Monument record WKM 037 - Land south of Featherbroom Gardens, Wickham Market

2013: Trial trenching revealed a low level of prehistoric activity spanning from the late Mesolithic/Neolithic to the Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age. A single Roman cremation burial was also recorded but it was unclear whether this was an isolated burial or part of a small cemetery. The presence of a single pit containing Roman pottery and fire cracked flint suggests that there may be a settlement in the near vicinity. Most of the ditches were undated however one is possibly medieval and another post-medieval. Colluvium deposits overly much of the prehistoric and Roman remains. Two tree throws containing Meselithic/Neolithic blade like flint flakes were recorded (S1).

Included in the Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History annual round up of individual finds and discoveries for 2013 (S4)

2014: Excavation following the previous evaluation trenching. This also revealed prehistoric activity in the form of a possible hearth together with artefacts of worked flint tentaively dated to the Neolithic or Early Bronze Age. Post-depotsition damage on the flints indicates that a large part of the assemblage is reisdual material present in Late Iron Age/early Roman features. The most significant findings are Late Iron Age to early Roman and comprise a series of cremation burials revealed in Area A. There were six cremation burials, four of which were urned. The site was being used for burial from at least the middle of the 1st century AD however the cremation urns have a fabic and construction mehtod that suggest a much earlier Middle Bronze Age date. The funerary activity is revealed as predating a period of colluviation and is accompanied by contemporary activity including pits and enclosures. The colluviation may have been caused by early Roman woodland/vegetation clearance on higher ground to the north of the site. Interestingly, funerary activity continued after the colluviation and two urned cremation burials were found cut into the colluvium as opposed to being sealed by it. Nonfunerary activity of a Roman date was sparse, with only a large pit in the north-east corner of Area B representing evidence of nearby settlement activity. The medieval / early post-medieval period is primarily represented by a ditched agricultural field system comprising two boundaries oriented north-north-west to south-south-east. The field system is likely to denote an earlier division of the extant field. A lack of contemporary activity within the enclosed areas suggests shallow impact farming. The late post-medieval / early modern activity on the site is represented by a group of parallel gullies and pits dug in a structural layout at the far-east end of the site (S2). Included in the Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History annual round up of individual finds and discoveries for 2014 (S3).