied in the late medieval period, before reverting back to fields or the like until the Victorian era.

103

12.1.2 2018 Pottery Report (Paul Blinkhorn)

No = number of sherds Wt = weight of sherds in grams

Test Pit 1

The range of pottery from this test-pit suggests that the site had a marginal use, such as fields, in the early medieval period, before being occupied in the late medieval and early post- medieval periods. It was then probably abandoned in the 17th century until the Victorian era.

Test Pit 2

GRE VIC TP Cntxt No Wt No Wt Date Range 2 2 1 4 9 43 1550-1900 2 3 1 1 1800-1900

This test-pit did not produce much pottery, with the range of types present suggesting it had a marginal use in the early post-medieval period, and again in the 19th century, but was otherwise unoccupied.

Test Pit 3

The range of pottery suggests that the site of this test-pit had a long use-life, throughout the medieval and post-medieval periods, but the small quantities of pottery present suggest that it was probably marginal throughout that period.

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Test Pit 4

EMW LMT DUTR GRE MB VIC TP Cntxt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt Date Range 4 2 1 21 4 18 10 20 1400-1900 4 4 1 6 2 8 1 6 1 6 8 30 1100-1900 4 5 2 13 1 1 1 7 1100-1550

This test-pit produced a range of pottery types which suggest that the site was used throughout the medieval period and into the early post-medieval era, before being abandoned until the 19th century.

Test Pit 5

LMT EST VIC TP Cntxt No Wt No Wt No Wt Date Range 5 1 1 3 1400-1550 5 2 14 47 1800-1900 5 3 2 7 10 23 1700-1900 5 4 1 2 1800-1900 5 8 1 24 1400-1550

Most of the pottery from this test-pit is Victorian, and indicates that the site was not really used before that time, other than perhaps having had a marginal use in the late medieval period.

Test Pit 6

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Test Pit 7

EMW GRE VIC TP Cntxt No Wt No Wt No Wt Date Range 7 1 1 6 1100-1300 7 2 1 25 7 31 1550-1900 7 3 2 6 1800-1900 7 4 2 10 1800-1900 7 5 1 2 2 5 1550-1900

Most of the pottery from this test-pit is Victorian and indicates that the site was not really used before that time, other than perhaps having had a marginal use in the early medieval and early post-medieval periods.

Test Pit 8

This test-pit produced fairly large amounts of pottery which show that there was activity at the site in the middle and late Anglo-Saxon periods. The site then appears to have been occupied throughout the medieval period and into the early post-medieval period, until being abandoned until the Victorian era.

Test Pit 9

This test-pit produced fairly large amounts of pottery which show that there was activity at the site in the middle and late Anglo-Saxon periods. The site then appears to have been occupied

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throughout the medieval period and into the early post-medieval period, until being abandoned until the Victorian era.

Test Pit 10

THET LMT GRE GS VIC TP Cntxt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt Date Range 10 2 1 1 2 4 1550-1900 10 4 1 2 1 2 2 3 1400-1900 10 5 1 4 1550-1600 10 6 1 11 850-1100 10 7 1 5 1400-1550

This test-pit did not produce much pottery, with the range of types present suggesting it had a marginal use in the late Anglo-Saxon, late medieval, and early post-medieval periods, and again in the 19th century, but was otherwise unoccupied.

Test Pit 11

IPS GRE GS VIC TP Cntxt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt Date Range 11 3 1 10 1 6 1550-1900 11 4 1 16 1 12 1550-1900 11 5 1 61 720-850

This test-pit did not produce much pottery, with the range of types present suggesting it had a marginal use in the middle Anglo-Saxon and early post-medieval periods, and again in the 19th century, but was otherwise unoccupied.

Test Pit 12

This test-pit produced pottery which shows that the site was occupied throughout the medieval period and into the early post-medieval period, and then abandoned until the Victorian era.

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12.1.3 2019 Pottery Report (John Newman)

No = number of sherds Wt = weight of sherds in grams

Test Pit 1

EMW YAR LMT GRE GS MB DW VIC TP Cntxt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt No Wt Date Range 1 7 2 5g 4 6g 1200-1900 1 8 1 9g 2 3g 1500-1900 Total 2 5g 1 9g 6 9g

This test pit on ‘The Knoll’ just outside the eastern wall of the churchyard proved to be heavily disturbed with remnants of a road or yard surface to a relatively level. The few pottery sherds hint at activity of medieval date and then Post medieval date in the area but at a low level.

Test Pit 2

The pottery from this test pit is largely of later Post medieval, 1700-1900, date with a hint or earlier, post 1500, activity at a low level. Of interest is the clay tobacco pipe bowl with an image of boxer named as Tom Sayers who died in 1865, in this context it is also interesting to note that one sherd of 1800-1900 date has a partial inscription which is legible a ‘FIGH’ which can be finished as fight or fighter so perhaps a mid-19th century boxing enthusiast lived here.

Test Pit 3

For the earlier periods the pottery is scarce at this pit with 2 sherds of Middle Saxon (MS) Ipswich ware (700-850 AD) and 2 sherds of medieval pottery but is significant as the indication

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of Saxon period activity in this area supports the early foundation of Blythburgh at this time. There is then a clear evidence for more intense settlement activity from around 1500/1600 to 1900.

Test Pit 4

This test-pit produced one sherd of Late Saxon date; then there is no evidence for activity of medieval date before a number of sherds indicates settlement activity of early Post medieval (from c1500) date through to the Victorian period.

Test Pit 5

There is limited evidence for activity of medieval and 16th C date and then more evidence for settlement activity from 1700-1900.

Test Pit 6

SWSG GRE VIC TP Cntxt No Wt No Wt No Wt Date Range 6 2 3 24g 7 44g 9 10g 1700-1900 6 3 1 3g 1 2g 1700-1900 6 4 1 2g 1700-1900 Total 4 27g 7 44g 11 14g

The small number of pottery sherds at this site of 1700-1900 date suggests that this area was on the south-eastern fringe of the medieval village and probably saw more use as open field.

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Test Pit 7

EMW VIC TP Cntxt No Wt No Wt Date Range 7 2 1 2g 1 2g 1200-1900 Total 1 2g 1 2g

With very few pottery sherds this site also lies outside the medieval core of the village and again was probably within an area of open fields.

Test Pit 8

This test pit also appears to be outside the core of the medieval village on its south-eastern side though the larger number of sherds suggests that it is close to the edge of the settlement by the 1700-1900 period.

Test Pit 9

The pottery from this test pit with one sherd of Middle Saxon Ipswich ware shows a start of activity nearby in the 700-800AD period followed by evidence for settlement activity from the 1200/1400AD medieval period through to 1900.

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Test Pit 10

The pottery from this test pit indicates settlement activity from the Late Saxon period (900- 1100) with Thetford ware and then continuously through the medieval period to 1800 before dropping off in the Victorian period.

