Site Event/Activity record ESF20857 - Excavation - Green King Access Road, Bury St Edmunds

During the construction of a road linking the Greene King brewery on Westgate Street with Cullum Road, a section was excavated through the Friars Lane footpath, the ditch on the western side and partially through the eastern ditch, known as the Black Ditch. Monitoring was carried out during the stripping of topsoil by a back-acting machine, prior to the laying of hardcore. The first stage of work involved the excavation. It became impractical to excavate a section across the Black Ditch, as the footpath began to subside. A machine trench was cut across Friars Lane which produced a cross section that extended below the water table and included a layer of peat sealed beneath the road. No archaeological features were revealed, therefore a column sample of the peat was taken. Pollen assessment and two radiocarbon evaluations of the peat was also carried out. The primary layer was of blue clay. Gravel was exposed during deeper excavations below the Black Ditch. A major change in land management is indicated by the build up of a silt layer (S1).