Monument record BCC 030 - Medieval pits containing pottery

August 1999 - Monitoring visit located series of pits in footing trenches together with a reasonable amount of pottery.
Area within medieval town BCC ???

October 1999 :Monitoring during excavation prior to development revealed pits dating C12 and C19 backyard area to domestic occupation from the early mediveal period. A large quantity of medieval pottery was found as well as animal bone (S1).

Monitoring of the excavation of footing trenches revealed a number of pits dating between the 12th and the 19th centuries. The evidence is sufficient to suggest that this was a backyard area to domestic occupation from the Early Medieval Period. A high proportion of the finds was recovered from the spoil heaps which accumulated on site before being carted away. Most of it was pottery, ranging in date from the 11th to the 19th centuries. However, the assemblage suggests that the main period of activity probably occurred from the 13th to the 15th centuries. The material is domestic in origin, representing household waste associated with dwellings located in the vicinity.
Medieval sandy greywares were the most frequent find and most rims were ‘developed’ suggesting a 13th-century or later date. Fabrics ranged from fine to coarse, and all were tempered with sand and few other inclusions. Rims were of the type normally associated with sites in east Suffolk, but the fabrics were more similar to Norfolk ‘Local Medieval Unglazed’ Ware, which has a relatively smooth and fine grey fabric. Identifiable forms included jars, jugs and bowls, as well as a few sherds of a possible curfew. Only a few sherds were decorated, but some jar body fragments had vertical applied thumbed strips, and one sherd had crudely incised lines on both surfaces. Some of the material may be of a later date, as indicated by the presence of rims that appear to be developing towards ‘Late Medieval and Transitional’ forms. A Waveney Valley source for this material appears likely on present evidence.
This is a large assemblage from a monitoring project and, although largely unstratified, forms an important group of medieval pottery from north-east Suffolk. It is the largest group to be excavated in Beccles to date. Included in the Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History annual round up of individual finds and discoveries for 1999 (S2).