Test Pit 11

The pottery from this pit indicates settlement in this area from the 1200-1400 C medieval period through to the Victorian period. Of interest are a face sherd from a German stoneware bellarmine jug of 16th-17th C date and a shield decoration from a similar stoneware jug.

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12.2 Other Finds – Catherine Collins and John Newman

12.2.1 2017 test pit finds (Catherine Collins)

Test Ceramic Glass Metal & metal- Stone Other Pit 1 (excluding working pottery) C. 1 red CBM =1g C. 2 red flat tile x6 =164g, square corroded coal x6 =16g animal bone =4g, red CBM x18 =118g, iron nail =6g, slag oyster shell x2 clay pipe stem =<1g =12g =1g, mortar =35g C.3 red flat tile =30g, red green bottle glass coal =2g oyster shell =2g CBM x4 =64g =8g Table 38: The non-pottery finds excavated from BLY/17/1

Test Pit Ceramic Glass Metal & Stone Other 2 (excluding metal- pottery) working C. 1 sewer drain x4 painted concrete x2 =199g, modern blue =22g and white glazed tile x4 =98g

C. 2 red/orange CBM =3g green bottle glass green plastic =<1g, =2g animal bone x2 =<1g, painted concrete =2g

C.3 red CBM =2g corroded iron nail coal x6 =20g animal bone x5 =27g =6g C.4 sewer drain x2 thick corroded coal x2 =4g animal bone x4 =126g, yellow CBM iron nail =22g =142g x2 =2g, clay pipe stem x2 =5g, orange/grey curved tile/pot? =12g

C.5 animal bone x2 =3g C.6 long clay pipe stem green glass bottle thick corroded worked flint =11g neck =28g, clear iron bolts x2 =32g flat glass =3g =84g C.7 yellow/orange CBM green bottle glass corroded iron nail coal =<1g animal bone x8 =40g =5g, clay pipe bowl =5g =2g fragment =<1g, clay pipe stem and bowl =11g

C.8 red flat tile =71g, red animal bone x2 =16g CBM x2 =108g, clay pipe stem x4 =12g

Table 39: The non-pottery finds excavated from BLY/17/2

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Test Pit 3 Ceramic Glass Metal & metal- Stone Other (excluding working pottery) C. 1 yellow CBM =4g, green bottle glass x2 coal x2 =5g, oyster shell x2 red CBM =7g, =27g, orange bottle burnt stone? =2g pink/purple CBM x2 glass x2 =4g, clear =3g =3g flat glass =2g

C. 2 clay pipe stem =4g orange bottle glass square corroded iron coal x6 =11g, oyster shell x9 =6g, clear flat glass nails x2 =10g, end of burnt stone x6 =15g, animal =2g, clear container a shotgun cartridge =23g bone x6 =13g glass =1g =4g, corroded iron scraps x2 =18g

C.3 red CBM x2 =6g, clear container glass tiny corroded iron nail coal x7 =9g, oyster shell x8 pink/purple CBM x3 2 =26g =2g burnt stone x2 =14g =11g, clay pipe =57g stem =3g, yellow CBM =14g, clay pipe fragment =1g

C.4 half a metal loop burnt stone x3 oyster shell x3 =14g =18g =4g C.5 burnt stone oyster shell x2 =6g =6g C.6 red CBM x3 =27g burnt stone x4 animal bone =16g =2g C.7 red CBM =3g charcoal x9 =<1g C.8 animal bone x3 =1g Table 40: The non-pottery finds excavated from BLY/17/3

Test Pit Ceramic Glass Metal & Stone Other 4 (excluding metal- pottery) working C. 1 red CBM x2 =5g clear container animal bone x4 =5g, glass x3 =18g oyster shell =<1g, blue linoleum fragments? x2 =<1g

C. 2 red flat tile x3 =60g, clear container square corroded worked flint =1g animal bone x3 =9g red CBM x2 =6g, clay glass =4g, green iron nail =9g, pipe stem x4 =14g bottle glass =3g slag? x2 =2g C.3 clay pipe stem x9 green bottle glass coal =<1g shell =<1g, animal =19g, clay pipe bowl =<1g, blue bone x3 =18g fragments x2 =4g, red container glass CBM x4 =9g, red flat =<1g, clear tile =22g, container glass yellow/orange CBM =<1g =13g

C.4 yellow CBM x2 =6g, degraded green corroded iron coal =<1g animal bone x18 red CBM x5 =13g, bottle glass =3g nails x6 =37g, flat =141g, oyster shell clay pipe stem x4 corroded iron x2 =6g =10g strip =18g

C.5 red flat tile x2 =27g, corroded iron animal bone x20 red CBM x2 =180g nails x4 =18g, flat =137g, oyster shell strip of corroded x5 =20g metal =45g

C.6 red CBM =2g corroded iron animal bone x14 nails x6 =46g =134g, oyster shell x8 =27g Table 41: The non-pottery finds excavated from BLY/17/4

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Test Pit 5 Ceramic Glass Metal & metal- Stone Other (excluding working pottery) C. 2 red CBM x4 =92g, red green bottle modern corroded iron coal x4 =6g flat tile =19g glass =4g nail =3g, very corroded metal lump =16g C.3 modern pink/red CBM x6 burnt stone? =37g, red CBM x4 =12g, x2 =7g, slate red flat tile =18g, red flat =1g tile =18g, pink/purple CBM =2g, red glazed tile/pot =8g, red/orange CBM x4 =6g, daub? =7g

C.4 red CBM x32 =350g, red green bottle long corroded iron yellow/grey flat tile x2 =34g, glass =5g, clear nails x2 =31g, small cement/mortar pink/purple CBM =2g flat glass =3g corroded iron nails x2 x2 =38g =13g, slag x2 =26g

C.5 red CBM x9 =55g green bottle modern nails x2 =3g, glass =1g corroded metal nail =3g, slag =1g C.6 red CBM x2 =24g, black burnt stone x2 animal bone glazed red curved tile =19g =3g =11g Table 42: The non-pottery finds excavated from BLY/17/5

Test Pit 6 Ceramic Glass Metal & metal- Stone Other (excluding working pottery) C. 1 clay pipe stem =2g, burnt stone x3 animal bone =4g, red CBM x3 =12g =20g, worked flint modern concrete =1g tile? =26g C. 2 clay pipe stem =3g, clear container burnt stone x3 red CBM x13 =70g glass =5g

C.3 red flat tile x2 =24g, burnt stone x4 =9g pot =13g, red CBM =25g, red/orange CBM =19g

C.4 clay pipe stem x3 slag? =6g burnt stone? x3 =10g =8g C.6 red brick fragments x2 =694g Table 43: The non-pottery finds excavated from BLY/17/6

