Monument record SUT 058 - A possible Prehistoric or Roman hut circle or possible Bronze Age or Saxon round barrow, Sutton Walks, Sutton

Ring ditch plotted on plan in (S1). Shown as circa 25m diameter. Within Prehistoric field system complex, SUT 057 and Iron Age & Saxon pottery scatters, SUT 046 (S1).
A ring ditch is visible as a cropmark on aerial photographs taken in 1975, centred on TM 29144846. The ring ditch encloses an area roughly 14m in diameter and has no visible entrances. It is located within a possible Prehistoric field system (SUT 057) and is roughly 350m south-east of the Sutton Hoo cemetery. The ring ditch could therefore either be interpreted as hut circle of Later Prehistoric or Roman date or as a round barrow burial of possible Bronze Age or Saxon date. (S2-S3) Transcription of the aerial photographs available for the project was difficult due to the lack of visible control points and the previous monument grid reference has been recorded as TM29164846 in case this proves to be more accurate. (S4)

Topographic survey produced a more detailed contour plan of the scheduled site and the surrounding area. Area 1 and 2 were intensively surveyed to record the recent changes in topography of the monument including the reconstruction of mound two, and to located features which have been erected on the site. The survey found strong evidence that both mounds 8 and 9 have been robbed. The survey demonstrated that the site overlooked the valley of the River Debden, it lies at the junction of two distinct topographic regions. To the east and south the site lies at the edge of a broad flat landscape, however to the west the shape of the land changes with the ground falling away steeply, down to the estuary of the Debden (S5).