Site Event/Activity record ESF20545 - Evaluation - Orwell High School, Felixstowe

An archaeological evaluation was carried out on land to the northwest of the current Orwell High School buildings, comprising the northern part of the school playing fields and the northern half of an adjacent field to the west of the school property, as part of a pre-determination investigation prior to planning permission being granted for the development of the area for a new school building. 29 trenches were excavated across the site, with archaeological deposits identified in just over half of them. These deposits were dated to the Bronze Age/Middle Iron Age and medieval periods (11th - 14th centuries) along with some more modern (mid-late 19th century onwards) deposits. It appears that these features represent field systems and localised occupation/ specific land use, particularly in the area of Trenches 1-5 to the north of the site, where most of the dateable early deposits were situated. Project status: Complete Yes, Validated Yes Previous/Future Work: Previous No, Future Yes Associated Identifiers: HER event no. FEX 281 Contracting Unit No. 2010/058 NMR No. 1526231 Project Type: Field evaluation Development Type: Large/ medium scale extensions to existing structures (e.g. church, school, hospitals, law courts, etc.) Methods and Techniques: Targeted Trenches, Sample Trenches Position in the Planning Process: Pre-application Reason for Investigation: Direction from Local Planning Authority - PPG16 Site status: Area of Archaeological Importance (AAI) Current Land use: Community Service 1 - Community Buildings Monument Type(s)/Period(s): DITCH Late Prehistoric, PIT Uncertain, DITCH Medieval , POSTHOLE Uncertain, PIT Uncertain Artefact Type(s)/Period(s): POTTERY Late Prehistoric, POTTERY Medieval PROJECT LOCATION Area 8.20 Hectares Grid Reference: TM28953568 Point PROJECT CREATOR(S) Brief originator: Local Authority Archaeologist and/or Planning Authority/advisory body Design originator: Jess Tipper Director/Manager: Rhodri Gardner Supervisor: Simon Cass DIGITAL ARCHIVE Recipient: Suffolk County SMR Contents: Animal Bones, Ceramics, Environmental, Stratigraphic, Worked stone/lithics Media: Database, Geophysics, Images raster / digital photography, Text PAPER ARCHIVE Recipient: Suffolk County SMR Contents: Animal Bones, Ceramics, Environmental, Stratigraphic, Worked stone/lithics Media: Context sheet, Plan, Report, Section PHYSICAL ARCHIVE Recipient: Suffolk County SMR Contents: Animal Bones, Ceramics, Environmental, Worked stone/lithics BIBLIOGRAPHY Publication Type: Grey literature (unpublished document/manuscript) Title: Orwell High School, Felixstowe FEX 281 Author(s)/Editor(s): Cass, S. Other Bibliographic Details: 2010/058 Date: 2010 Issuer/Publisher: SCCAS Place of Issue or Publication: Ipswich Description: An evaluation report, bound and covered in the usual style.