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Test Ceramic Glass Metal & metal- Stone Other Pit 7 (excluding working pottery) C. 1 clay pipe stem =2g, clear container corroded iron nails coal x9 =19g, white mortar =<1g red flat tile =10g, red glass x5 =16g, x5 =21g, thick worked flint =6g, CBM x3 =26g, clear flat glass corroded iron bolt thick white/grey pink/purple CBM =<1g =48g, corroded oblong tile? broken =14g thick round bolt? where there is a =16g, metal button hole in the centre =2g =11g C. 2 clay pipe stem =1g, clear container corroded iron nails coal x6 =14g black plastic lid? red CBM x4 =34g, red glass x8 =30g, x7 =30g, slag x2 =8g, brown flat tile x2 =20g, clear flat glass x6 =7g, long bullet Bakelite/plastic yellow CBM x4 =28g, =28g, green bottle casing =11g =<1g, green pink/purple CBM =3g glass =5g, orange plastic =<1g, bottle glass =2g animal bone x2 =4g, yellow mortar =16g C.3 red flat tile x2 =57g, clear flat glass corroded iron nail coal x8 =9g, burnt yellow mortar =2g, red CBM x8 =34g =<1g, clear =5g stone =11g, slag? white mortar x3 container glass =1g =7g, animal bone =3g, green bottle =2g glass =<1g

C.4 red flat tile x2 =116g, clear flat glass x2 corroded iron nails animal bone x4 red CBM x12 =158g, =3g x2 =19g =42g pink/purple CBM x5 =173g, red/yellow CBM =31g, brown/yellow CBM =27g C.5 clay pipe stem =4g, coal x3 =16g animal bone x2 red flat tile =39g, red =11g CBM x12 =188g, pink/purple CBM (1 burnt) x8 =208g C.6 red flat tile x3 =54g, thick corroded strip burnt stone? =9g animal bone x6 red CBM x9 =75g, of metal =39g, =42g, oyster shell red/yellow CBM thick corroded x3 =2g =102g metal chain link? =8g Table 44: The non-pottery finds excavated from BLY/17/7

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Test Pit 8 Ceramic Glass Metal & metal- Stone Other (excluding working pottery) C. 1 modern red CBM x2 coal x2 cream plastic =2g =<1g fragment =<1g C. 2 clay pipe stem =3g, clear flat glass x2 corroded iron nail coal x10 mortar x7 =11g, red CBM x18 =81g, =6g, orange bottle =15g, corroded iron =29g animal bone x2 =1g, red flat tile x3 =64g glass =3g, blue scraps x2 =4g, slag? shell x2 =1g container glass =60g =<1g

C.3 red flat tile x6 =154g, orange bottle corroded iron nails coal x21 animal bone x2 red CBM x29 =328g, glass =2g, clear x4 =25g, thin metal =96g =16g modern greyish yellow container glass x6 hoops x2 =3g flat tile =89g, small =60g brown clay? bead/ball =5g

C.4 red flat tile x8 =314g, clear container modern screw =15g, coal x13 animal bone =<1g red CBM x11 =53g glass x2 =18g, corroded iron nails =43g green bottle glass x3 =35g, corroded x3 =6g iron scrap =3g, thick metal washer =6g

C.5 red flat tile x8 =314g, clear container long corroded iron coal x4 pink mortar =4g red CBM x6 =61g, glass =2g nail? =20g =24g, burnt clay pipe stem x2 =8g stone =4g C.6 red curved tile =220g, degraded clear flat square corroded iron coal x6 pink mortar =6g, red flat tile x10 =221g, glass =<1g nails x2 =46g, =15g, burnt animal bone x3 red CBM x13 =102g, corroded iron scraps stone? =3g =81g clay pipe stem =2g, x2 =9g yellow CBM x3 =53g

C.7 red flat tile x7 =137g, red CBM x16 =55g, yellow flat tile =11g Table 45: The non-pottery finds excavated from BLY/17/8

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Test Pit Ceramic Glass Metal & metal- Stone Other 9 (excluding working pottery) C. 1 red flat tile x3 =116g, clear container burnt stone x2 polystyrene =<1g, red curved tile =61g, glass x3 =6g, clear =50g, worked charcoal =<1g, red CBM x26 =195g, flat glass x4 =9g, flint =4g oyster shell =2g clay pipe stem =2g, green bottle glass pink/purple CBM x2 =7g =50g

C. 2 red flat tile x2 =21g green bottle glass long bent corroded coal x2 =5g, concrete =20g, =7g, clear modern nail =32g worked flint? x2 white mortar x2 =3g container glass x3 =11g =20g, clear flat glass =2g C.3 clay pipe stem x2 clear flat glass tarmac? =6g, =8g, clay pipe bowl =4g, clear polystyrene =<1g, fragment =2g, red flat container glass x2 plant tag “Notcutts tile =48g =16g Plants” =<1g

C.4 clay pipe stem x4 clear container square corroded iron coal =2g, slate brown plastic tube =12g, red brick glass x3 =19g, nails x2 =25g, =2g =24g, green soft fragment =99g clear flat glass x5 squashed decorative material =<1g, =16g metal rounded animal bone x4 mould? =20g =53g, polystyrene =<1g C.5 red flat tile =49g, clear container square corroded iron coal =3g, burnt charcoal x3 =1g, yellow flat tile =79g, glass x4 =14g, nails x3 =17g, long stone x2 =5g yellow mortar =3g, clay pipe stem x4 clear flat glass x2 corroded square iron animal bone =18g, =11g =4g bolt =41g oyster shell =2g

C.6 red CBM x8 =55g, clear flat glass square corroded iron burnt stone x3 charcoal x5 =5g, clay pipe stem x4 =2g, degraded nail =11g =21g, worked animal bone x8 =11g green bottle glass flint? x3 =17g =38g, oyster shell =2g =1g C.7 red CBM =7g, clay clear container square corroded iron slate =3g pipe stem x2 =6g glass x3 =28g, nail x2 =35g clear flat glass x3 =2g C.8 red flat tile x2 =64g clear container corroded iron nail burnt stone animal bone x3 glass x2 =10g, =3g, corroded bent =13g =11g, oyster shell clear flat glass strip/horseshoe x3 =9g, =3g, green bottle fragment =38g concrete/cement glass =11g =86g

C.9 red flat tile =41g animal bone x2 =<1g Table 46: The non-pottery finds excavated from BLY/17/9

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Test Pit Ceramic Glass Metal & metal- Stone Other 10 (excluding working pottery) C. 2 red CBM x10 =44g clear flat glass =1g corroded iron lump coal =5g, burnt animal bone x7 =6g stone x3 =49g =12g, cream plastic =<1g C.3 red CBM x8 =34g, clear flat glass =1g, large corroded iron burnt stone x2 white mortar =6g pink/orange CBM x2 clear container lump =232g =7g =4g, clay pipe stem x2 glass =3g =3g

