Monument record WLB 080 - Walberswick

Area of high archaeological potential defining area of probable settlement from the Saxon to medieval periods.
Medieval pottery found in various locations in test pits, see (S1).

2014: Nine test pits were excavated in Walberswick in 2014 by 29 Year 9 students from local schools. The test pitting was part of the Higher Education Field Academy (HEFA) programme undertaken by Access Cambridge Archaeology (ACA) in East Anglia. The excavation sites were widely distributed across the village and complemented from the nine test pits that were excavated in 2013, bringing the total now excavated in the village to 18. Additional Roman pottery was this year found in the east of the village along Leveretts Lane and Ferry Road indicating some level of activity during this period. A number of pits produced pottery of late Saxon date, notably along the along the main routeway through the village (The Street), suggesting that this part of the present settlement was in existence at this time. The pottery evidence indicates that the village continued to thrive through the medieval period and in particular provided further evidence that Walberswick did not decline in the late medieval after the Black Death in the 14th century, perhaps due to its status as a coastal trading settlement. A possible clay oven was recorded from the garden of a modern house set along The Street, although further work would be needed on this to determine its full function and date. In the post medieval period the village may have developed into the small fishing village that is still seen today. Included in the Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History annual round up of individual finds and discoveries for 2014 (S2). Full report to follow.