Monument record ASG 018 - OUTLINE RECORD: WHITEGATES - EXCAVATION (MEL BIRCH)

2005-2006: Fieldwalking on Road Field (opposite the site) in 1982 produced 12th- to 14th-century pottery in several distinct concentrations suggesting a small medieval settlement beside the entry to the former Button Haugh Green. The extent of this massive green, though enclosed since 1811, can still be traced in field boundaries and green-side farmsteads. On the opposite (west) side of the road, in the grazing meadow known as Further Barn, earthworks could be seen that suggested house platforms, boundary ditches and sunken ways. These were surveyed and recorded in hope of future excavation, the area showing no signs of recent cultivation.
Excavation of the site began in 2005 with the digging of test trenches on each of the platforms and across one of the sunken features. All produced 13th- to 14th- century pottery, charcoal spreads, spreads of clay and evidence of burning. Two clay surfaces were unearthed, along with a large area of compacted flints suggesting a possible yard. Among the finds were two spindle whorls, one of which was particularly fine and possibly of Saxon or even Roman origin.
Despite the site having been pasture for a long period, the medieval pottery, which was present in reasonable quantities, was mainly abraded and there was a dearth of other domestic debris, particularly oyster shells and animal bones. Although the cobbled ‘yard’ lay between the road and the pond, there is no evidence that it connected with either. It may be that these missing sections have been robbed out, or perhaps it just provided a small hard-standing between outbuildings. The meadow appears to be sectioned by a series of ditches running the full width from east to west. Each had its own raised platform towards the east end, which may have contained a house, barn or outbuilding.
Button Haugh Green was shared or ‘intercommoned’ by the parishes of Great Ashfield, Elmswell, Hunston and Norton and the sites investigated lie close to one of the entrances to the green. The farmstead called Whitegates was called Gate Farm in the 19th century and this name probably refers to its position next to a gate onto the green. The sites suggest relatively small properties on the approach to the green, with a similar group on the west side of the road, as indicated by the fieldwalked material from Road Field. There was no evidence for any reoccupation of the sites after they were abandoned towards the end of the 14th century.
Included in the Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History annual round up of individual finds and discoveries for 2006 (S1). Full report to follow.