C.4 clay pipe stem x2 =4g, clear container corroded iron lump coal x4 =2g, animal bonex3 red CBM x2 =5g, glass x3 =12g =4g burnt stone =11g red/orange CBM x8 =<1g =11g, pink/purple CBM =2g, daub? =2g

C.5 red CBM x6 =21g clear container burnt stone oyster shell x10 glass x3 =5g =1g, whet =9g, animal bone stone x3 =42g fragment? =16g C.6 burnt CBM/daub? x33 rectangular piece of animal bone x2 =33g, daub =2g metal =67g =32g C.7 animal bone x2 =8g Table 47: The non-pottery finds excavated from BLY/17/10

Test Pit Ceramic Glass Metal & metal- Stone Other 11 (excluding working pottery) C. 1 red flat tile =24g coal x5 =6g C. 2 red CBM =3g, red orange bottle glass corroded iron nail =5g coal =2g and yellow CBM x4 =5g, green bottle =56g glass x2 =15g, clear container glass =3g

C.3 red flat tile x2 clear container glass tan plastic =185g, red CBM =13g fragments x5 =4g =59g, sewer drain =11g

C.4 red flat tile =195g clear container glass worked flint tan plastic =29g, tiny complete =21g fragments =2g, green glass bottle green painted (minus neck) =25g concrete/mortar =6g, concrete? x2 =40g

C.5 clear container glass corroded iron nails x3 tan plastic x7 =19g, green bottle =24g fragments x2 =1g, glass x2 =4g black fabric =3g, shell =<1g

C.6 black fabric x2 =3g

Table 48: The non-pottery finds excavated from BLY/17/11

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Test Pit Ceramic Glass Metal & metal- Stone Other 12 (excluding working pottery) C. 2 red CBM x3 =43g clear container corroded iron nails x4 animal bone x2 glass =2g, clear flat =32g, tiny metal link? =9g glass =1g =3g C.3 clear container corroded iron nails x3 worked flint? glass x3 =11g =24g =4g C.4 clay pipe stem x3 clear flat glass x4 thick corroded iron nails burnt stone animal bone x2 =10g, red CBM x3 =4g, clear x3 =57g, corroded =4g =2g, =27g, pink/orange container glass horseshoe fragment? CBM =9g =<1g =24g

C.5 clay pipe stem x2 clear flat glass x2 square corroded iron nail =6g =7g clear container =2g glass x3 =7g

C.7 red CBM x2 =16g C.8 clear container glass =6g C.10 red CBM x2 =9g C.11 curved square corroded worked flint iron bolt =25g =6g Table 49: The non-pottery finds excavated from BLY/17/12

Test Pit Ceramic Glass Metal & metal- Stone Other 13 (excluding working pottery) C. 1 red flat tile =65g, red corroded iron nail animal bone x2 =9g, CBM =6g =5g oyster shell x2 =8g C. 2 red flat tile x4 =82g, corroded iron nails slate =<1g burnt stone x3 =9g, red CBM x41 =190g, x2 =9g, corroded iron oyster shell x3 =2g, clay pipe stem x4 lump =25g grey plastic =<1g, =17g, clay pipe bowl animal bone x7 =33g fragments x3 =4g, pink/purple CBM =11g

C.4 red CBM x26 =254g clear flat glass corroded iron nails burnt stone oyster shell x5 =8g, =3g x2 =22g =4g animal bone x11 =179g C.5 red/orange CBM x2 thick corroded iron oyster shell x3 =11g, =15g bolt =50g animal bone x7 =38g C.6 red CBM x4 =44g, worked flint charcoal x3 =2g, yellow/brown CBM x3 =2g oyster shell x3 =4g, =6g animal bone x4 =10g C.7 red flat tile =104g white plastic button =<1g Table 50: The non-pottery finds excavated from BLY/17/13

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12.2.2 2018 test pit finds (Catherine Collins)

Test Ceramic Glass Metal & metal- Stone Other Pit 1 (excluding working pottery) C. 1 red CBM x15 =56g clear container glass corroded iron nails coal x3 =4g, x4 =12g, degraded x5 =43g burnt stone? green bottle glass =2g =1g

C. 2 red flat tile =83g, red clear flat glass =1g, round corroded iron coal x11 =19g, CBM x14 =83g degraded green glass nail =5g, thin flat worked flint? =<1g, green bottle strip of bent metal =<1g glass =<1g =67g

C.3 large curved red roof clear container glass coal x5 =11g, tile fragments x3 =4g worked flint? =888g, clay pipe stem =4g =3g

C.4 red flat tile =118g, clay clear container glass coal =<1g animal bone x2 pipe stem =4g x2 =11g =15g C.5 clay pipe stem =2g, thin rounded clear coal x3 =5g, animal bone x6 grey flat tile? =51g glass bottle neck burnt stone =31g =14g =3g, worked flint? x2 =28g

C.6 red CBM x4 =67g, pink corroded iron lump slag =75g, corroded coal x2 =2g oyster shell =2g, CBM =4g =3g iron nails x4 =36g animal bone x6 =12g C.7 red brick fragment corroded iron nails coal x3 =1g, oyster shell =7g, =100g x3 =34g worked flint? animal bone x2 =5g =10g Table 51: The non-pottery finds excavated from BLY/18/1

Test Pit Ceramic Glass Metal & Stone Other 2 (excluding metal- pottery) working C. 1 red CBM x18 =58g, clear container coal x2 =4g pink/purple CBM x2 glass =1g =8g C. 2 red CBM =48g, green bottle glass coal x14 =33g animal bone x3 =7g, pink/purple CBM x5 =33g, clear mortar x2 =3g, tarmac? =4g container glass x4 x4 =43g =54g, clear flat glass =4g

C.3 red flat tile x2 =68g, orange bottle glass square nail =5g, tarmac? =38g, mortar x3 red curved tile =36g =2g, clear U shaped thick =37g, clear plastic ‘cap’ container glass x2 nail? =40g =<1g, small white plastic =44g pipe fragment with silver gaffer tape =3g, scrunched aluminium? =<1g

C.4 red CBM and mortar coal =<1g mortar =2g, oyster shell =31g =5g, animal bone =5g

C.5 oyster shell =8g, sea shell =8g Table 52: The non-pottery finds excavated from BLY/18/2

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Test Pit 3 Ceramic Glass Metal & metal- Stone Other (excluding working pottery) C. 1 red CBM x2 =5g clear flat glass x2 coal =1g =3g, clear container glass x3 =7g, green bottle glass x2 =3g

C. 2 clear container corroded metal key granite like white plastic =<1g, glass x6 =22g, =8g, corroded iron stone =4g animal bone x2 =<1g clear flat glass x4 square nail =13g, =4g thin metal ring =1g

