Monument record LKH 344 - Half Moon Public House, Lakenheath

2012: Four evaluation trenches at the former Half Moon pub in Lakenheath, Suffolk, revealed well preserved medieval ditches and pits, which produced pottery, ceramic building material (CBM) and animal bone. These features were cut into the top of a peat layer, which spread across the whole site. A clunch and mortar built well and structure were also uncovered and are thought to possibly be post-medieval. Further finds of medieval pottery were present within the very top of the peat matrix, whilst Roman pottery, animal bone and mussel shell were found near the base of the peat in one trench (S1).
2012:Excavation identified small quantities of Neolithic flint were found underneath the peat that overlaid the natural. Underlying the peat was a series of small pits and possible postholes that produced no datable material. 11th/12th century pottery was recovered from the top of the peat, although the main phases of occupation appear to be later medieval and post-medieval. These phases produced pits, postholes and ditches, as well as two wells, which were all cut into the upper layers of peat. The features produced medieval and post-medieval pottery and CBM, animal bone, as well as three pieces of wood, belonging to a fence line and a more significant timber structure. The environmental samples and column sample indicated that the site was a wet fenland area (with a pollen residue indicating an Iron Age/Roman formation date). This eventually dried out in the 11th/12th century onwards and was then used for arable farming, with evidence for nearby domestic activity provided by very small charcoal fragments recorded throughout the environmental record. Both types of sampling indicated that the soil profile did not form as a continuous peat sequence, but was also made up of silty-sandy mud layers across the site (S2).

Phases of evaluation and excavation fieldwork were carried out at the site of the former pub, towards the N end of Lakenheath village, flanked by the High Street to the E and by drained fenland to the W. Small quantities of Neolithic flint were recovered from beneath peat and organic mud layers that ran across the site, overlying the natural sands. Underlying the peat was a series of small pits and possible postholes that produced no datable material. Within the base of the peat matrix a small amount of Roman pottery was recovered. 11th/12th century pottery was recovered from the top of the peat, although the main phases of occupation appear to date from the later medieval and post-medieval periods. These phases produced pits, postholes and ditches, as well as two wells, which were all cut into the upper layers of peat and organic mud. A corner of a clunch building recorded in the evaluation was not exposed any further during the excavation. The features produced medieval and post-medieval pottery, ceramic building material and animal bone, as well as three pieces of wood that were probably part of a fence line and a more significant timber structure.
Environmental sampling indicated that the site was a wet fenland during the Iron Age/Roman period before drying out from the 11th/12th century onwards and was then possibly used for arable farming, with evidence for nearby domestic activity provided by very small charcoal fragments recorded throughout the environmental record. Both types of sampling indicated that the soil profile did not form as a long-standing peat sequence, but was also made up of other alluvial events that had formed organic silty-sandy mud layers across the site.
The site appears to have been an occasionally utilised area on the edge of the later medieval and post-medieval village. It was probably still too wet for habitation at this point and may have instead been used for arable farming, as well as for deposition of domestic refuse. The presence of ditches may indicate attempts to drain the site, although along with the postholes, they may also represent field boundaries or stock enclosures.
Included in the Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History annual round up of individual finds and discoveries for 2012 (S4).