Site Event/Activity record ESF28767 - Desk-based Assessment - Old Station Yard, Mendlesham

Old Station Yard, Old Station Road, Mendlesham ( MDS 163, TM 1017 6544) The desk-based assessment for this site has found no evidence for archaeological finds or deposits having been recorded within its limits. A search covering the area within 500m of the site suggests that the highest archaeological potential it has is for evidence of medieval activity along the road frontage area which is assessed as being medium with the remainder of the southern half of the site having a low to medium potential to contain archaeological deposits. The northern half of the site is assessed as having a low to very low potential to contain archaeological deposits as the construction of the light railway and associated yard has caused truncation of the pre-1900 land surface. In a walk over little evidence was seen for the Mid Suffolk Light Railway which was built with a low budget and a station that had superficial foundations. The conclusion of the study is that the southern half of the site would merit archaeological evaluation by trial trenching under a condition requiring an archaeological programme of works. Whether the northern half of the site is too damaged to merit evaluation is impossible to gauge under the present evidence but remains a possibility. Finally very few features survive from the c50 year period of the Mid Suffolk Light Railway between 1904 and 1952.