C.3 red CBM x2 =7g, clear container corroded iron nail coal x4 =23g oyster shell =<1g, snail pink/yellow glass x2 =20g, =3g, metal mesh shell x3 =<1g, plastic modern CBM x2 clear flat glass x5 material =6g yellow clothes peg =7g =6g fragment =<1g, plastic plant tag =2g, animal bone =<1g

C.4 red CBM x4 clear flat glass x2 coal x9 =27g cream plastic plant tag =164g, red flat tile =7g fragments x2 =<1g =15g C.5 red flat tile x3 clear flat glass x4 slag =30g coal x40 mortar x2 =6g, oyster =32g, red CBM =13g, clear =79g, slate shell =2g, cream plastic x9 =129g container glass x4 =3g plant tag fragment =21g, green bottle =<1g glass =1g

C.6 red CBM x12 clear container corroded iron nails coal x75 mortar =1g, oyster shell =206g, glass x2 =9g, clear x2 =26g, L shaped =176g =1g, animal bone x38 = pink/yellow CBM flat glass =8g, corroded iron bolt 55g x2 =33g degraded green =84g bottle glass =2g

C.7 red flat tile =34g, clear flat glass x2 thick corroded iron coal x4 =2g animal bone x170 red CBM x10 =<1g, degraded bolt =28g =390g plus three =35g green bottle glass animal skulls =237g, =8g yellow mortar x2 = 22g

Table 53: The non-pottery finds excavated from BLY/18/3

Test Pit Ceramic Glass Metal & Stone Other 4 (excluding metal- pottery) working C. 1 red/orange flat tile thick corroded central battery core =24g, clay pipe stem round iron bolt =5g =4g =89g C. 2 red CBM x8 =39g degraded green long corroded coal =<1g animal bone =15g bottle glass x2 iron rounded bolt =20g, clear =30g container glass =4g

C.4 red flat tile x8 =178g, clear container corroded iron brick cement/mortar red CBM x13 =106g glass x2 =10g, clear nails x8 =48g, =45g, animal bone rounded glass corroded iron x6 =18g bottle neck =18g scraps x2 =4g, small flat strip of corroded metal =21g

Table 54: The non-pottery finds excavated from BLY/18/4

121

Test Pit 5 Ceramic Glass Metal & metal- Stone Other (excluding working pottery) C.1 red flat tile x6 =98g, red slag x3 =18g, coal x23 mortar x3 =35g CBM x22 =135g, yellow corroded iron scrap =51g, burnt CBM x2 =96g =<1g bone? =1g C.2 red flat tile x3 =80g, red clear container small metal button coal x7 =12g, oyster shell CBM x9 =165g, clay glass x2 =2g, (no decoration) =2g burnt stone x2 =<1g, mortar x2 pipe stem x2 =6g, yellow clear flat glass =11g =6g, central CBM =19g, red/purple =3g, degraded battery core CBM (slightly burnt?) green glass =17g =26g =<1g

C.3 red CBM x5 =54g clear bottle glass slag x2 =11g coal x8 =16g, mortar =1g =9g, clear flat worked flint glass =<1g =5g C.4 clay pipe stem =2g, red clear bottle glass corroded horse shoe coal =1g CBM =8g =15g fragment =247g, corroded iron nails x2 =18g, corroded iron scraps x4 =6g

C.5 red flat tile =37g, yellow slag x20 =342g, coal x8 =47g white mortar CBM =72g, red CBM corroded iron lumps =41g, animal =23g x3 =90g tooth =8g C.6 slag and red flat tile slag x8 =76g, coal x13 =40g =22g corroded iron lumps x5 =53g, tiny corroded iron nails? x2 =6g

C.7 red CBM =88g degraded green square corroded thick coal x15 =32g bottle glass =6g nail =12g, corroded iron lump =12g C.8 red CBM =2g corroded iron lump coal x4 =99g, oyster shell =28g, thin flat strip of burnt stone =<1g corroded copper? =7g =1g C.9 slag =6g, corroded coal x17 iron wedge plate =10g, worked =39g flint =3g Table 55: The non-pottery finds excavated from BLY/18/5

122

Test Pit Ceramic Glass Metal & metal- Stone Other 6 (excluding working pottery) C. 1 red CBM x6 clear container coal x4 =18g fragment of wood =154g, glass x2 =6g, =8g, oyster shell pink/yellow brick clear flat glass x2 =1g, white fragment =50g =3g, degraded mortar x2 =10g green bottle glass =2g C.1a red flat tile =29g, light green curved coal =1g, burnt oyster shell x2 red CBM x2 =8g, glass? =5g, clear stone x2 =5g =1g clay pipe stem container glass =2g, clay pipe =14g bowl and stem =1g C.2 clay pipe stem clear flat glass U shaped metal tack coal =9g, burnt animal bone =10g =2g, clay pipe =<1g, clear =8g stone =<1g bowl fragment container glass =<1g =1g, green bottle glass =1g

C.2a red flat tile =27g, clear container partial metal thimble burnt stone x3 oyster shell x2 red CBM x5 glass x4 =31g =2g, very worn =6g, worked flint? =5g, animal bone =32g, clay pipe coin/token =5g, square =5g, coal x4 =27g x4 =11g stem =1g corroded iron nails x4 =47g C.3a clay pipe stem green bottle glass corroded iron coal =1g, burnt oyster shell x3 =2g, clay pipe x2 =3g, clear horseshoe fragment stone =3g =8g, animal bone bowl fragments glass marble =50g, thick corroded x9 =19g, yellow x3 =4g, red CBM bottle stopper =8g iron nails? x3 =38g, mortar =1g x2 =8g small corroded nail? =3g C.4a red flat tile x2 green bottle glass square corroded iron burnt stone? x4 yellow mortar? =61g, red CBM x3 =22g nails x4 =60g =10g =16g, animal bone x19 =152g, clay x5 =12g, oyster pipe stem x3 =6g, shell x2 =1g daub? =3g C.5 red brick coal =22g fragment =419g (105mm x 80mm x 37mm deep)

C.5a clay pipe stem x2 degraded green coal x2 =4g, burnt oyster shell x8 =10g, red CBM bottle glass =2g stone x3 =14g, =43g, animal bone x7 =91g worked flint? =1g x4 =14g C.6a complete long clear flat glass coal x3 =1g animal bone x7 clay pipe bowl =<1g =72g, oyster shell and stem =23g x8 =9g Table 56: The non-pottery finds excavated from BLY/18/6

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Test Ceramic Glass Metal & metal- Stone Other Pit 7 (excluding working pottery) C. 1 clay pipe stem x2 clear flat glass square corroded coal x2 =5g animal bone =3g =5g, red CBM x2 =4g =4g iron nails x2 =9g C. 2 clay pipe stem =2g clear flat glass x2 square corroded coal x5 =8g, burnt =5g, clear iron nails x10 stone =6g container glass x2 =90g, metal tag? =6g =2g, end of a shotgun cartridge =4g C.3 green bottle glass square corroded animal bone? =1g x2 =30g iron nail =9g C.4 degraded clear square corroded coal x2 =<1g bottle glass =15g iron nails x3 =38g C.5 clay pipe stem x2 =5g corroded iron nail coal =3g animal bone =2g =7g, corroded U shaped nail =17g C.6 red CBM =2g thin metal wire natural flint? with animal bone x2 =<1g, bent thick round hole through =4g, square bone corroded iron bolt it =33g handle =6g =39g, corroded iron nail =6g

C.7 green bottle glass =3g Table 57: The non-pottery finds excavated from BLY/18/7

124

Test Pit 8 Ceramic Glass Metal & metal- Stone Other (excluding working pottery) C. 1 red CBM x2 =5g thin scrap of metal =<1g C. 2 red CBM x3 =17g, clear flat glass x3 modern corroded coal x7 =2g, animal bone =<1g clay pipe stem =5g, =4g, green bottle nail =4g, thick burnt stone clay pipe bowl glass =4g square iron bolt =2g fragment =2g =27g

C.3 red flat tile x7 =135g, clear flat glass x3 small corroded iron coal x21 =18g, oyster shell =<1g, clay pipe stem =<1g =6g, clear nails x3 =11g, long burnt stone x3 mortar =2g, animal container glass x3 round iron nail =8g, =15g bone =1g =8g, green bottle very small winding glass x2 =2g key? =2g

C.4 red flat tile =8g, green bottle “Lodge” light bulb coal x7 =6g, cream/pink flat tile glass x2 =3g, fitting =115g, burnt stone =11g, clay pipe bowl clear flat glass corroded metal =2g fragment =3g, red =10g horse shoe CBM x4 =10g fragment? =27g, square corroded iron nail =20g

C.5 red CBM x6 =71g, clear container corroded iron nails coal x2 =2g, clay pipe stem x2 =9g glass =<1g x3 =59g, corroded burnt stone flat strip of metal =11g =36g

C.6 complete clay pipe degraded green coal x3 =3g animal bone =6g, bowl =22g, clay pipe bottle glass =4g oyster shell =1g stem x2 =6g, red CBM x8 =53g, clay pipe bowl fragment =<1g C.7 red flat tile =61g, red degraded green corroded iron nails coal =2g animal bone x3 =5g CBM x4 =149g, clay bottle glass =7g x3 =37g, corroded pipe stem =3g iron lump =7g C.8 red flat tile =84g, red animal bone x3 CBM =2g =16g C.9 red flat tile x2 =123g, worked flint? animal bone x14 red CBM =9g =8g =49g, cockle shell =<1g C.10 red CBM =1g small corroded coal x2 =<1g animal bone x4 =8g horse shoe fragment? =11g C.11 green glass animal bone x4 fragment =<1g =31g C.12 animal bone x4 =53g Table 58: The non-pottery finds excavated from BLY/18/8

125

Test Ceramic Glass Metal & metal- Stone Other Pit 9 (excluding working pottery) C. 1 clay pipe stem x2 =3g, worked flint animal bone x3 clay pipe bowl fragment =1g =1g, red CBM x6 =67g, purple/pink CBM =10g

C. 2 clay pipe stem =4g, clear container square nail =5g, L burnt stone x2 animal bone x2 clay pipe bowl fragment glass =<1g shaped thick =4g =20g =<1g, red flat tile x4 corroded bolt? =93g =71g, red CBM x13 =54g C.3 clay pipe stem x2 =4g, slag? =2g, small coal x3 =5g, animal bone =3g red flat tile x3 =49g, red corroded iron nail worked flint CBM x9 =36g, light =5g =2g, burnt purple CBM? x3 =4g stone =30g

C.4 red CBM x18 =106g clear container burnt stone? x2 animal bone x4 glass =7g, =4g =4g degraded green glass =2g

C.5 red flat tile =51g, red corroded iron nail coal x4 =6g, animal bone x2 CBM x8 =65g, light =9g burnt stone x3 =18g purple CBM? x7 =87g =6g C.6 red CBM x2 =26g, clear container animal bone x2 yellow/orange glass =4g =9g CBM/daub? =1g, light purple CBM x6 =49g, light orange/brown CBM =2g C.7 red CBM x11 =118g square corroded iron animal bone x2 nail =21g, slag =20g =51g C.8 animal bone x4 =33g C.9 red flat tile =117g, red animal bone =5g CBM =3g C.10 red CBM x11 =49g coal =<1g, animal bone x2 burnt stone =20g =5g, worked flint =2g Table 59: The non-pottery finds excavated from BLY/18/9

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Test Pit Ceramic Glass Metal & metal- Stone Other 10 (excluding working pottery) C.1 red CBM x4 =11g coal =3g, oyster shell =4g, worked flint? animal bone =5g =5g C.2 red CBM x16 =98g worked flint? oyster shell x2 =2g =2g C.3 red CBM =13g, clay degraded green pipe bowl fragment bottle glass =19g, =2g clear flat glass =14g, green bottle glass =2g

C.4 red flat tile x3 =81g, bent corroded worked flint x2 oyster shell =2g curved red tile =39g, metal strip =37g, =6g, burnt red CBM x5 =19g tiny square nail =3g stone x2 =9g C.5 red CBM x5 =31g corroded iron nail oyster shell =<1g, =18g animal bone x2 =19g C.6 red CBM x2 =5g burnt stone =9g snail shell fragments x9 =<1g C.7 red CBM x4 =19g, red slag x2 =388g, animal bone =51g, flat tile =15g square corroded snail shell x4 =<1g iron nail =6g Table 60: The non-pottery finds excavated from BLY/18/10

Test Pit Ceramic Glass Metal & metal- Stone Other 11 (excluding working pottery) C.3 red flat tile x5 slag? =72g =350g, red CBM x4 =40g C.4 red flat tile =38g, slag? =69g burnt stone animal bone x5 burnt? red brick =128g =29g fragment =160g, possible glazed tile of pot =82g

C.5 red CBM x9 =488g, slag =208g burnt stone? animal bone x28 burnt? CBM x3 x3 =732g =496g =367g C.6 red CBM x2 =79g burnt animal bone x15 stone? =65g =176g

Table 61: The non-pottery finds excavated from BLY/18/11

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Test Pit Ceramic Glass Metal & metal- Stone Other 12 (excluding working pottery) C.1 red CBM =3g green bottle glass small metal valve cover? yellow plastic =5g =2g wire covering =2g C.2 clear container scrunched foil =<1g, half coal =11g glass =3g a new penny coin dated 1971 =2g C.3 red flat tile x5 =80g, clear container small corroded iron nail coal =3g, clear plastic red CBM =69g, glass =12g, =31g, small corroded iron burnt stone wrapper =<1g glazed flat tile =31g orange bottle nail =5g, corroded small =3g glass =2g semi-circle plate of metal =80g, corroded iron lump =18g

C.4 red CBM x4 =27g coal =1g C.5 red flat tile =27g, red square corroded iron nail animal bone x6 CBM x4 =16g =16g =31g C.6 red flat tile x2 =40g coal x2 =5g animal bone x16 =150g, oyster shell x3 =14g C.7 red CBM x2 =8g slag? =3g animal bone x25 =137g C.8 red flat tile x2 =37g, coal =1g animal bone x9 red CBM x4 =16g =69g C.9 red flat tile =21g animal bone x5 =40g Table 62: The non-pottery finds excavated from BLY/18/12

12.2.3 2019 test pit finds (John Newman)

Test Ceramic Glass Metal & metal- Stone Other Pit 1 (excluding working pottery) C.2 red CBM= 23g C.3 brush bristles? x3 =0.14g, clinker fragment =1.6g C.5 red CBM x8 =77g concrete x2 =125g, asphalt fragment =114g C.6 concretation fragment =12g C.7 clay pipe stem x2 clear glass vessel iron nails x2 =16g, slate =1g plastic button =3.6g, red CBM x5 fragments x4 =200g, fragment of iron =1.8g, asphalt =10g clear sheet glass x2 =25g, iron disc/cap fragment =62g, =2.8g, brown vessel =2.4g oyster shell =1.9g glass fragment =2.4g

C.8 green glass vessel asphalt fragments fragments x2 =4.4g x2 =6.7g Table 63: The non-pottery finds excavated from BLY/19/1

128

Test Ceramic Glass Metal & Stone Other Pit 2 (excluding metal- pottery) working C.1 clay pipe stem iron nails x2 oyster shell =2g =2.4g, red CBM =15.5g =1.4g C.2 red CBM =20g clear glass vessel coal =11g concrete x2 =31g fragments x3 =20g C.3 clay pipe bowl clear glass vessel slag =12g, iron coal x3 =41g hearth waste fragment =2g, red fragments x13 =112g, bar fragment fragments x6 =67g CBM x14 =300g green glass vessel =87g, iron nails fragments x3 =11.6g, x3 =64g, iron orange vessel glass concretation =5.3g =212g

C.4 red CBM x11 = clear glass vessel iron nails x4 coal x3 =22g clinker x3 =24g 212g fragments x11 =84g =104g, slag =13.7g C.5 clay pipe bowl clear glass vessel ?flint flake= clinker x3 =4.4g (boxer Tom Sayers, fragments x3 = 9g 6.5g, burnt mid 19th C) = 14.6g, stone =2.4g, clay pipe stem = coal =0.8g 2.7g C.6 clay pipe stem x2 decorated glass vessel iron concretion slate pencil animal bone x3 =6.9g, red CBM x3 fragment =3.5g, =53g =2.8g, burnt =9.8g, clinker =112g turquoise glass vessel stone =3g, coal fragments x4 =32g fragment = 3.9g, green x2 =4.3g glass vessel fragments x3 =31g, clear glass vessel fragments x13 = 59g

C.7 red CBM x6 =292g brown glass handle iron nails 2 =35g, coal x2 =8.7g fragment = 22.4g, iron concretation white glass vessel fragments x3 fragment =4.5g, green =67g glass vessel fragment =7.6g, clear glass vessel fragments x6 =51g Table 64: The non-pottery finds excavated from BLY/19/2

129

Test Pit 3 Ceramic Glass Metal & metal- Stone Other (excluding working pottery) C.1 red CBM x4 =26g green glass vessel iron nail =0.8g burnt stone animal bone x2 =3g fragment =39g =26.8g C.2 clay pipe stem green glass vessel fragment strip of burnt stone =1.5g, red CBM fragment =1.4g, iron =5g, iron nail x2 =18g =10g clear glass vessel =4g fragment =2.7g

C.3 red CBM x11 =2g clear glass vessel animal bone =2g, fragments x2 hearth waste fragments =12.5g, green x2 =32g glass vessel fragments x2 =6g

C.4 clay pipe stem clear sheet glass iron nails x7 =130g, bone button =1g, =2.4g, red CBM fragments x2 =9.7g iron wire fragment animal bone x4 =5.6g =56g =0.6g C.5 clay pipe stem green glass vessel iron bar fragments coal x2 =5.8g, red CBM fragments x4 =29g x2 =23g, iron nails =22.7g x5 =142g x2 =35g C.6 clay pipe stem x4 clear sheet glass ?flint flake =19g, red CBM fragment =1g =6.5g x4 =114g C.7 clay pipe stem x2 iron nail =12g =5g, red CBM x6 =124g Table 65: The non-pottery finds excavated from BLY/19/3

Test Pit Ceramic Glass Metal & Stone Other 4 (excluding metal- pottery) working C.1 red CBM malting tile iron sheet animal bone =14g fragment =162g red fragment =3.6g CBM x5 =286g C.2 red CBM x2 =90g, clear glass vessel coal x2 =67.6 clinker =83g yellow CBM =116g fragment =16.4g, clear glass stem fragment =11.6g

C.3 clear glass vessel iron nail =17.8g, burnt stone fragment =8.8g =8.6g, coal x2 =2.2g C.4 red CBM =2g clear glass vessel iron nails x2 burnt stone animal bone x2 =3g fragments x2 =4.8g =11.4g =14g C.5 red CBM x7 = 277.8g copper alloy charcoal x2 animal bone x20 staple =10.7g, =6.4g =450g, oyster shell iron strip x4 =60g fragment =7.9g, iron nails x3 =37g

C.6 iron nails x2 animal bone x10 =14.5g =375g, oyster shell x2 =51g Table 66: The non-pottery finds excavated from BLY/19/4

130

Test Pit Ceramic Glass Metal & metal-working Stone Other 5 (excluding pottery) C.1 red CBM x8 =66g green glass vessel burnt stone fragments x3 =15g, x4 =29g clear glass vessel fragments x7 =44g

C.2 clay pipe bowl green glass vessel burnt stone plastic fragment =1g, clay fragments x4 x2 =8g fragment pipe stem =1.8g, red =6.6g,clear glass =0.3g CBM x6 =101g vessel fragments x4 =12g C.3 clay pipe bowl green glass vessel burnt stone clinker x3 fragment =1.2g, red fragment =3.6g, x2 =6g =7g CBM x13 =111g brown glass vessel fragment =3.6g

C.4 clay pipe bowl green glass vessel burnt stone burnt animal fragment =3.6g, clay fragments x2 =5.6g x2 =10.5g bone x2 pipe stem x2 =8.5g, =5.9g red CBM x28 =270g slag =20g, iron fragment =29g C.5 red CBM x16 =101g green glass vessel iron strip fragment =35g, slag burnt stone animal bone fragment =7.2g x2 =408g x2 =96g =3.7g, clinker x4 =33g C.6 red CBM x4 =6.5g green glass vessel slag =9.7g animal bone fragment 3.4g x2 =5g C.7 red CBM x2 =19g animal bone =3.8g, clinker x3 =2.8g Table 67: The non-pottery finds excavated from BLY/19/5

Test Pit 6 Ceramic Glass Metal & metal- Stone Other (excluding working pottery) C.1 clay pipe stem =6.3g, red CBM x2 =19g C.2 red CBM x16 =168g burnt stone =33.5g, slate =4.5g C.3 clay pipe stem x2 green glass vessel =6g, red CBM x20 fragment =1.4g =144g C.4 clay pipe stem x3 =15g, red CBM x13 =80g C.5 clay pipe stem burnt stone =14g =1.7g, red CBM =8g Table 68: The non-pottery finds excavated from BLY/19/6

131

Test Pit Ceramic Glass Metal & Stone Other 7 (excluding metal- pottery) working C.2 red CBM x4 =21.6g brown glass vessel fragment =0.6g C.3 red CBM =46g burnt stone =2.5g C.4 red CBM =1.3g burnt stone =2g oyster shell =1g C.5 red CBM x3 =156g burnt stone =4.5g C.6 red CBM =14g burnt stone x2 =23.6g C.7 red CBM =14g ?flint flake =1.7g Table 69: The non-pottery finds excavated from BLY/19/7

Test Pit 8 Ceramic Glass Metal & metal- Stone Other (excluding working pottery) C. 1 clay pipe bowl brown glass vessel iron bracket =306g, coal =0.7g animal bone x2 fragments x2 =6g, red fragments x4 =7.2g, iron nail =19g =2.7g CBM x19 =253g clear glass vessel fragments x3 =76g

C. 2 red CBM x3 =51.6g clear glass vessel burnt stone concrete x2 fragment =12g =5g, coal =63g =0.9g C.3 red CBM =166g brown glass vessel copper alloy pipe burnt stone animal bone fragment =0.5g fragment =5.5g x2 =19g, =118g, oyster coal =5g shell x2 =5.6g C.4 red CBM x4 =358 clear sheet glass fragments x4 =8.7g, clear glass vessel fragments x5 =27g

C.5 clay pipe stem x3 clear glass vessel iron nail =8g burnt stone oyster shell x5 =12.8g, red CBM x3 fragments x3 =20g =57g, slate =11g =21g =87g C.6 red CBM x2 =1005g Table 70: The non-pottery finds excavated from BLY/19/8

Test Pit Ceramic Glass Metal & metal- Stone Other 9 (excluding working pottery) C.1 clay pipe stem x2 green glass vessel copper alloy pipe animal bone x2 =8g, red CBM x12 fragment =6.6g, fragment =12g, iron =10g, plastic =92g brown glass nail =4g, lead strip fragment =0.8g, vessel fragment fitting fragment =5g clinker =4g =2g C.2 clay pipe stem x2 green glass vessel copper alloy double animal bone x8 =3g, red CBM =15g fragment =5g loop buckle fragment =11g =4.5g, iron bracket =26g, iron nail =2.6g, iron sheet fragment =12g

C.3 red CBM x5 =23g green glass vessel iron nails x2 =6.5g animal bone x2 =3g fragments x2 =3g C.4 clay pipe bowl iron nail =5g, slag burnt stone x2 animal bone x35 fragment =1g, clay =10g =14g =142g, oyster shell pipe stem =3g, red x2 =1.7g CBM x2 =28g

C.5 iron nail =7g animal bone =11.7g Table 71: The non-pottery finds excavated from BLY/19/9

132

Test Pit Ceramic Glass Metal & metal- Stone Other 10 (excluding working pottery) C.1 clay pipe stem 2 =4g, clear glass vessel copper alloy button animal bone =3g, red CBM x12 =320g fragments x2 =5.5g, copper alloy clinker =3g =14.5g, green fastener fragment glass vessel =1.4g, iron nail fragment =2g =3.6g, slag =10g

C.2 red CBM x3 =13g clear glass sheet fragment =1g C.3 red CBM x5 =236g clear glass vessel fragments x3 =15g C.4 red CBM x2 =84g clear sheet glass iron nail =27g burnt stone animal bone =3.6g fragment =1g =1.5g, coal =9g C.5 clay pipe stem x2 clear glass vessel iron nails x2 =11g, slate x2 =13g, animal bone x2 =5.5g, red CBM x4 fragments =7.8g iron sheet fragment coal =1g =7.8g =28g =7g C.6 clay pipe bowl iron nail =7.4g animal bone x15 fragment =3.3g, clay =68g, burnt animal pipe stem x2 =6.4g, bone =5g red CBM x4 =332g

C.7 clay pipe stem =10g, animal bone x5 red CBM x2 =152g =27.5g C.8 green glass vessel animal bone =10.5g fragment =0.4g C.9 303 bullet shell coal =3g animal bone x3 case fragment =12g =10.5g Table 72: The non-pottery finds excavated from BLY/19/10

133

Test Pit Ceramic Glass Metal & metal- Stone Other 11 (excluding working pottery) C.1 clay pipe bowl green glass vessel animal bone x2 fragment =9.4g, fragments x2 =29g, clear =2.2g clay pipe stem x4 glass vessel fragments =7g x2 =4g, clear sheet glass fragments x2 =5.3g

C.2 clay pipe stem x5 clear glass vessel iron nails x5 =17g, fish bone =0.5g, =15g fragments x4 =14g copper alloy? animal bone x12 Window fitting =14g, =90g slag =6.8g

C.3 red CBM x10 clear sheet glass coal x2 oyster shell =2.5g =118g fragment =0.6g =3.3g C.4 red CBM =38g iron sheet fragments coal =2.8g animal bone x17 x2 =50g, iron nails x5 =69g, burnt animal =50g, copper alloy bone =1.7g sheet fragment =3.5g

C.5 iron nail =1.8g animal bone x20 =134g, oyster shell =19g C.6 clay pipe stem iron nails x2 =15g coal =1.4g, animal bone x18 =3g, red CBM charcoal =98g, oyster shells =68g =50g x4 =31g C.7 red CBM x2 green glass vessel copper alloy strip animal bone x43 =28.4g fragment =5.3g fragment =1.3g, iron =513.6g, oyster nails x3 =18g, strip of shell =24g iron =3.8g

Table 73: The non-pottery finds excavated from BLY/19/11

12.3 Maps

Much of the value of the test pit data from currently occupied rural settlements are derived from a holistic consideration across the entire settlement. Maps showing a range of the data from the test pit excavations in Blythburgh between 2017 and 2019 are included below. These may be read in conjunction with relevant sections of the main report. Some of these maps are available online at: https://www.access.arch.cam.ac.uk/reports/suffolk/blythburgh showing the distribution of other classes of data not depicted in this appendix.

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